>When I took him out of the carrier to weigh him he flopped over on his
>side. He was having alot of trouble breathing and obviously his lungs
>were filled with fluid.
> ...
>Up until he got prednisone he was fine. Has anyone ever had this
>happen to their ferret? Everyone I know who are my knowledge resources
>have never heard of it, so it must be sort of rare

I haven't had anything like that happen, but what we have seen many,
many times is that ferrets that come in to the shelter with nasty teeth
very often have heart problems, sometimes severe ones. Like in humans,
the infections in the mouth seem to be related to infections that
compromise the heart.

One well-documented side-effect of pred is that it lowers the immune
system. So, one possibility is that Giddy was fighting oral and heart
infections that started with his teeth.

When he started getting pred, it lowered his ability to fight the
infections to the point that they took over.

Maybe it was coincidence, but that's a possible connection.

Kevin Farlee

[Posted in FML 7029]