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Post by Heather on May 22, 2011 21:37:17 GMT -5
Dirty teeth and gum infection can cause heart disease ciao
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 7:48:00 GMT -5
It's likely the ferret has cardiomyopathy due to genetics. But yes, oral hygeine issues can affect the heart.
cardiomyopathy is common in ferrets. Great advice on the taurine and co-Q10. As previously stated, cardiomyopathy tends to result in accumulation of fluid. Sometimes the body may try to get rid of the extra fluid in the form of diarrhea. Treatment generally involves the use of a diruretic-type of drug such as digoxin
Again, Cardiom. tends to be genetic. As far as prevention goes, taurine and Co-Q0 may help a bit as your ferret gets older. Your vet should be listening to your ferrets' hearts - a ferret vet should be able to detect arrythmia's, weakness, rapid heart beat, etc.
Most cardiom.'s result in a generalized enlarged hart. Some result in thickened heart walls without enlargement. The heart may not "weaken" across all areas of the organ (i.e, weakness in one chamber first) at the same rate, although this seems to be less common.
Ferrets with cardio can live for years on meds. One of my first 2 boys had cardiom. (the thick heart walls rather than enlargement - he never needed meds. He lived for about two years after being diagnosed, and he died from other causes.)
-jennifer
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 27, 2011 14:33:53 GMT -5
Thanks Jennifer. You know, I am surprised that out of ALL the members on here, there are only THREE of us that have dealt with cardiomyopathy?! I think what Heather said may be absolutely true-- this may be something that is very often missed!!
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2011 17:39:19 GMT -5
The cardio usually hits later in life whan ferrets may be dealing with other issues - so perhaps it does go undiagnosed. My wonderful, now-retired ( ) vet was really good with ferret exams - he could hear and/or feel things other vets missed. It is possible that a lot of cases go undetected. Not all cardiomyopathy cases get really bad. My boy's problem never got bad enough for him to require med. lets hope th same holds true for your case. -jennifer
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 28, 2011 17:57:54 GMT -5
Thanks. Bear is not my ferret. my cardiomyopathy fert passed away over 10 yrs ago.
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Post by vivalastephiex on May 30, 2011 0:07:40 GMT -5
I want to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback. I am Bear's mama and I appreciate all of the comments. He has his appointment on June 3rd and I plan to bring all of his questions to the cardiologist. Unfortunately I do not think my ferret vet is a ferret savvy as I would like because of the referral. I think she had originally missed the arrhythmia as she had missed a heart murmur I had picked up in my older man, Mr.Pinks. He is an absolutely wonderful vet and I do appreciate the referral. I also wanted to add that Bear did have a coughing fit but I realized later it was related to eating too fast and choking on a piece of kibble. I had been worried after it because he had been very scared after the fit. However, there have been no coughing fits since. I am suspecting he may be early adrenal (though this has not be confirmed yet) so after we figure out how he is doing heart wise, I plan to get him a melatonin implant and discuss his spleen with my primary vet. Thank you everyone again and a large amount of love and thanks to Miamiferret2 . Edit: Bear's teeth are in very good condition. He does have a very small amount of tartar on his back molars and one of his front canines but I do brush them. I have planned to start increasing the regimen based on his possible condition. My vet only performs tooth scaling with anesthesia or else I would have gone that route. I had a question I also ran by MiamiFerret2, do they give anesthesia/sedative for a wiggly ferret during an ultrasound? Bear is very wiggly with people he doesn't know and I would feel uncomfortable with him being given a sedative unless absolutely necessary.
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 30, 2011 0:22:44 GMT -5
Welcome to the HFF Stephie!! They will probably give him some ketamine for the ultrasound as he does need to be still. They will probably ask you if they can shave him so they can get a more clear view. I didn't let them shave once and I don't think it made any difference. It is awesome that you were able to catch this on your own with bear and Mr. Pinks! I think heart problems are probably missed a lot of times. I've been meaning to ask do you have a stethescope? I think Bear can have a normal life as long as you are proactive and treat it early which by the looks of it that's what you are doing. And, even if your vet isn't as ferret savvy as you'd like, at least she did the right thing and referred bear to a cardiologist! She also listened to your concerns which is awesome. My vet humors me but he rolls his eyes all the time (we love him though he's such a nice guy). Someone else here used her and they also said that she is very nice.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jun 11, 2011 14:47:05 GMT -5
BTW everyone, Bear saw the cardiologist yesterday and he has a clean bill of health. great news. my Lemmy had an enlarged heart on x-rays (it was large and shaped like a boot) but ekg's and ultrasounds showed no problems. his heart was pumping fine and he was over 7 yrs old. weird. anyway, alls well that ends well.
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Post by Sherry on Jun 11, 2011 17:45:12 GMT -5
Oh, that's excellent news She must be SO very happy!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 18:00:49 GMT -5
Good to hear
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