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Post by storm on Oct 18, 2020 8:54:07 GMT -5
Little Bear has what appears to be some sort bacterial infection in her digestive system. At least that's what we think it is. She started getting finicky about eating her soup and didn't think too much of it at first because she is a picky eater. Her behavior was overall was normal and she wasn't rejecting her food, just on and off picky. Then it got worse with her hardly wanting to eat, even soup which she loves. When drinking water she would shake her head, gag and paw at her mouth. Offering her warm water rather than room temperature helps but she would still have this reaction. I scheduled an appointment at her vet thinking that she had a bad tooth or something. However great big globs of green poop soon dispelled that assumption. Tests showed excessive amounts of bacteria in her stools but not much else. We have her on antibiotics and critical care and she's going back on Tuesday. Meanwhile she still eats just not as much. I have to encourage her to eat and offer her warm water in my hand to encourage drinking. She will still do so some on her own but not enough. This is a couple of clips of her drinking warm water. The first clip is a mild reaction with her just working her mouth and shaking her head with Snowball getting in the way. The next is a bigger reaction which she always gets to eventually even when drinking starts out well. fb.watch/1b-ONXgFEH/I don't think that it could be ECE as she had it before when she was young. Does anyone know what this is or know what might help? She has been on antibiotics for about two days now but is about the same.
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Post by aliandcookie on Oct 18, 2020 11:29:28 GMT -5
What do you guys feed her? Maybe she ate something that upset her tummy like a nasty old piece of meat she stashed somewhere for a little too long. I’d say just keep an eye on her. It’s probably just an infection of some sort and her antibiotics should help. If she’s having trouble staying hydrated I’ve heard you can give ferret’s a 50/50 water, unflavored pedialite mix to help them stay hydrated. Best of luck to you and your little fuzzy.
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Post by storm on Oct 18, 2020 17:25:41 GMT -5
I feed my girls raw once a day when I get home from work and they have a bowl of kibble all day. I don't think that she could have hidden anything as I always feed them their meat in the bathroom and clean up anything leftover afterwards. I'll try getting some pedialite to help with hydration. I'm regularly encouraging her to drink and eat. I have the critical care and I've been making a kibble soup out of Wysong digestion support. She's still eating but obviously not feeling well.
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Post by aliandcookie on Oct 19, 2020 13:55:46 GMT -5
I’ve heard that feeding a mix of raw and kibble can upset tummies but I’m not sure if I believe that myself. If the antibiotics don’t seem to do her any good after awhile or if she’s getting worse you should probably take her back into the vet. Maybe just put her on soapies for a few days and see if that helps. I sometimes give my ferret a raw egg yolk if he has weird poops to help clean out the system.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Oct 20, 2020 6:16:11 GMT -5
I could not see video but has your vet seen the video and has she said anything about an ultrasound?
I hope you can find some answers
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Post by storm on Oct 20, 2020 7:53:18 GMT -5
aliandcookie she's going back later today. I have started to just give her soup every time she wakes up as she eats that easier but she never eats enough for a healthy ferret. abbeytheferret6 I'll see if I can repost the video. The vet did see another video but I'm going to show her this one too. I'll ask for an ultrasound this visit because now I'm worried that it might be something worse. The antibiotics aren't causing any positive change.
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Post by unclejoe on Oct 20, 2020 13:53:34 GMT -5
Oh no, no Little Bear. I hope she gets better. I know helicobacter can be tough to fix, and the greenies make me think ECE, but they usually screen for that don't they? Keeping you in our thoughts.
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Post by storm on Oct 20, 2020 20:20:17 GMT -5
unclejoe Thank you. X-rays showed some gas throughout her intestines but nothing else to explain what was wrong. We have her on a stronger antibiotic and a medication used for insulinoma. While she's not showing all the signs of it some of the symptoms match and the medication usually helps increase appetite. We're going to try this for a week and then see if there is any improvement.
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Post by unclejoe on Oct 20, 2020 20:25:51 GMT -5
did you get a BG done? i guess the gas could be explained by a bacterial overgrowth, but I was hoping there would be an ID of the bacterium so the ABX could be more specific. Give Bear a hug for me
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Post by Charlie on Oct 21, 2020 0:59:27 GMT -5
I've read that feeding kibble and raw can cause upset tummies since they need different digestive enzymes to break down the different foods. How long after the raw food do you put the kibble back in the cage with them? I read that there should be at least 4 hours between feeding one food and the other.
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Post by storm on Oct 21, 2020 9:34:16 GMT -5
unclejoe I'm not sure all the test they did but I didn't get an exact ID on the bacteria. She'll be going back in for a check up or more tests next week depending oh how she is doing. She seems to be a little better and eating a bit more but more. Charlie They have their own room and I've never taken the kibble out between feeding. Usually they don't bother with kibble for quite some time after eating raw as it fills them up much more than kibble. This has been their normal diet for more than two years now without problems. I don't think it would suddenly cause an issue but I can try it. I'm not able to go to full raw right now but I don't want them to only have kibble. I've had issues with hydration before and having some raw on a regular basis helped.
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Post by unclejoe on Oct 21, 2020 17:16:43 GMT -5
Hang in there. some bacteria take longer to knock down. If she is on abx for a second round, look into giving her probiotics because the abx might kill off some of the good bacteria needed for digestion. I'm not a vet but I'm interested in knowing the ID of the bacteria as well as the abx and whatever she is getting for insulinoma. It might be on your vet report, but if not you can request it over the phone and get it by email. Prednisolone should be for insulinoma until it gets hard to control with just pred, then diazoxide, which is more expensive. Mind you, we have had ferrets with insu on pred for over 2 years. I feel like I know little Bear and want to help all I can.
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Post by storm on Oct 21, 2020 19:58:30 GMT -5
unclejoe Thank you. I feel the same way with some of the ferrets that I see on here. Little Bear was a little more active this evening and I was able to get her to eat more by sitting with her and handing her kibble piece by piece. It may just be a long process like you said. I looked on her paperwork that I have and there was no ID for the bacteria so they may not have identified it. I'll check with them though. Whatever it is though, I just want it gone. I'll look into probiotics for her. The medicine for Insulinoma is Pred and the antibiotic is called metronidazole. I also have tiny pills for nausea that I have to trick her into taking. They seem to help but not completely removing the nausea.
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Post by Charlie on Oct 21, 2020 21:38:02 GMT -5
Hmmm. Your fuzzies aren't completely raw? What stage are they at? From what I am understanding you have been feeding them raw but keeping kibble between feedings? I'm curious, why have you been doing that? Because of the insulinoma?
If you have been feeding them like that for a while now then it may not be what caused it.
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Post by unclejoe on Oct 22, 2020 12:49:25 GMT -5
unclejoe Thank you. I feel the same way with some of the ferrets that I see on here. Little Bear was a little more active this evening and I was able to get her to eat more by sitting with her and handing her kibble piece by piece. It may just be a long process like you said. I looked on her paperwork that I have and there was no ID for the bacteria so they may not have identified it. I'll check with them though. Whatever it is though, I just want it gone. I'll look into probiotics for her. The medicine for Insulinoma is Pred and the antibiotic is called metronidazole. I also have tiny pills for nausea that I have to trick her into taking. They seem to help but not completely removing the nausea. The metro is also known as Baytril and it is a broad spectrum anti-biotic commonly given to ferrets, as it treats several types of bacteria and protozoa. If you know all of this tell me to shut up and I will. Keep doing what you're doing.
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