Mark: If she vomits the food again then she may be one who gets stomach
irritation from Prednisone.  Are you making sure that she eats when she
gets Prednisone?  If yes, or if she grinds her teeth, or if she has black
and tarry stools, or if she continues vomiting talk with the vet about
replacing the Prednisone with Proglycem and adding Carafate at other
times in the day to sooth her stomach.
 
It may help you to know that the Maryland and Virginia area has a hefty
number of the nations very best ferret vets so there is lots of handy
consulting regionally, as well as there being vets whom your vet can use
for second opinions or even for some hands-on learning.
 
Dodie wrote:
>When I told him about the pumpkin soup, he
>said that explained why her urine was so alkaline.  Carnivores are
>supposed to have acidic urine.  Apparently pumpkin has the opposite
>effect that cranberry juice has.  Cranberries make the urine more acidic
>and less hospitable to bacteria.
 
Alkaline urine allows minerals to crystalize out and can that can be a
problem in terms of bladder stones.
 
Cranberry's strongest effect against UTI (ditto blueberry's) is thought
to be from an unusual tannin which is present in those fruits.  That
tannin prevents bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder.
 
Thanks for telling about the urine acidifier.  I haven't heard of those
mentioned in relation to ferrets before.  What are the ingredients?
 
Lynn Mary, Cardiomyopathy is terminal but treatable.  The amount of time
that can still be gotten depends on things like the form and extent of
the illness> You will find useful information in these ways:
 
Join the Ferret Health List at
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
Use the archives of the Ferret Health List at their new and marvelous
site with their fine search engine
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/
You'll find it WONDERFUL for all sorts of health info!
There is a lot of cardiomyopathy info in
http://miamiferret.org/fhc
 
We have had ferrets get as long as a year and a half with treatment for
cardiomyopathy, and I have heard of some with milder cases who have done
even better.  Ironically, the one of our's who lasted the longest with
quality time was the one who had the greatest chance of dying very early
because she had ventricular bigemini and some trigemini but we found a
medication combo that worked wonderfully for her.
 
There are a number of terms explained in a compilation about a different
and very rare heart problem which may be of use for you.  Go to:
http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/heartblock.txt
 
Yes, an ultrasound is essential to come up with the best treatment
approaches for any individual situation.
[Posted in FML issue 3849]