|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 6:14:54 GMT -5
A couple of days ago, I adopted a ~2 year old male, Meeko. A girl responded to my post on Craigslist looking for a FN143 and said that her mother, Meeko's owner, had passed away (she was an older lady), and the ferret had been left in her care. She did not know how to care for a ferret nor did she want to, and asked if I'd be interested in taking him. I don't know how long the ferret was in her care, but it's obvious that she was not taking care of him. He's skinny and he stinks, and his nails were LONG. I cleaned him up well and have been working at getting him to eat some duk soup, but he refuses everything, so right now he's eating some 8-in-1 kibble while I work at it. The first 2 days I've had him, he did fantastically. He dooked and dooked and dooked and had a blast exploring the house and playing with my other boy, Dexter. I'd never seen a happier ferret. Last night, however, when I went to get them all up to play, he came out of the cage, wandered over to my laundry bin, and went back to sleep. I put him back in the cage and about an hour later he projectile vomited (brown and watery) all over the wall. I cleaned it up well and he immediately went back to sleep. It's morning now, about 12 hours later, and he's not vomited again, but twice now he's made that hacking sound like he's trying to. The girl who was keeping him was feeding him bargain bin cat food that you can get at Walgreens for $4. My first thought was perhaps he is having a rough time adjusting, but he has become rather lethargic and I'm very worried. His stools are normal and he IS eating the kibble along with a little bit of FerretVite. My second thought was a blockage. I've checked all their toys and nothing is broken or torn. Blankies are fine. I haven't seen him chewing on anything and there's nothing in my room for him to get into (my room is practically empty thanks to the kits), plus his stools are normal. I'm not sure if this warrants an emergency vet visit or should I wait for my normal vet? After Aveline I'm very very scared.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on May 22, 2011 10:49:07 GMT -5
I don't like the lethargy but it's not uncommon for ferrets to come down with a stomach upset upon a change of household even if the change appears to go without issue. He may have come down with a flu bug that he may have contracted either when he was out or when he got to your place. One of the reasons for the 2 week quarantine that is suggested. He's had a huge number of changes all at once. You say he's eating and pooping without issue? Just sleeping a lot? Do you have some hairball remedy on hand? pumpkin? I would be tempted to try that and keep a close eye on him for further stomach issues. It may be just a lot of changes all at once. Watch for dehydration and if at any point you feel he needs to go to the vet do so. It's always far better to be safe than sorry ciao
|
|
|
Post by Sherry on May 22, 2011 11:25:38 GMT -5
I was just rereading about the "refeeding" syndrome(in ferret health resources). Do you think they simply weren't feeding this little one? Or not enough, maybe? It's possible it's just going to take some time for him to get used to what you are giving him.
|
|
|
Post by suds on May 22, 2011 12:51:42 GMT -5
I don't like the lethargy like Heather said .. what are you feeding him ? did you start straight to new foods or mixed with his kibble he is used to ? upset tummy with newer rich foods can cause upset tummies .. it also takes the body a little time to learn how to proccess the protiens if its been poorly fed for long peroids of time..
Hopefully he just was not used to so much activity and his little body needs a time to regroup like whith us Humans if we have a few days of excitement and doing allot of physical activity we are not used to we take a down day or 2 to recover .. we do the same if our tummies are not feeling well too
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 13:31:38 GMT -5
The night I brought him home, I started off with soup with some kibbles mixed in because kibbles are what he's used to. He gobbled up the kibbles and didn't touch the soup. I tried the scruff & stuff method just once because I didn't want to overly stress it, he licked the soup off my fingers but wouldn't go back for more. I left the plate in the cage with him over night but I wasn't able to discern whether or not he had any, but I assume not. The next day I tried again, soup with some kibble. Again, gobbled the kibble, left the soup. Tried to scruff & stuff again, he licked it off my fingers but wouldn't go back for more. I gave him a pea sized amount of FerretVite, and left a dozen or so kibbles in the cage. We played most of the day and he had a blast with the kits, the whole day he seemed fine. Played, dooked, danced, wrestled with the kits. I put them up in the cage in the afternoon (They are separated). When he woke later in the evening is when he started acting strange. I let them out of the cage but that's when he went to my laundry bin and went back to sleep. I figured he wasn't ready to play so I put him back in the cage and he vomited. I woke him this morning at about 10am to try to get him to eat, he had a few licks of soup off my finger and vomited it back up 2 minutes later. I left it alone and let him sleep. About 30 minutes ago (1pm), I got him up again to try and get him to drink. He drank a good amount and went back to sleep and has kept it down. I'm not sure if I should keep trying to get him to eat, or just let him ride it out. He drinks okay, and his poops still look okay, he just wants to do nothing but sleep. I want to keep checking on him though, fearful he won't wake up.
|
|
|
Post by suds on May 22, 2011 13:48:03 GMT -5
has he tried just plain kibble today ? what is in the soupie ? I wondering if something in the soup is upsetting his tummy or if its just stress from the new inviroment possible elcer , ibd , I am sure Heather and sherry can help more on this I honestly have not had much exp with IBD or elcers with ferrets
because he is throwing up and being a kibble kid I would be concerned about dehydration and would start giveing him pedylite (none flavered) instead of just water ... for now and if dont improve get him to a vet tomorrow to be checked
|
|
|
Post by Heather on May 22, 2011 14:06:42 GMT -5
I"m now very concerned. I don't like the fact that he's not been able to keep anything down except the water. I would start a regime of waking him and giving him fluids every hour or so. He's a kibble brat and cannot tolerate this type of vomiting. He will dehydrate very quickly. You need to grab yourself a syringe that is clearly marked so that you can measure fluids in. You will also need to keep a log sheet. You've got a couple of options going on here...they go from the very scary to the oh poop levels. The oh poos first, he could be stressed and it's his body reacting to the stress. Solution: RR (rescue remedy) push fluids and soupy. Rush to vet is dehydrated Another possibility: virus of some sort...it knocks their whole immune system to change homes and food. Solution: same as above. Another possibility...his body reacting to the new food. He's eaten nothing but crap in a bag, you're offering him better food. It may just be too rich. His stomach is reacting with total rejection. I usually see disgusting liquid poops. Solution again is the same as above. Same as the issue regarding a possible allergy to some of the contents in your kibble. The other issue the emergency issue.... a blockage. It doesn't have to have been in your house. A rolling blockage comes and goes. He could have eaten something at his old home and you will know nothing about it. Solution: vaseline or ferret lax and pumpkin. If nothing....emergency run to the vet. No matter what happens if you decide that it's not an emergency this little one needs a vet work up on Mon. ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 14:15:25 GMT -5
Keeping Meeko in my prayers. Hope it's nothing serious
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 19:48:16 GMT -5
Thankfully I had a syringe laying around from my old Chihuahua, so I've been doing as you suggested Heather. He hates it but he's kept the water down and even got up to walk around the cage a bit earlier. He snorkeled in the water dish for a bit, drank some water on his own and played in their crinkle tunnel for a minute or two before going back to sleep. I hope that's a good sign.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on May 22, 2011 20:01:57 GMT -5
Has he eaten anything? You can try babyfood which can be diluted enough to be syringe fed (when I do this I often use a broth mixture so that they're getting fluids and nutrition) ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 20:33:11 GMT -5
I got him to eat about 1/2 tsp of pumpkin earlier and he kept it down. I mixed up a very small batch of chicken soupies, not much but about 3 tsp and he's picking at it slowly. He's also up and walking around right now, he's not really playing per se, his movements look a bit slow, but he is in my closet pushing toys around and exploring. That's a big step up from this morning when he really wasn't even moving.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on May 22, 2011 21:34:52 GMT -5
He may have had a virus. Such stress can compromise a little one's immune system. A little one becoming sick right after a rescue isn't uncommon ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 23:16:12 GMT -5
While he is walking around my room, I have noticed that he seems a little wobbly, like he's having difficulty controlling his balance. He keeps pawing at stuff and burying his head under objects (blankies mostly). If he comes out of the cage, he goes straight to my closet. He'll push the toys in there around for a minute, then lays down on the wood floor in a corner and go to sleep. Now I'm wondering if the little bugger has insulinoma. If I can't get him into the vet asap in the morning I'm gonna have to take him to the animal hospital. I'm also wondering.. if he does have insulinoma, and I didn't know about it, could the FerretVite that I'd been giving him perhaps make it worse?
|
|
|
Post by Heather on May 23, 2011 1:26:05 GMT -5
He's been a long time without real sustinence he may just be really hungry but those are signs of nausea. He could have a ulcer (I'm feeling like a broken record on this one ) or you could have scored it right and he's insulinomic. Either way....a trip to the vet absolute necessity. Both issues need to be dealt with ASAP. ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 24, 2011 16:46:02 GMT -5
Well Meeko had his vet appointment yesterday afternoon. He tested negative for insulinoma and his ultrasound didn't reveal anything funny either. So although it could have been any number of things, he appears to slowly be getting better. He isn't really as active as he was when I first seen him, but he is playing a little bit again. He bounces up and down the hallway and is exploring for longer periods of time, each time he's out of the cage. I've been having to syringe feed him chicken soupies because he won't eat anything else voluntarily, but he does gobble it up when it goes in his mouth and is keeping everything down. He's still drinking and pooping just fine. I hope this trend continues! I hate syringe feeding, I feel so horrible. Thanks for all your input guys, I really appreciate it. Please keep him in your thoughts.. hes got a long way to go yet.
|
|