I am posting this for Patrick. cb
 
Hi -
 
I'm very sorry to bother you at your personal e-mail address instead of
approaching this question on the newsgroup, but I seem to have a block for
posting on our news server.  I can read the newsgroup but cannot post.
 
I have two ferrets, both three years old in March ( a female and a male).
Recently (the last several weeks), the male has developed a "wet cough"
and has enlarged bilateral swellings (lymph nodes perhaps?) directly under
his jaw.
 
He's not presenting any other symptoms - He eats well, has maintained
weight, isn't losing hair, does not have any poor bathroom habits (loose
stools or otherwise) - but the cough is worrying me (it sometimes sounds
like he has fluid preventing him from getting air) and he coughs
consistently through the night (once every 45 minutes or so) but
infrequently when he is up and active.  Occasionally he makes a
"crackling" sound.
 
I've been to the Vet twice, but living in Lincoln, NE has prevented me from
finding a vet with adequate Ferret experience (I've called most of the ones
in the phone book and been to three different doctors).  They did perform
some tests - temperature was okay, fecal test was okay, his heart rate was
good and steady, his membranes were pink and moist (discounting respiratory
infection?), and his breathing didn't sound labored or fluid hindered, no
blood work or biopsies done because of their wariness to perform such
procedures because of the potential to cause more harm.
 
Thusly, they prescribed a 2 week regiment of Amoxicillin for him, which he
completed and seemed to to better while on it, but then his cough got worse
after he went off it.
 
Needless to say, I'm heartbroken over the helplessness that I feel and I
know that my little bud feels too, so I wanted to ask advice or a direction
to go in (if you know of a vet in the area).  I've scoured the Internet
searching for similar symptoms, but most don't apply (It doesn't seem
like Adrenal Disease because there's no hair loss, it doesn't seem like
Insuloma).  The closest I could find was Congestive Heart Failure, but he
doesn't seem to be accumulating extra fluid anywhere but those two
bilateral swellings on his neck.
 
I even tried to call the AFA, but there was no one to pick up the phone
(no answering service either) the two times I tried.
 
Any help would be appreciated (and a God send),
 
Patrick Delin
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[Posted in FML issue 3328]