Hello,
 
I have a very sick ferret that I am hoping someone on this list might have
some insights as to how to treat him.  Jasper is a two year old 'autistic'
male ferret.  He has always been a little different, never being able to
hold his head still, and always acting like a kit.  About a month ago,
Jasper started wheezing and having difficulty breathing.  I called my local
vet clinic as my regular vet was out of town, and the vet I talked to told
me to put him on an antibiotic.  I put him on Biaxin, as that is what I
get when I get bronchitis, so I figured it would be good for a respiratory
infection.  Four days later, he was still not doing any better, so I took
him to work with me and had the vet I work for who is not a ferret vet,
look at him.  He just suggested I add Robitussin.  By this time Jasper was
starting to sound congested as well, although he did not have any mucus
discharge.  A few days later I noticed his right eye was bulging out of the
socket, leading me to believe that something was pushing it out.  I called
Dr. Weiss in Maryland for his opinion, and he told me that is was probably
a sinus infection, and that Jasper would need a sinus flush.  So, my vet,
who does not have a lot of ferret experience, but who is willing to learn
and try different ideas, went ahead and operated.  We also added .25cc's
pediapred twice a day to Jasper's medication.  The night before the
surgery, Jasper's nose started to bleed.  During the surgery, over 2cc's
of blood was removed from Jasper's sinus area.  My vet, Dr. Wahlmeier said
that we should not be encountering this much blood, and so we called Dr.
Weiss again in the middle of the surgery.  He spoke to Dr. Wahlmeier and
while I am not sure exactly what he said, he told him to continue with
flushing out the sinus, and then to seal the sinus back up by cauterizing
it.  Dr. Wahlmeier also checked the blood he removed from Jasper's head for
any indication of a tumor, and did not find any.  After the surgery, Jasper
seemed to be breathing better, although he had one heck of a headache, but
he would not eat or drink on his own for several days after the surgery, I
can only assume because he was in so much pain.  On Dr. Weiss's suggestion
we put Jasper on Baytril, 5mg twice a day afterwards.  The surgery was two
weeks ago.  Since then, Jasper has gone back downhill with severe
congestion and difficulty breathing.  He is also in a great deal of pain.
I will find him with his teeth locked around the cage bars just sitting
there.  He has chipped three teeth off in the process.  I am giving him
baby aspiring ocasionally, but I don't want to give him too much and risk
causing gastric bleeding and add to his problems.  He is still eating and
drinking, and has miminal activity.  I hate seeing him in so much pain, but
I don't want to put him to sleep if there is any chance he can recover from
this.  He has been on antibiotics for almost a month now, with no results.
The right sinus, which is the one that was operated on, is dry, but I can
see mucus in his left sinus.  He is also sneezing occasionally, but not
productively.  I talked to my vet today about the possibility of allergies,
if it could be something like hay fever.  He doesn't think so, but he is
going to try to contact Dr. Weiss again to get his opinion.  I started
Jasper on Benadryl two days ago, to see if that would help, but I have not
seen any change.  If there is anyone out there who has any experience with
anything like this, please contact me.  I don't want to lose this ferret,
he is rather special to us.  You can e-mail me at [log in to unmask] or you
can call me at 402-463-0190 (my home phone), 402-461-6541 (my cell phone),
or 402-461-6476 (my husband's cell phone).  If there are any vets out
there who may have any idea, please call my vet, Dr. Patrick Wahlmeier at
1-800-742-2697 or 402-463-9805.  He is very open to suggestions, and will
have no problem receiving a phone call from another vet.
 
Thank you,
Shelley Knudsen
Pre-Veterinary Student   UNK
Legion of Superferrets of Nebraska Ferret Shelter
[log in to unmask]    http://www.tcgcs.com/~ferrets
402-463-0190   402-461-6541
[Posted in FML issue 2754]