I have not been able to read the fml in a while.
 
The reason I am posting today is that Kitka is sick.  She and Charlotte went
in for their yearly shots and check up.  Everything was a-ok.  Tip top
shape.  Kitka had gained .3 lbs and was up to a whopping 1.6 lbs.  Both
looked gorgeous.  Five days later Phoenix, another ferret, visited.  Phoenix
has been over once before.  Two days later, exactly one week after the vet
visit, green diarrhea.  Lethargy.  First Kitka then 12 hours later Char too.
 
Both girls go back to vet.  Kitka is obviously feeling better only 36 hours
after onset.  Char is so-so, but only has 24 hours of the blahs behind her.
Char gets subcutaneous fluids and both girls seem fine.  Stools still light
colored.  Sometimes firm, sometimes runny, sometimes green, sometimes a very
light brown.
 
About a week later.  Stools same, varied color & consistency.  Seems like no
one is eating much.  Dr.  Holly Thompson, wonderful vet, suggests throwing
all food away and starting with fresh.  Maybe it is rancid?  We throw out
the SD & Iams and go back to straight SD, which everybody likes more anyway.
Metronidazole is tried, but both girls HATE it and yak it back up, gagging
dramatically.  Dr.  Thompson puts them on Amoxycillin.
 
Another week goes by.  Charlotte is fine but stools still strange at times.
More brown than green though, more formed than runny.  Kitka seems lethargic
again with green diarrhea more often now.  We think she is getting
dehydrated so we take her in.  She also has lost some motor control and
coordination/strength in her back legs.  She gets subcutaneous fluids and is
put on Chloramphenichol (sp?) along with the Amoxycillin as of today.
 
Her blood work came back with elevated liver enzymes and elevated enzymes
that Dr.  Thompson says indicate inflammation, but are not specific to any
one area of the body.  Dr.  T says it is most likely her gi though.  Today I
went in to visit her at the vet, and she just flopped down and slept in my
arms.  That is not like her; she is not a cuddly ferret.  She was also
making a smacking noise with her mouth and grinding her teeth.  She has
never done either of those things before either.
 
The fecal culture will not be back from the lab until tomorrow at the
earliest.
 
Please send her love and good thoughts. I want her home and back to her old
self so badly. Charlotte misses her too, and keeps letting her feelings be
known by pooping in forbidden places.
 
Paula & Matt
[Posted in FML issue 1420]