Post by joclyn on May 29, 2011 0:37:52 GMT -5
finola had a blockage today.
when i was putting them out to play, she was irritated/grumpy and grunted as i picked her up. i always do a quick butt check first thing - just a habit i got in to when boo had a prolapse and since then i just check everyone every day and i also check the girls for enlarged vulva's.
anyhoo, what i saw on her... that smiley covers it perfectly!
her anus was SO enlarged it made ME hurt. i could see something there, although, it sure didn't look like poo or even fur. i wasn't even sure it was a bit of something from the colon or if she had a prolapse that showed up and got majorly infected within the past day.
so, i put her down and go call a vet...one office was already closed for the day, so, i called the other one. only one ferret vet there and she wasn't working so the girl gave me the # for an er clinic. the other vet always has someone on-call, so i called there first.
not even 10 minutes for them to page & him to call me and she was back to normal - had a completely normal-looking anus (no redness or inflamation). no stool or furball anywhere tho - and i'd know because i left her in the play area by herself. so, we talked about it for a bit and decided i'd just monitor her and call again if needed.
couple hours later, she presented as kind of prolapsed and was red/irritated and i could see some bit of fur sticking out.
this time, she actually passed a few chunks of something by the time he called me (was almost 20 minutes this time). so, that was good.
she was flat-out though and not responding to me (she usually runs over and jumps to be picked up; is always very clingy with me). and she also was moving away from me when i tried to pick her up to take a look while i was on the phone with him - that's not anywhere near her normal.
so, he says he'll meet me at the office.
as i'm getting ready (had to change out of 'yardwork clothes' ) she passed another couple small bits. still was flat and avoided being picked up by going into the tube. during the car ride she perked up a bit - once she got over her shock, i guess - she'd been giving me that wide-eyed scared look from inside the carrier when she wasn't all flat.
now, what came out of her was fur. not a ton; a good amount though. and, it was wrapped around bits/pieces of hard stuff - some small bits of bone, a gp claw, some little seed-like things i couldn't id, etc. all this 'stuff' was extremely dry and the fur that was around the outer part was moist-ish or pretty moist. a couple of the chunks were on the dry side - especially the first couple that came out. she passed 6 separate chunks of varying sizes & lengths.
what i think happened was the first one coming out was sideways initially and it was just too big to pass (plus it was really dry) and once it was pulled back in and the muscles worked on it a bit it was either reshaped or broken apart into smaller chunks.
anyhoo, thank goodness she passed them! he didn't feel anything else in her - except for gas and he confirmed that by waiting a bit and examining her again.
she was also pretty much back to her normal self, too - from the time he said to come in to when we got there was over an hour and i was there for more than an hour, so, plenty enough time for her to rebound, i guess. he definitely felt gas, he said - said it moved and wasn't stiff/hard like a block would be...and she had a movement while we were still at the vets and that was within the range of normal considering what she's eaten the past day or two.
so, here we are. i'm SO surprised she had any kind of blockage - she's NEVER had one before! not even back in the day before i started using pumpkin (she was about 2 1/2 when i started using that instead of vaseline for furball preventive). and since her diet is now mostly prey, i'd not think this could occur!!
i'm not completely sure if all the fur was hers or if some was from the gp's. regardless, this is recent stuff and not any kind of furball from previous since if it was that old, it would have been calcified and wouldn't have had the various bone and other bits wrapped up inside.
so, what now? i've not been giving pumpkin too often and didn't give any with this last shed (and not much, if any - can't remember - with the shed last fall).
should i still be giving pumpkin?
or should i up bones??
admittedly, i have been a bit short with giving the bone items i usually do this past month. had not many wings left and for some reason they were extremely expensive, so i didn't get more (they were double usual price) and i've used up the chicken necks and turkey necks she can't deal with (although most of the boys can), so, instead of getting a bone item 2x a week, it's been 1x and i've been giving the 4X gp's and largest size quail more often instead.
i'd finally just bought wings friday night and have to call the butcher tuesday to order chicken wings.
she DOES eat bones - maybe not as much as she could or should. chicken wings she'll only eat the smaller ones and only if someone else starts it and gets it opened up first. she DOES go for the gp's and quail and rabbit though - eats their feet and legs and eats the rib cages, too.
i am really floored that this happened - would never have thought it could on a prey diet what with all the fur & feathers and bones they take in (although, granted, the bones aren't all that substantial even in a 2 lb gp, they are pretty good in the same size of rabbit and the rcgh bones are pretty decent).
so, what modification do i need to make to the diet to avoid this from occuring again??
when i was putting them out to play, she was irritated/grumpy and grunted as i picked her up. i always do a quick butt check first thing - just a habit i got in to when boo had a prolapse and since then i just check everyone every day and i also check the girls for enlarged vulva's.
anyhoo, what i saw on her... that smiley covers it perfectly!
her anus was SO enlarged it made ME hurt. i could see something there, although, it sure didn't look like poo or even fur. i wasn't even sure it was a bit of something from the colon or if she had a prolapse that showed up and got majorly infected within the past day.
so, i put her down and go call a vet...one office was already closed for the day, so, i called the other one. only one ferret vet there and she wasn't working so the girl gave me the # for an er clinic. the other vet always has someone on-call, so i called there first.
not even 10 minutes for them to page & him to call me and she was back to normal - had a completely normal-looking anus (no redness or inflamation). no stool or furball anywhere tho - and i'd know because i left her in the play area by herself. so, we talked about it for a bit and decided i'd just monitor her and call again if needed.
couple hours later, she presented as kind of prolapsed and was red/irritated and i could see some bit of fur sticking out.
this time, she actually passed a few chunks of something by the time he called me (was almost 20 minutes this time). so, that was good.
she was flat-out though and not responding to me (she usually runs over and jumps to be picked up; is always very clingy with me). and she also was moving away from me when i tried to pick her up to take a look while i was on the phone with him - that's not anywhere near her normal.
so, he says he'll meet me at the office.
as i'm getting ready (had to change out of 'yardwork clothes' ) she passed another couple small bits. still was flat and avoided being picked up by going into the tube. during the car ride she perked up a bit - once she got over her shock, i guess - she'd been giving me that wide-eyed scared look from inside the carrier when she wasn't all flat.
now, what came out of her was fur. not a ton; a good amount though. and, it was wrapped around bits/pieces of hard stuff - some small bits of bone, a gp claw, some little seed-like things i couldn't id, etc. all this 'stuff' was extremely dry and the fur that was around the outer part was moist-ish or pretty moist. a couple of the chunks were on the dry side - especially the first couple that came out. she passed 6 separate chunks of varying sizes & lengths.
what i think happened was the first one coming out was sideways initially and it was just too big to pass (plus it was really dry) and once it was pulled back in and the muscles worked on it a bit it was either reshaped or broken apart into smaller chunks.
anyhoo, thank goodness she passed them! he didn't feel anything else in her - except for gas and he confirmed that by waiting a bit and examining her again.
she was also pretty much back to her normal self, too - from the time he said to come in to when we got there was over an hour and i was there for more than an hour, so, plenty enough time for her to rebound, i guess. he definitely felt gas, he said - said it moved and wasn't stiff/hard like a block would be...and she had a movement while we were still at the vets and that was within the range of normal considering what she's eaten the past day or two.
so, here we are. i'm SO surprised she had any kind of blockage - she's NEVER had one before! not even back in the day before i started using pumpkin (she was about 2 1/2 when i started using that instead of vaseline for furball preventive). and since her diet is now mostly prey, i'd not think this could occur!!
i'm not completely sure if all the fur was hers or if some was from the gp's. regardless, this is recent stuff and not any kind of furball from previous since if it was that old, it would have been calcified and wouldn't have had the various bone and other bits wrapped up inside.
so, what now? i've not been giving pumpkin too often and didn't give any with this last shed (and not much, if any - can't remember - with the shed last fall).
should i still be giving pumpkin?
or should i up bones??
admittedly, i have been a bit short with giving the bone items i usually do this past month. had not many wings left and for some reason they were extremely expensive, so i didn't get more (they were double usual price) and i've used up the chicken necks and turkey necks she can't deal with (although most of the boys can), so, instead of getting a bone item 2x a week, it's been 1x and i've been giving the 4X gp's and largest size quail more often instead.
i'd finally just bought wings friday night and have to call the butcher tuesday to order chicken wings.
she DOES eat bones - maybe not as much as she could or should. chicken wings she'll only eat the smaller ones and only if someone else starts it and gets it opened up first. she DOES go for the gp's and quail and rabbit though - eats their feet and legs and eats the rib cages, too.
i am really floored that this happened - would never have thought it could on a prey diet what with all the fur & feathers and bones they take in (although, granted, the bones aren't all that substantial even in a 2 lb gp, they are pretty good in the same size of rabbit and the rcgh bones are pretty decent).
so, what modification do i need to make to the diet to avoid this from occuring again??