Gabby's Odd Urine

[ordinarygirl]

I came home after work and donating blood today so I was later than usual and the vets are closed and the ER vet here is HORRIBLE!

So I'm reaching out to the place I know could help.

Gabby had three unusual urine puddles ...and I know they are hers because Maya only uses the litter box and Gabby only uses the pee pad- and it's actually a good thing because if she peed in the litter box I might not notice what I saw today.

One puddle was clear, one was yellow and one was dark, like there was blood in it. It was about 80 degrees today and when I checked on her I first noticed that she seemed to have difficulty walking. She seemed to be favoring her front left paw. I freshened their water bowl and offered her some - she loves to lick it off my hands - and she took it no problem. Then I put her on the floor to watch her walk and she was fine. I picked her up and gently squeezed her paws and legs and she was fine. Then I noticed the pee pad. (Picture attached)

I had her out of the cage for about an hour and she was her normal self. When I put her back in the cage she was lethargic again. I cleaned up the dirty pee pad and gave her a new one so I could monitor her future urination and the next time she went looked and smelled totally normal.

She's sleeping now and I'm keeping an eye on her obviously but if the next few times she urinates are normal again can I assume she's going to be okay?

Thank you in advance!

Attachments:

[ordinarygirl]

Urine puddle 1 is the clear one, 2 is the darker and 3 is the one that I think has urine in it.

[mom2my3]

Don't know what it could be, but I am praying it's nothing serious.

[judy]

How many people would actually enlarge that picture and study it? Only ferret owners.....

I didn't think blood when I saw it... but it is dark. I guess it could also be something like a UTI, but I don't know anything about those. I would be concerned because she's somewhat lethargic and seems to have some sort of pain when walking. It makes me worry about kidney problems (which can vary in seriousness and can often be treated with meds). Its encouraging that the next urine was clear, but I would keep a close eye and take her to her regular vet if it she has more dark urine or seems otherwise sick.

Keep us posted. Feel better Gabby!

[MysticalManana]

To me I see diarrhea not urine for #3, is that possible from what you saw? I have a little girl who gets diarrhea and pees at the same time and thats what it looks like.
I would watch for loose stools and see if thats a possiblility,

[Barbara]

I think it's poo too. Because she's female they run together. Did she maybe eat something she shouldn't have?

[MysticalManana]

May 24, 2010 21:09:15 GMT -5 judy said:

How many people would actually enlarge that picture and study it? Only ferret owners.....

LOL I did the same thing, cropped it and tried to lighten it and fix the focus then zoomed in.......great minds think alike?

[ordinarygirl]

Thank you everyone. If it was poo it was VERY runny. I think it was the heat. She peed normally and without crying so I pit her to bed and this morning she seemed ok and no more weird stuff on the pee pad this morning! I put the AC on for them today so if she's back to normal tonight I'm going to go with it being the heat yesterday.
Thank you very much for your replies! I don't know what I would do without my Gabby!

[goingpostal]

Might be more concentrated if she is a little dehydrated or if it's first pee of the day it is usually like that. Keep an eye on it, I would offer some soupies in case she is dehydrated and since she seems lethargic, is she eating ok?

[mom2my3]

I am thinking maybe it was poop too, because if you look at the poop directly below the "1" it is very soft and almost runny even though there is a more recent poop on top of it. Glad to hear she's feeling better.

[judy]

Heat bothers all ferrets but some really can't take it. Adrian was my "problem child" who needed the AC cranked all the time. If we took her outside when it was above 70, she had to be revived in front of the AC vent. The others merely slowed down... she wilted!

Glad Gabby is feeling better

[Katiebug]

I was thinking along the lines of goingpostal's answer. Since it was hot, she might not have been drinking more than normal, and that could have caused her to become dehyrated. That also causes lethargy so it's possible that's what it was.