FERRET-SEARCH@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
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Date: | Sat, 18 Feb 1995 18:13:42 EST |
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To Peter Graziella concerning young Morkette with vomiting:
Peter - The first thing that I would think of with a young ferret
with projectile vomiting and abdominal pain would be an abdominal
blockage. As a minimum, I would suggest a CBC, serum chemistry panel
- to see what changes are going on in the blood and how the vomiting
has affected Morkette systemically, and abdominal radiographs, with a
Barium series that may pick up a blockage. If there is any sign of a
blockage, I would make sure that she is stable and go right to
surgery.
Has there been any blood in the stool? Has it been tarry? Or has
there been any pain on defecation?
I have found fecal cultures to be unrewarding and generally a waste
of money. I am not really familiar with E. coli enteritis as being a
problem in ferrets. Most cases of diarrhea in young ferrets are due
to them eating something that they shouldn't and I always start them
immediately on Laxatone and Amoxicillin 10-20 mg/lb. If there is
sufficient damage to the lining of the intestine, you can have
absorption of bacterial products and/or bacteria from the lumen of the
gut, which adds to the problem. The antibiotics seem to prevent a lot
of problems in these instances.
Peter, I urge you, if you are not think of a foreign body, let's
turn our attention to that possiblity. A bacterial enteritis in an
animal on antibiotics is probably not life-threatening, but a foreign
body definitely is.
Bruce Williams, DVM Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask] Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
OR [log in to unmask] Washington, D.C. 20306-6000
(202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1110]
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