One of my DMK ferrets (Uno) had an ultrasound today and was just
diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Three out of 4 of his valves
are not working properly. He has mitral insufficiency. He went in last
week for a checkup on his teeth as I thought his teeth were bothering
him again as he was pushing over his chicken soup bowl and not
finishing it and I had noticed he was shaking his mouth like his teeth
had hurt so I made the appointment with my vet. She checked his teeth
which had tarter buildup but that was to be the least of his problems.
She did a physical, listened to his heart and found a heart murmur
(something he did not have a few months ago after his last checkup).
Upon xray she found his heart was very enlarged. Uno was started on
Lasix and scheduled for a ultrasound today (a week later). The
ultrasound found moderate valve disease which caused his congestive
heart failure. My vet ordered a newer drug being used in cats, dogs and
now ferrets, called Pimobendan (Vetmeden) and he will start on that
Saturday. He is on Lasix as well as Enacard till I pick up the new drug
which will be added to what he is taking now. My question is, I know
some of you must have experienced this with one of your ferrets and
I was wondering, what do I have to watch out for or expect, knowing
now his life has been shortened. My vet said to watch for a cough,
lethargy, loss of appetite,etc. We are not sure of his age as his teeth
were so bad when we adopted him as were many of the DMK ferrets. He has
to be at least 3 years old, but I assume he is a bit older than that.
He did have a cough about 3 weeks ago, that did not last long at all,
nothing I thought I had to worry about because his brother Twitch has
allergies and sometimes coughs ( his cough had been checked a few times
by my vet, nothing but allergies). I just figured it was the same
thing, something in the air or possibly a hairball which I treated. It
went away. Little did I know, it was heart problems! I have learned a
hard lesson, never assume a cough is nothing to worry about even if it
goes away! I do not know how long he can or will live with this. Uno
will be going in next week for recheck and blood panel to keep track of
what is going on with his liver, kidneys, etc because the drugs can do
damage. Uno also has insolinoma which he is being treated for with
2.5mg pred 2x daily.

Eleanor, Donald and the ferrets

[Posted in FML 6612]