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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2015 8:27:31 GMT -5
Hi All,
I’m hoping you can help me and my sick little ferret, Mogli, of 6 years. She was a Petco ferret, along with her sister Maya. Never any major health issues but Mogli has always been slimmer than Maya and her stool has been small. While they would enjoy playing Maya always had more energy.
About two weeks ago we found Mogli having seizures in her cage. We put some honey at her gums and were able to bring her back to consciousness and then she had a few licks of soup. We took her to the Vet a few hours later where they drew blood and said her blood sugar levels were fine (about 100). The vet looked her over, noticed she had an enlarged spleen but said that could just be normal (Maya has always had a huge spleen as well). They were able to get enough blood to send it out for further testing.
The vet concurred that it is probably insulinoma and there was no reason to wait for the results, so she gave us Prednisolone. For the past two weeks we have been giving it to her twice a day and finger feeding her soup which she will eat. We were able to get her to gain some weight (she was about 1 pound 14 ounces and how is over 2.5 pounds).
The blood work came back today and the vet said nothing was abnormal. She is out of ideas and has confessed that her ferret experience is limited (We have been going to her for years and would have appreciated her sharing that fact sooner).
We have a recommendation for a vet that’s about an hour and a half away and an appointment Saturday but wanted to post here first to see if anyone could offer insight or advice: both in terms of questions for the new vet and things to try or pay attention to with Mogli before the appointment.
I recently noticed that when she poops she drags her but for longer than usual. Her anus is also red but not prolapsed or very swollen. She doesn’t eat on her own and we believe that’s related to her bum.
Since she only eats the finger fed soup, her stool has been runnier that usual, but when its solid it has the diameter of spaghetti (normally it would be about the thickness of a #2 pencil).
Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you@
Eve
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Post by Sherry on Jun 11, 2015 10:32:47 GMT -5
Have you had xrays done? That would be the next step, to look for tumours
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Post by Heather on Jun 11, 2015 10:45:49 GMT -5
The later sounds like you might be dealing with a blockage of some sort, that being said it doesn't explain the seizure. Has another BG been done? What is her attitude like? Lethargic? How much soup is she actually eating and what is in it? Being finger fed is almost being force fed, so you've got something serious brewing. Will she eat willingly from a spoon? I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to what you've got going. The seizure would point to insulinoma but there are other issues that will cause seizures, including not absorbing nutrients properly.
Good luck. Keep us posted as to what your new vet comes up with.
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2015 12:18:02 GMT -5
I hope you can find answers. I think another ferret vet is a good idea. Especially if this new vet sees ferrets regularly and is familiar with their illnesses. Take a paper and pen with you and write everything down. We get emotional and then it's hard to remember everything the vet says. If you have bloodwork done, when you get the results then post them here. Our experienced ferrents can help you understand what they mean. I wonder if the bloodwork was off, because she had some honey in her? Just a small suggestion, Karo Syrup is absorbed faster than honey. If it is Insulinoma, look for signs of her staring off into space. They sort of blank out and then you know that their BG is off. Hind leg weakness is another symptom. An Xray would help. It might show a floating blockage or tumors. It's not uncommon for lymphoma to occur alongside Insulinoma. Fingers crossed that this is not the case. A Barium xray can help push a blockage thru. Sherry will know more about that, then I will. If it is Insulinoma, Mogli will need access to food 24/7. You might pick up some syringes and syringe some soft food into her, in that case. Hugs to both of your girls.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2015 15:06:15 GMT -5
Thank you all for the helpful posts. X-rays or ultrasound is the next step with the new vet. We didnt have Karo at home at the time (we do now) but thanks for the suggestions. Thankfully no seizures since. The original vet thought it might have been because he was dehydrated or lack of food.
She has been acting lethargic, walking a bit, the flopping down and mini nappy. She can sleep most of the day only getting up to do her business then sleep again. She doesnt stare off into space or drag her rear legs. The vet assumed the initial blood work was off because we have here a little bit of honey and food within 2 hours of bringing her in, but she said the levels were still high enough that its unlikely they were low enough for them to trigger a seizure.
After the seizure she had to be finger tip fed, several times through the day, we were able to get about 30cc of food in her the first day, then about 75cc per day after that... the last few days we have been at about 120 a day and she has been eating it off a spoon. You still have to put the soup on a spoon in front of her.. she will eat about 25cc in a sitting. Wont touch it on her own.
Thanks all!
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Post by Sherry on Jun 12, 2015 10:39:33 GMT -5
My insulinomic boy has BG in the 90 range a couple hours after eating, so that is still possible.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 9:59:55 GMT -5
Hi all,
I want to thank everyone for their kind words and helpful advice. My husband and I were pretty distraught and feeling lost when our baby was doing so poorly these last few weeks. Your caring responses and helpful advice were very much appreciated!
We took Mogli to see the new bet on Friday and the level of care we received there was just amazing. If you happen to be in the Bedford, NY area we can't recommend Dr. Thielen at the Veterinary Center for Birds & Exotics enough. She was knowledgeable, caring, and patient and made us feel like Mogli was in the best possible hands.
Dr. Thielen immediately noted that Mogli's abdomen was swollen and she had an enlarged spleen. She took xrays which showed that Mogli had significant fluid in her abdomen, which could be caused by either cardiac disease (her heart was also slightly enlarged) or cancer. Dr. Thielen ran more blood tests and we were were able to get results within 30 minutes. Her blood glucose levels were all normal so we've ruled out insulinoma for the time being. Mogli did show elevated globulin levels which could indicate either cancer or an infection.
They took a spleen aspirate to test for cancer. We got the results back yesterday and the sample was negative for cancer. We can't rule out cancer completely since the sample might just have missed it or another organ could be affected. The vet suggested that we bring her back for blood electrophoresis to determine whether the elevated globulin levels are due to infection or cancer. If infection, we could start her on antibiotics. If cancer, we could try increasing the prednisone. We also haven't completely ruled out cardiac disease yet, although the rest of the symptoms don't quite match up.
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long essay. We're still trying to make sense of all these new developments ourselves but I wanted to share the update with all of you folks who have been so kind and helpful. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions, please do let us know.
Thanks for all your encouraging support!
The fuzzies57
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Post by Heather on Jun 14, 2015 10:58:59 GMT -5
Thank you for the update. I'm sorry you don't have a conclusive answer yet but it does indeed sound like you're in good hands. Good luck. Hugs to the wee fuzz
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 11:31:16 GMT -5
It's so comforting to find that you have confidence in your vet.
I hope you get some answers.
Once you do, if you would like to add your vet to our vet list, that would be helpful to those of you in the New York area. Lucky people...I love NY. :bow:
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Post by Sherry on Jun 14, 2015 16:58:10 GMT -5
Having a vet you can trust is priceless. Thanks for the update, and fingers crossed the seizure was a one time thing. If it occurs again, and the vet can't find anything with the blood work I suppose idiopathic epilepsy is possible, but I haven't ever heard of them developing that.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 14, 2015 17:20:50 GMT -5
I'm glad you found a decent vet. I'm not a vet, but I wonder why she didn't start Mogli on a broad spectrum antibiotic just in case. I know that ferrets hate antibiotics, but it could already be working instead of waiting longer. Best wishes. Our Mogli is a boy,  And he's slim  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2015 3:04:56 GMT -5
Just a quick update, Mogli started antibiotics two days ago, more of a precaution since we haven't yet been able to conclude with certainty that is cancer. Her condition has mildly improves but its too soon to tell. It was heart breaking to see her dragging her fluid filled belly around and stopping every three feet to flop down on the floor. Now she is able to go up and down the ramps in her cage as well as walk across the living room.
More updates to come, than you for the support!
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 21, 2015 6:54:41 GMT -5
You say fluid-filled belly; Is she on lasix (diuretic)?
I hope she keeps getting better
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Post by Sherry on Jun 21, 2015 10:51:06 GMT -5
Improvement is good! Fingers crossed she keeps up
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2015 14:58:41 GMT -5
I'm very sorry to say that we lost our Mogli last Thursday. On Wednesday she refused to be spoon fed and then Thursday morning she did not wake up from her sleep. We're very saddened by her loss but very grateful for the kind advice and support we found with this community.
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