Hi, Ruby! Funny, a friend and I were just talking about kidney failure
with a vet. We were discussing chronic kidney failure and for that the
routine is to lower potassium, add sources of omega 3 fatty acids (fish
oil -- not cod liver oil but fish oil - capsules are best, but that
smell bothers you then use flaxseed oil but be SURE to refrigerate
flaxseed oil because it breaks down fast without that precaution),
***reduce*** protein (a person here recently had a NON-vet give wrong
advice on this score but he individual had already had spoken with
enough vets and kidney experts to know better), and there are some meds
now being researched in ferrets. In acute renal failure which it sounds
like you may be looking at (though a low creatine and high BUN can be
signatures of CHRONIC renal failure so there might have already been
problem that had been hidden, and the problem may be chronic but it got
tipped into being much worse suddenly by the influenza) the protein
level does not have to be reduced in ferrets according to a small study
on acute renal failure in kits, and the vet thinks that given other
things that is probably reasonable for acute renal failure but NOT for
chronic renal failure. Some other causes of acute renal failure include
raisins, grapes, Tylenol or ibuprofen, or Gentamicin or Amikacin.
I can't recall offhand, but the Dr. Tom Kawasaki et. al. article in one
of the recent Ferrets magazine on raisin or grape causes of kidney
failure in ferrets may include treatment info. You should look in case
it is an acute case because aute cases can bounce back.
Meanwhile, also ask your vet if this may be a chronic case which just
showed itself.
I know of a ferret with chronic renal failure for whom Epakitin is now
being tried to see if that might help, but it is too early to know, so
see the post I quote for approaches currently used.
Some things which I hope will be of help for you:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG18600
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG16305
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG15356
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG15335
The FHL Archives is undergoing some facelift work to make it more
obvious to people how to use it (and the latest is gorgeous), but that
means it is a bit up and down right now. I found these for you before
it went down, and you will have to try periodically to hit an up time.
The Smartgroup site is going to go away completely (along with ALL of
Smartgroups) on Nov. 30 but let me see if I can find any of the above
posts and others of use there since they date from that site. Then if
the archives site isn't up you can read them on the Smartgroups site,
but I know that ones which don't list the poster in the poster line
often don't show up so at least one above won't be gotten that way
(i.e. try to pull up both the above URLs and the ones below):
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=18600
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=15356
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=15335
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=9979
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=15349
Okay, I got one for you by a different route:
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=16305&startid=16369
Although the cause was different this post has the most concentrated
info for you:
>As far as surgery goes, I would recommend using just a gas for
>anesthesia (ie Iso or preferably SEVO) instead of the injectables
>(domitor+ketamine, etc). Removing the left adrenal gland is usually
>easy to do, so that part of the surgery should go just fine. The
>elevated BUN is also a concern. I would recommend slow drip IV fluids
>(LRS,.NACL, or Normosol) during the surgery. It may be a good thing
>to add Dextrose to the IV fluids also. Cysts on the kidneys do not
>usually cause kidney failure (CRF), so removing the kidney may not
>help with the BUN/kidney problem. Draining the cyst may be an option
>also. After the surgery reducing the protein level of the diet may
>help, adding omega-3 oils (ie fish oil), reducing the phosphorous
>level and adding potassium citrate may also help the kidney problem.
>Using Hill's feline K/D or Eukanuba feline renal diet mixed 50/50 with
>Totally Ferrets Senior food or Marshall's senior food would be my
>suggestion.
>Hope that helps and everything goes well,
>Jerry Murray, DVM
Sukie (not a vet)
Reminder: THE FERRET HEALTH LIST IS MOVING.
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Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
[Posted in FML 5435]
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