Hi,
 
I had asked for some help previously about my ferret who wasn't eating
and losing weight.  Many people wrote to me and I brought him to a vet as
well.
 
She said that there was nothing to be concerned over after she
thouroughly palpated him.  She said that his liver was a little enlarged
but that that could be due to him not eating and drinking for a bit.
Since he seemd to be turning around, she didn't suggest much else and he
was doing fine but today when I was playing with him, it seems that he is
losing the weight again.  He won't eat anything (out of my hand that is,
I don't know if he's eating while in his cage) but the kitten food
(voraciously at that...) and I know he should be eating ferret food but
at this point, I will give him whatever he wants to eat!  The thing is,
what I noticed was that his teeth are grinding when he eats and this was
not a previous symptom so I didn't mention it to the vet.
 
I checked online about teeth grinding and the two things that come up
are gastric ulcers and blockage.  Both him and his playmate have a ferret
room that has been throughly ferret proofed but I am still worried that
maybe it is a blockage since gastric ulcers seem to occur in older
ferrets... Is it possible that he ingested a piece of blanket or sherpa
from his bed?  He's had problems with hairballs in the past and I have
always given him hairball remedy but it didn't work once (he vomited a
hairball about 4in long and 1/2 inch wide!!  I was thankful he was able
to vomit it up ) and so I question it's effectiveness.  He has not
vomited once though and this seems to be a classic symptom of a
blockage...
 
Can anyone shed some light on this new symptom?  I will take him to the
vet again if needed but I am hesitant because of the cost... Although it
won't stop me if needed.  What is the cost of Xrays?  And if a blockage
or ulcer is found how much it would cost to fix that?  Carafate seems
to constantly come up in the treatment of gastric ulcers and I won't
administer it obviously until I know, but is this a treatment something
you can buy at a pharmacy?  It seems to be one of those "home remedies"
that vets suggest work.
 
My other concern is that I am going away for about 5 days and he will
be taken care of by my roomates but I am concerned that if he takes a
turn for the worse they won't know what to do... I'll provide them with a
vet # but is there anything else I can do?  Unfortunately, he can't come
with me...
 
Thank you for everyones help before and i hope someone can help me again.
 
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 4412]