We have a rescue who has been in the shelter for a few months, a little
chocolate hob named Eddie.  He had a growth removed from his tail but aside
from that and him being a little on the skinny side, he's a real sweet guy.
 
However, being a ferret that is terrified of other ferrets, nobody ever
wanted Eddie.  Finally we fostered him out with a woman who has been taking
great care of him for the past few months, but he hasn't been putting on any
weight.  She went away for the week and brought him here to stay while she
was gone, and I think I have discovered his problem, but I need someone to
refresh my memory.
 
Thin ferret, black tarry stool and what sounds to me like teeth grinding.
These are all the "classic" symptoms of an ulcer, am I right?
 
As well, he has a fairly rotten tooth that is now becoming inflamed, and I
am wondering how long it's been bothering him as well.  I realize it
probably needs to be taken out (it's an upper "canine" tooth), but my
question is this: assuming the tooth may have been bothering him for some
time now, since he hasn't been in the shelter for months, could this be the
primary reason for the thinness ie a poor appetite because the tooth is
bothering him?  Or would it primarily be the ulcer?  Or a combination of
both?
 
The reason I ask is the shelter is in debt to me at about $900.00 and we are
really pinching our pennies ... should we extract the tooth first and see
how he fares, or treat him for an ulcer first and see how that goes?  And
what is the treatment course for an ulcer?  He's a bouncy, playful little
feller and he does eat, but my guess is he'd be eating a lot more if he felt
better.  And I'm just curious about which course of action would be the
smarter of the two to take ...
 
regarding Tia, since we've had a few people ask ... he's fairing badly.
We've stopped chemo because after an initial really good response to it, he
started declining again a couple of weeks ago and he's deteriorating quickly
now.  Yesterday he fell down the stairs and he can hardly walk.  I think
little Tia's time has finally come.  It's a sad day for us, because we had
such high hopes, but we don't want him to suffer for our hopes.
 
The 8 rescues we received from the nasty breeder out of town are dropping
their rough, hay-coats and turning into silken softies!  It's amazing what
good care and a good diet can do for these critters.  They are all good
weights, lots of energy and coats to die for.  Except for Butler and the
silly cone on his head, protecting his poor ear, they're all in amazing
shape.
 
Any advice on the ulcer/tooth thing will be graciously accepted :-)
 
Sheena - [log in to unmask]                           |To Err is Ferret  |
Director - Wherret Ferrets Halfway House & Ferretry  |To Forgive...well |
VP - Ferret Association of Greater Vancouver         |...That's Our Job!|
         We're on the Web! http://ww2.portal.ca/~cmc~/ferrets/fagv/
[Posted in FML issue 1727]