GI Issues?

[Deleted]

So the past week or so I've been starting to wonder if perhaps Olivia has something gastro-intestinal going on.

Maybe it's my experience with my own irritable bowel disease or perhaps I'm just being a little paranoid but here's what's going on:

Olivia has vomitted 3 times in the past week/week and a half. The first time I posted about was her bouncing around on my bed right after eating vomitting so I didn't worry too much. The second time happened a few days later and same scenario, had just eaten and was running through tubes like crazy and vomitted. The third time was just the other day and I don't know for 100% sure it was Olivia because I just found the vomit in the room.

All 3 times it has been undigested food and skin. She has never vomitted in the cage... at least I don't think so...

However the past 2 days I have found some very strange looking stools in the litter box. They are very light, mucousy and even a bit pink (although it looked more like pink chicken meat rather than bright red blood in the stool). Now I'm honestly not sure if this was poop or puke or who did it but it seemed too sticky and mucousy to be puke.

Here's the thing though, the rest of the poops are perfect. With the exception of the heart and organ poops, the rest have been formed, nice in colour and no strange things in them. And they both seem 100% healthy otherwise with the exception of Olivia still having a touch of a cough/hacking sounds some nights, but not every night.

I have a vet appointment Thursday night to be safe but I'm just wondering could this be a GI issue? Or I guess what are the possibilities of what it could be?

I've been trying not to over-analyze stool because they really haven't been on raw long but the poop/puke hybrid in the litter box worries me, as does the vomitting.

The other question is... what kind of tests should I have run at the vet? What questions do I need to ask?

I've been reading up on the IBD threads and about other GI issues but I'm still at a loss and just wanted to ask for some advice

[Heather]

Has she been pawing at her face and mouth? particularly after eating. Grinding her teeth? Rubbing her face in her blankies or litter diving? These are all signs of nausea, which might point to an ulcer or upset stomach of sorts. I've had organ rich poops come through totally undigested (similar to what you describe) especially in newly switched ferrets whose digestive tract is still fighting to deal with the richer proteins and the blood. This sometimes goes through too fast. I would be keeping a log about who is having problems and when and what food or mixture of foods was eaten that day. This way you can work out if you've got a possible protein sensitivity.
Just a few thoughts to consider
ciao

[katt]

Agreed. Also it is possible that she has a chicken sensitivity. It's relatively common in ferrets.

[Sherry]

Could be either of the above, but keeping a log is definitely your best bet. That way, you know if there is a trigger. It may simply be that she needs the organ split over the week rather than one or two meals of it.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the suggestion guys, I'll start keeping a log to see if I can figure it out. There's been no more vomitting so who knows maybe it was just some meat that didn't agree with her.

I might just have split the organ up, but the thing is it seems to take the girls a few days to recover from organ and heart poop-wise so I don't want them having to recover more than once a week.

As far as pawing at the mouth, litter diving and face rubbing - haven't really noticed these. I have caught them both chewing on their nails which I clipped recently but I read that this was just grooming. Also I have caught Olivia rolling around in her litter and sliding her whole body across the carpet, but Sophie does the same thing and it seems to me like they both just do it because it feels good?

I will keep the log for the next week or so and see if I can figure it out. They've been eating chicken-based foods since the beginning so it seems weird that the sensitivity would be so sudden and sporadic but who knows.

Hopefully it's just their little bodies getting used to the raw and not a GI issue or sensitivity!

[Sherry]

The thing with the organ, is it's really rich. By splitting across several days, they aren't getting as heavy a dose, so shouldn't take any time to "recover".
Although they shouldn't have to recover from it at all. A few loose, tarry poops are the norm. What's happening besides that?

[Deleted]

I was talking about their poops recovering, not the ferrets themselves ;D

And they are just black, mucousy and loose like you said.

Although I gave the girls pork meat and some pork hearts last night and Olivia's poop today is really liquidy and there's not as much coming out of her as normal

So it seems like heart doesn't agree with her either.

Do you think I should be giving hearts and organs split out over a few meals during the week, but give them with bone-in meats instead of muscle meats to help balance out the runny poops?

I gave them chicken necks and wings to help balance out the pork hearts this morning, but they ate so much pork they weren't hungry enough to eat them until now. So I'll see if her poops improve over night or not.

[Sherry]

Any heart is really blood rich, and you are going to see the black stool. It might just take some time for their bodies to adapt to it. If it's a concern for you, then yes, feed it over several days, instead of a single meal. I'd be hesitant about upping the bone too much, because they can get an imbalance going the other way as well.

[Deleted]

Good to know, thank you!

Hopefully they just need more time to adjust. I keep forgetting this is only like their second or third meals of hearts and organs now that I've got an actual meal plan going, so I think I just need to be patient ;D

Olivia hasn't vomitted again so hopefully that was just an anomale.