Hello all
 
Some of you may rememember me posting about two weeks ago, I have a ferret
who then was showing strange bruises, or rashes throughout his body.  The
bruises would appear and disappear in about 48 hours, with new ones
appearing.  I asked for any help on diagnosing this strange occurance.
 
As it turns out Grunten was having a severe allergic reaction to some
medicine he had taken, he was taking Cefa drops in late july, but before
that he had taken SMZ TMP liquid for about a week the first of july.
 
The vet believes that the reaction was to the SMZ TMP liquid.  The reaction
that followed was a form of hemophillia (bleeding problem) brought on by
the medication ( he was given it while I was out of town).  His platlet
count dropped drastically, but is now on the rebound.  he also developed
intensely itchy skin and was acting exhausted.
 
Now that the bruising has stopped we are finding another problem, and once
again I am looking for suggestions.  Blood tests show a rise in his blood
cells that indicate a possible infection.  We are trying amoxicillian, and
have been on it for 5 days, but he's suddenly totally uninterested in food
or water.  He is being given a form of duck soup and pedialyte, but he's
shows no desire for anything, he just lays there.(before he was eatind
canned cat and baby food when coaxed)  He doesn't have a fever, but between
the meds and the liquid diet his poops are fairly loose and dark colored.
 
My vet doesn't seem too worried yet since his blood count looked better, but
I can't help it, he's my baby.  Are we missing anything?  Any suggestions?
Any tests we should be running?
 
Sorry so long, but I wanted to report what was causing the bruise like
symptoms, in case someone else encounters it and also see if any of you
knowledgeable people out there had any thoughts or if anyone has
encountered this before.  If you have please let me know how your ferret
was treated.  E-mail me directly at [log in to unmask], or write back
here, I'll be watching both for replies.
 
One final thing I live in Quincy, Illinois and was wondering if there were
any more ferret lovers out there that live near me.
 
Thank you so much,
 
_Daphne and Grunten
[Posted in FML issue 2436]