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Post by katt on Feb 10, 2011 4:35:26 GMT -5
Well, here it goes again! Koda doesn't seem to be well. He doesn't seem sick but he doesn't seem well either. I just can't put my finger on it.... he was gagging a lot last night so I gave both of the boys some Vaseline because they are - I thought - shedding. Now I am not 100% sure though. They might not be. Well, tonight Koda was gagging again. But no sign of throwing up. We all got home tonight and I put them in their cage while I went to go clean up some stuff - including the feeding den. I came back and Koda was eating something. I recently found goat meat and got all excited thinking he was eating it, so I looked closer...and I have no clue what it was. On the cage floor in front of him was this huge, pinky, mushy puddle. And he was Eating it! It almost seems like he threw up...but why would he eat it? I had offered him some FD Duck Duck Goose (which he likes) and he stashed it but didn't eat it. I tried feeding him some other meats (Guinea Hen commercial ground, and goat chunks) and he ate a few bites, then was no longer interested, but when I put him back in the cage...he ran right back to where the pink slop had been (I cleaned it up). I have NO diea what this stuff was. Last night I fed them some ground lamb (was untouched in it's dish in their feeding den, rabbit kits, and goat chunks. NOTHING that equates to a pink mushy puddle. did he throw up? Pink? What else could it have been? Also, I am REALLY concerned about his weight. I can't tell if he is getting skinny, or if it just seems that way because Kenai is getting fatter. Before when it was just Koda, I had nothing to compare him to and he always seemed the same. Now it is jsut a different dynamic entirely. Also, as I mentioned in my other thread, his tail seems really thin and stringy. It makes me feel uneasy - I have NO idea what could make his tail thin...and it is def not adrenal/rat tail kind of thin... I will try to get a picture. OK Update: Pictures! You can see partway down it gets skinnier much faster. Almost abruptly... You can see where it happens where the tail becomes more black. Sorry my light is broken so all I had was a ridiculously bright, but small lamp. So the lighting is terrible. Compared to Kenai's tail... Koda has always been slender, but this tail thing concerns me...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 6:15:23 GMT -5
You could always take him to the vet for an x-ray to rule out any blockage. I had to do that the other day for my girl Midna when she started gagging and threw up. We didn't see anything. She's fine now.
You know, I caught my other ferret chewing on a who-knows-how-old chunk of chicken she had stashed someplace. Maybe he had been working on a piece of "jerky" and it had gotten wet?
As for the tail, all I can think of is over-grooming. Any change in a ferret's life can bring it on, and they can chew off alot of fur making it look like hairloss. I'm not a vet, tho, and it never hurts to have a checkup.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 10:04:51 GMT -5
Poor Koda. I'm in a similar boat with Pixie. Watch to see if he's eating/drinking/pooing normally. If anything seems off, take him in.
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Post by katt on Feb 10, 2011 13:53:47 GMT -5
oskimosa - sadly I am all too familiar with signs of a blockage. *shakes head* and Koda is notorious for being a chewer so it would not surprise me. However, this time I do not believe that is the issue. He is pooping fine for one. And coughing aside, the thing that worries me the most is how skinny his tail is. I don't think it is from over grooming as I never see him grooming his tail (or Kenai grooming it). I will update my post with some pics I uploaded last night...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 14:03:07 GMT -5
Could he just be shedding?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 14:03:24 GMT -5
If he's COUGHING and not just gagging, I'd start checking for certain things, like discharge from the nose. I had a ferret who would get the flu every flu season. Are your ferrets on heartworm preventative? Coughing and gagging are both signs of that. That skinniness on the tail... it really looks as if he hasn't LOST hair on his tail, the hairs just look SHORT, making the whole thing look skinny. He has dark hair so it will be hard to tell but are you familiar with rattail? Is that a possibility?
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Post by katt on Feb 10, 2011 14:48:55 GMT -5
It is not rat tail or adrenal. And we have no heartworm in Alaska. Too cold. (Mwaahahahaha!) I will check his nose again tonight, but when I gave out goodbye kisses before leaving his nose seemed clear. But then I wasn't looking specifically...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 15:09:58 GMT -5
It looks like shedding to me, like he shed from his tail first and that makes it look skinny compared to everything else, the fur doesn't look thin so much as short. Akiko's going through her shed as well, and she always sheds one body part at a time so she starts looking very patchwork between her long and short hair sections (usually torso, then tail, then legs, then head/neck). For some reason her head usually goes last so she has about a week of looking like a long, skinny lion. I hope it's something simple like that!
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Post by sherik on Feb 10, 2011 15:21:21 GMT -5
yeah I would think it just looks like he is shedding. Lily gets that sometimes. Her tail usually sheds first, so she has all these short hairs.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 17:30:20 GMT -5
Paulie sheds his tail first--long before the rest of his fur. And he does have a hard time with the fur from his shed. This last time he was on Amox and metrodozinole. He coughed for a month, I swear, poor guy. With his IBD definitely keep an eye on the shed--that always sets the Paulster off.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2011 23:49:02 GMT -5
Dogs barf and slurp it up all he time The tail does not worry me. It looks like a "summer tail" with some under coat remaining at the base of the tail . The coughing is probably from ingesting fur. It's shedding season right now, so be sure to add some of the extra virgin olive oil daily (or vaseline/laxatone, etc.) the coughing is most likely one of two things: fur in the throat or acid reflux. Remember that ferrets (even neutered males and females) experience a hormonal spike this time of year, they are shedding, losing weight, and their bodies are trying to prepare for mating and competitive behavior to carry on the best genes within the species....this is a very stressful time of the year for ferrets. The pink puddle is of concern... are you seeing any dark/black/tarry stools? my concern is possible ulcer. blood n the vomit or large hairball in the stomach that may be irritating the stomach lining. One thing I suspect from your post is that, right now, Koda prefers to eat the ground foods. If he's dropping too much weight, try feeding the ground foods. He may ea more. Remember, when a ferret is scruffed, the side of the ferret should feel straight. They should not bulge or sink in when you get below the ribs. Please keep in mind that many ferts get chubby in winter and slender in the summer. jennifer
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Post by katt on Feb 11, 2011 0:20:23 GMT -5
Jennifer (or anyone) is there a good homeopathic treatment for ulcers? I have in fact seen some dark and possibly bloody stools lately but a few whole prey meals seemed to clear that up pretty well...that might explain the coppery tinge to their stink also. I wasn't too concerned about the poops since they got better with different food. But now that you say that I think ulcers are def. Possible. Should I give some elm bark?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 0:54:06 GMT -5
I agree with Jennifer, the pink puddle worries me...tail just looks like shedding to me. Oh my, Kenai's tail looks shorter and fat in comparison. Haha. Personally I don't think using SEBP would hurt anything, it might help give you some idea of what's going on. That and the daily Olive Oil or Vaseline...
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Post by Heather on Feb 11, 2011 1:57:54 GMT -5
I've treated ulcers holistically using parvaid and vibactra, CS, colustrum and slippery elm and RR. I had a regime worked out by a holistic practitioner in Australia and a second one working out of Quebec. They worked together to help Mischief. It worked but that being said using antibiotics in this case actually works better or at least it has for me (it's whole lot cheaper too). I found that to get a positive result for the holistic method took approx a week and half to see positive results. In comparison it takes approx 2 to 3 days to see positive results using allopathic methods, and it uses easily obtained and relatively cheap antibiotics. It takes approx a month to treat an ulcer, sometimes longer. The longer it takes to treat an ulcer the easier it is to create complications like IBD (something your already treating) ciao
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Post by katt on Feb 11, 2011 2:08:54 GMT -5
Candice Kenai's tail is MUCH shorter AND fatter! We were amazed at his stump tail as a kit. As he has grown his tail has become longer too, but it is still shorter than Koda's.
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