http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=447
 
Author wrote:
>I took my ferret into the vet because he stopped eating. Of course the
>night before the vet visit, he started eating again on his own. However,
>he grits his teeth when he eats. Not after he's done eating, but as he
>is actually eating the food. We have tried to treat for ulcers, giving
>antibiotics and carafate, and tagament, plus he gave him a prednisone shot.
>We did a blood test, and everything came out normal, nothing to be
>concerned about.  He had the fecal test done, no parasites or problems
>found.  His stools are yellowish and birdseedy, although now that he is
>eating solid food again, they are well formed.  This problem has been on
>and off for months...
 
Grinding teeth is a sign of abdominal pain.  Gastric ulcers are of course
the most common cause, but not the only one.  In my experience, some
foreign bodies can result in abdominal pain, and the rare GI tumor.  With
yellow birdseedy stools, I would suggest that there is a degree of
maldigestion, and gastric ulcers generally do not cause this particular
sign, at least not on their own.
 
You may want to consider some form of IBD in this case.  While prednisone
is often used in the tretament of IBD, I have not seen much success with
injectable forms (oral forms have significantly better effect against the
inflammation associated with most cases of IBD.
 
In this particular case, you may want to discuss the possibility of an
exploratory and possibly biopsying the stomach, intestine, and anything
else suspicious in there.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/ (Easily searched FHL archives)
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
[Posted in FML issue 3853]