Urgent Help Needed

[Vannessa]

Thanks so much for providing this information!

[Dingo]

Hey Guys! This is really me here masquerading as Vanessa (by accident I assure you!) I was trying to relocate the last post on the Disclaimer thread above into a new thread of its own but it wouldn't work for some reason.

Can you go up there and read the post and try and help this member.
Thanks a bunch!

[joclyn]

can't find the post??? can you find it and quote it on this thread???

[Dingo]

ft's the last post on page 4 of Disclaimer thread. Name of poster is Kendra. It's the Thread directly above this one.

[joclyn]

okay, that's weird, i didn't see that post (or her quote of the post) earlier!!

anyhoo, here's a quote:

Apr 4, 2011 7:37:11 GMT -5 @Kendra Westmoreland said:

Agreed. I have a sick ferret...we have been to the vet who has diagnosed adrenal disease...we started her on the injections of liprosene...since she has come home she has been very lethargic, and has lost alot of strength in her back legs it appears. I have been trying to give her pedialyte (at least 1 teaspoon) to keep her hydration up, and some duck soup, a little less than a teaspoon of that. She has been vomiting both of these up...should I continue the pedialyte and duc suop? She has to have something to keep up her strength!

kendra, do you mean 'lupron' or 'leuprolide' ? the usual med used to treat adrenal disease in ferrets is the lupron depot (either a 30 day version of a 90 day). it's very specific that the time-release version of the medication be used. if the regular/basic med is used, it's out of the system within a day and actually does more harm than good.

i really hope what you posted was just confusion about the name of the med and that the vet did use the 'depot' formulation!!

it's actually normal to see some bit of lethargy for a day or two (and sometimes three or four) after the first shot and, each month, that timeframe of being lethargic goes down.

what is worrisome is that you're saying the ferret is having trouble with the back legs...hind-end weakness combined with lethargy are actually signs of insulinoma.

very sad to say that insulinoma and adrenal disease can appear in tandem. it's also possible that adrenal disease, itself, can affect the hind end in the manner you are seeing. it could also be a reaction to the shot that was given.

need some more info: when did you get the shot done? how did the vet determine adrenal disease? was any labwork done? if so, what specific tests were done?

hopefully you just got the shot done on friday or saturday and this lethargy issue has already gotten better.

really need some more info from you before i can say anything more!!

in the mean time, yes! continue to give the duck soup to supplement whatever kibble she is eating on her own. you can also use baby food - turkey w/gravy or chicken w/gravy (even lamb or veal/beef if you can find either). and the pedialyte is good to continue to give as well. remember, give the pedialyte by itself - as is, right out of the bottle. it should never be mixed with food or water as that will disrupt the nutrient balance.

let her have as much soup/baby food as she'll take in a sitting - she should be taking in at least a tablespoonful at a time. and if she won't or can't take that amount and isn't eating any kibble, then you'll need to help her eat and i would do feeding every 3-4 hours until she's eating more at a time - then you can move back to larger feedings every 5-6 hours.

very good to want to keep her hydrated! being dehydrated can do more damage than not eating, actually. so, monitor water intake - you can even just leave the pedialyte out instead of the water. and you can help her to drink either - again, at least a tablespoonful at sitting and you can give it as frequently as you think she needs - every couple hours if she hasn't taken any in on her own or less often if she is getting some on her own.

if she hasn't perked up to her usual self by tomorrow, i'd call the vet as she may be having an odd reaction to the shot and/or she may be insulinomic and in a crash.

please post again & answer the questions above and also let us know how she's doing!!

[Dingo]

Thanks Joclyn.

Kendra officially joined us late last night so hopefully she has read your post by now.

[Kendra Westmoreland]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! The injection that Sprite recieved is Lupron Acetate...the vet is actually treating her for Cushings..not adrenal..he came to this conclusion after looking at her sores and based on the symptoms we described as well. There were no tests done. However, it seems to me that she has more of the insulinoma or adrenal than cushings. But I will do more research on that as well....The shot was done on March 28th. She is not eating on her own, and drinking very little on her own. She has a very dark tarry stool, and continues to vomit up anything I give her.

[Dingo]

She needs to get to a vet immediately! A dark tarry stool indicates that her kidneys are most likely shutting down. Ferrets can go downhill to the point of no return very, very quickly. I can't emphasize that enough.

Keep her hydrated as best you can, keep her warm and get her to the vet this morning if at all possible.

I will be thinking of you and checking back here frequently to see how things are going.

Jennifer

[kwest]

Thank you Jennifer...we have an appointment for 3:15 this afternoon. I will definitiely keep her hydrated as best I can.,...she keeps vomiting some of it up

[kwest]

I was looking around onlineto see what cushings was since that is what they are treating Sprite for...it seems to me that cushings and adrenal disease is the same thing..just called two different names..is this corect?

[Dingo]

As I understand it - and I don't understand it very well - Cushing's Disease is a common misdiagnosis for adrenal disease.

Thank you so much for posting back so quickly; I'm very glad you have an appointment in a few hours.

[kwest]

I have been writing down some questions for the vet as well as all of the symptoms I have been seeing...I feel like (since I have probably called at least once a day for the past week with diferent issues that come up) to indicate to the vet that he may have misdiagnosed her would be overstepping...any suggestions of how I can help him revisit some things to determine wheterh she has been diagnosed prpoerly?

[joclyn]

uhoh, sounds like sprite was given plain old luprolide and not the depot formulation. please double-check on what formulation was given!!! also, yes, cushings the mis-diagnosis and that has a different treatment...

also DOES sound like insulinoma is a major issue rather than adrenal disease - although, that probably is present also.

the vomiting isn't good - she may have an infection going. sheesh, could also have ibd going on to. sorry to be so alarming and negative...

it's the sad truth that these three things do tend to pop up all at the same time...the one plus is that ibd symptoms that are related to adrenal disease do tend to disappear once the ad is being treated.

insulinoma is extremely easy to treat, so, don't be too upset about that one make sure to have the vet do a blood glucose test - if the reading is under 70, insulinoma is most probably present...since she's not eating much, her bg IS going to be lower than usual, so, it may actually be hard to determine if insu is present right now i'd still say she should be started on prednisolone anyhoo - at least to get her past this hump and if bg is normal or high in a few weeks, then you could wean her off the med if it turns out it's not needed.

the tarry poo - that's a major concern & even more so than ad, insu or ibd. take a look at it - pick up some in a paper towel smoosh it around and then look at it under very good lighting. look to see if there is any green tone to it - if so, that's just bile matter and the stool is just darker than normal (probably due to infection in the digestive tract). if you only see solid black after smooshing it around, then, that means it's digested blood - which means ulcers.

hopefully this is just a basic infection situation - if so, then antibiotics will be prescribed. if it is an ulcer situation, please make sure the vet prescribes carafate (generic name is sulcrafate). this med coats the stomach and helps protect the ulcer so that it can heal. it can be given up to 3x a day. you need to give it on an empty stomach and wait 20-30 minutes and then give food. other meds should be given no sooner than an hour before or after you give the carafate...since it coats, it'll block the other meds from being absorbed.

you can also use over the counter pepcid ac to cut down the stomach acids. the vet can tell you how to prepare it and what does to give your girl. it's normally given 1x a day although, i have had occassion to need to give it 2x a day.

is this ferret a certified exotic vet? does he/she have a specialty in ferrets?? if not, you should really find one that does know ferrets AND their diseases well - they have very specific situations and it's so easy to miss things (even experienced ferret vets miss stuff) so, it's really important to have someone who really knows them well.

good luck with the appt and i hope you see this before you go...post later with an update!

[kwest]

Thank you for your support and all the info...Sprite is gone...her little body could take no more and she went to sleep. I appreciate the quick responses and all the womderful info...we still have one yet, and I am concerned about her..not health wise, but she has lost her companion. They were in the same litter, and when I went to get "A" ferret, since they were the only two left, we didnt want to split them up. Any suggestions or things I neeed to look for with Razzle? I think I want to get another one at some point, just not right yet. Suggestions?

[Dingo]

Kendra, I'm so sorry such a difficult and sad reason brought you to our forum but now you're here I hope you'll stay and become an active member.

First off, if you haven't already done so, grab yourself a copy of Ferrets For Dummies (current edition.) This is the best primer out there on ferret care and we all refer to it constantly, even those of us who have had ferrets in our lives forever.

Sprite's buddy may well manifest some signs of grief. You can help by spending lots of time with her. Make sure food intake is maintained. Monitor hydration level - pink gums are healthy/white gums show you've got problems. Pinch the fur up on the back of the ferret's neck. It should stay 'tented' for only a few seconds before resuming its normal placement.

I understand you need time to grieve for Sprite but the kindest thing you can do for your ferret buddy is to bring another ferret home within a few weeks. Have you considered adoption? Giving a needy ferret a forever home in memory of Sprite would be a great thing to do. It's what I've done each time and it sort of helps to ease the hurt of losing a much loved ferret.
Depending on your remaining ferret's age you may want to pair her with a similar aged ferret. As an example, if your ferret is five or six or older you won't want to bring in a baby ferret as it will be overwhelming.

Please feel free to PM me if I can help you in any way. I've lost many ferrets over the years to illness and I know how sad you must feel.

Jennifer