Hello everyone.  I need some help.  My 8 month old male ferret, Fester, is
very sick.  It started last Monday with a runny nose.  On Tuesday he was a
little more sleepy than he usually is, but he was eating and his poop was
normal.  I didnUt notice him eating on Wednesday, but when I held dry food
up to his mouth he ate it.  His poop was still normal.  On Thursday, he
stopped eating dry food.  I mixed his normal food (Totally Ferret, Marshall
Farms, and KAYTEE) with warm water, ferretone, and ferretvite.  He licked a
lot of it off my finger.  On Thursday afternoon I found dried litter on his
stomach and under his tail, he couldnUt even stand up to go to the bathroom,
but his stool still looked normal.  I took his temperature, 102.6 F, normal,
but I called the vet anyway.  I really like my vet, but I am at school and
live two hours away from the hospital.  I told them that I would be in town
on Saturday and they told me to come in on Saturday morning and they would
see him between patients.  They told me to take him to a different vet if he
stopped eating, drinking, pooping, etc.  Thursday evening I found Fester on
the second floor of his cage.  This was a major improvement because he
hadn't been above the first level since Tuesday.  On Friday morning he ate a
lot of food and drank a lot of water.  I thought that he was improving.  On
Friday night he stopped eating the mixed food.  He only licked a little
Ferretvite off my finger.  I set my alarm to get up every 2 hours with him
to make sure that he was drinking, etc.  At 1:00 am (Saturday morning) he
wouldn't take any Ferretvite, but still drank some Pedialyte.  At 3:00, he
would not take anything.  He started grinding his teeth whenever I put the
Ferretvite or water bowl near his mouth.  His breathing was labored and he
had one dark colored stool (I wasn't sure if that was because he had only
eaten ferretvite, it kind of looked like the same color, but I didn't think
it was tarry).  I waited until 7:00 and paged his vet.  She said that he
should be fine until the hospital opened.
 
When I took him in he had a fever.  I think that it was 106.4 F (I could be
wrong because I was so worried about him that my mind wasn't all there), but
the vet said that it was very high and that ferrets are usually very weak
and limp when they have a fever.  She thought that it could be influenza,
and she wanted to hospitalize him to get fluids in him.  She was concerned
about his teeth grinding and the fact that his abdomen felt very tight.  He
was also whimpering while he was having his temperature taken, as if he was
in pain.
 
She called me later (around 2:00) and told me that his radiographs were
normal and showed no sign of pneumonia.  She had also put him on an
antibiotic.  Around 7:00 pm she called me back to tell me that she was more
worried about him.  He finally went to the bathroom and she tested his
stool.  She found no signs of a parasite, but she did find RBCUs and WBCUs.
She ran more tests--his liver enzymes were normal, no sign of anemia, blood
glucose a little high, but his glucagon levels were normal, and he barely
responded to pinching of the hind legs.  She also ran a test to determine if
he was dehydrated (I can't remember the name of it), and it showed that he
wasn't.  She said that they would just continue with what they were doing
and I set up a time to visit him on Sunday.
 
Sunday morning she called to tell me that he was about the same.  His fever
was gone (102.2 F) and his membranes were not turning pale.  He was
absorbing his fluids, taking antibiotic by mouth, but still would not eat.
She said that he was now able to squat when used the litter pan, so he has a
little more strength.  She didn't think that exploratory surgery was
necessary right now and he is just so weak that I don't think he would be
able to handle it.
 
When I went to see him he could hardly open his eyes.  After about 20
minutes of being held, he perked up a little bit and took him over to the
window.  He started to look around as if he realized that he was a new place
and wanted to explore.  That only lasted about a minute and a half, but it
was nice to see him with a little bit of energy.  He looked at me, closed
his eyes and went back inside the towel.
 
As of right now, Sunday evening, Fester is in the best possible care.  My
vet took him home with her to monitor him.  I am back at school.  My fiance
is going to be checking on him for me.  We have 6 ferrets.  They were all
together when Fester first got sick, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
They are all acting normal.  Maggie, who is only 10 weeks old, had diarrhea
for one day (Wednesday) and Kirby, 4 months, had one stool that was a little
loose on Wednesday evening.  Other than that, there has been no change in
them.
 
Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen to their ferrets?  I
reread all of the FAQUs, and the only similar thing that I could find was a
gastric ulcer from helicobacter.  Some of the symptoms fit and others
didn't.  I am very worried about him and my other fur balls.  I would
appreciate any help that anyone could give me.  My email address is
<[log in to unmask]>.
 
Terri and Derek
Gus, Fester, Rippey, Kirby, Oliver, and Maggie
[Posted in FML issue 1847]