Post by bitbyter on May 5, 2011 10:26:38 GMT -5
I'm worried about one of my ferrets. 2 girls ~1 year old (age is approximate as they were rescues). I've had them about 3 months now and haven't had any issues.
I'll give you the background of what has happened over the last week.
• Thursday evening she woke me up from a dead sleep hacking and coughing. It was really violent and I figured that she was choking. I couldn't find anything in her throat so gave her a bunch of ferretlax (which seemed to help her coughing). She seemed to settle down after this but was breathing heavily / rapidly and what I would describe as wet/gurgley breathing. Eyes were slitted so she was obviously in distress. I stayed up all night with her checking her every half hour or so.
• at 6:30 I left to take her to the vet. At this point there had been the odd cough but other than the rapid wet sounding breathing she seemed ok.
• I ended up near the vets office earlier than expected so I stopped at my parents and let her out of the carrier. She seemed to be running around ok, breathing seemed better.
• Went to the vet and he couldn't find anything wrong with her. Breathing and heart sounded fine, although she was still breathing faster and louder than normal. I was worried about a possible blockage (in case the ferretlax had forced whatever she was choking further into her system) but when he took her temperature she voided her bladder and left a very good stool sample on the table (I think I would too if someone used a rectal thermometer that size on me).
• The next two days her breathing seemed to slowly improve. She was sleeping a lot more than normal and wasn't really moving around much. She was still eating and drinking, stools a bit smaller than normal (same diameter) but I figured she probably wasn't eating as much.
• At this point her breathing sounded find but was still a little faster than normal so I started forcing her out of the cage a bit more to see how her activity was. I noticed that she seemed to have really low energy, walking / running about two feet before pancaking / laying down. By late evening I started to notice it wasn't just the pancaking but see seemed a little weak in her back legs (when she was walking her back legs seems to splay out to the sides instead of her "standing upright on them" with her legs under her body vertically) but I figure it might just be poor traction on the hardwood floor.
• Last night and this morning the walking issue seems to have gotten worse. I've had to move their food and water to the bottom level of the cage as Sneakers seems to slide / fall down the ramp in the cage now. When she walks it almost seems like she is trying to swim across the hardwood floor (the best way I can describe it) instead of walking. She can walk for about 2 to 3 feet when she is determined and then has to rest but almost seems to prefer "floor swimming". Her breathing seems 95% normal now but this walking issue has me really scared.
I called the vet last night about it and since she doesn't really seem to show any other signs of major illness (insolinoma, heart issues, AD, etc) he seems to think it just may be general weakness from whatever respiratory distress (thinks it may have been an upper respiratory virus) she was experiencing earlier.
Does anyone here have any ideas as to what this could be or how worried I should be? I have been considering getting an x-ray but my vet doesn't think it's warranted at this point. I'll try to get some video of her "floor swimming" tonight to show you what I mean.
Other than this walking problem / pancaking when walking somewhat normally, she seems fine. Alert, playing with toys for short periods, eating, drinking, peeing, stools are ok, gums are pink, etc. I really need some guidance here.
I'll give you the background of what has happened over the last week.
• Thursday evening she woke me up from a dead sleep hacking and coughing. It was really violent and I figured that she was choking. I couldn't find anything in her throat so gave her a bunch of ferretlax (which seemed to help her coughing). She seemed to settle down after this but was breathing heavily / rapidly and what I would describe as wet/gurgley breathing. Eyes were slitted so she was obviously in distress. I stayed up all night with her checking her every half hour or so.
• at 6:30 I left to take her to the vet. At this point there had been the odd cough but other than the rapid wet sounding breathing she seemed ok.
• I ended up near the vets office earlier than expected so I stopped at my parents and let her out of the carrier. She seemed to be running around ok, breathing seemed better.
• Went to the vet and he couldn't find anything wrong with her. Breathing and heart sounded fine, although she was still breathing faster and louder than normal. I was worried about a possible blockage (in case the ferretlax had forced whatever she was choking further into her system) but when he took her temperature she voided her bladder and left a very good stool sample on the table (I think I would too if someone used a rectal thermometer that size on me).
• The next two days her breathing seemed to slowly improve. She was sleeping a lot more than normal and wasn't really moving around much. She was still eating and drinking, stools a bit smaller than normal (same diameter) but I figured she probably wasn't eating as much.
• At this point her breathing sounded find but was still a little faster than normal so I started forcing her out of the cage a bit more to see how her activity was. I noticed that she seemed to have really low energy, walking / running about two feet before pancaking / laying down. By late evening I started to notice it wasn't just the pancaking but see seemed a little weak in her back legs (when she was walking her back legs seems to splay out to the sides instead of her "standing upright on them" with her legs under her body vertically) but I figure it might just be poor traction on the hardwood floor.
• Last night and this morning the walking issue seems to have gotten worse. I've had to move their food and water to the bottom level of the cage as Sneakers seems to slide / fall down the ramp in the cage now. When she walks it almost seems like she is trying to swim across the hardwood floor (the best way I can describe it) instead of walking. She can walk for about 2 to 3 feet when she is determined and then has to rest but almost seems to prefer "floor swimming". Her breathing seems 95% normal now but this walking issue has me really scared.
I called the vet last night about it and since she doesn't really seem to show any other signs of major illness (insolinoma, heart issues, AD, etc) he seems to think it just may be general weakness from whatever respiratory distress (thinks it may have been an upper respiratory virus) she was experiencing earlier.
Does anyone here have any ideas as to what this could be or how worried I should be? I have been considering getting an x-ray but my vet doesn't think it's warranted at this point. I'll try to get some video of her "floor swimming" tonight to show you what I mean.
Other than this walking problem / pancaking when walking somewhat normally, she seems fine. Alert, playing with toys for short periods, eating, drinking, peeing, stools are ok, gums are pink, etc. I really need some guidance here.