Last week I mentioned that doing blood and other tests on ferrets was
most helpful, and even though it added to the expense at the time, could
save money in the long run.  I should have added, it may also save your
ferrets life.  Last week I had a simple urinalysis done showing Buddy
has a urinary tract infection.  On the suggestion of my vet, she had a
culture done.  This resulted in identifying the TWO types of bacteria,
one being extremely nasty.  My vet has seen it only one other time in
her years of practice.  This helped her make the right antibiotic choice,
as well as the duration of treatment, two weeks longer than originally
prescribed.  Since Buddy's health is compromised with heart/kidney
problems, this bug may have been his death sentence had it not been
caught early on.  Buddy was eating well, no fever, NO symptoms at all,
other than I noticed him shivering as if chilled, even though the house
temp was 76*.
 
So.... if your vet recommends certain tests be run, I highly recommend
it.  The unknown becomes known, and just maybe a little ferret will be
around awhile longer.
 
For those that wish to research the bug it is acinetobacter
calcoaceticus-baumannii.
 
Heartfelt thanks to Sukie, our researcher with a passion to help, for
sending me days worth of URL's to look up.
 
Ardith
[Posted in FML issue 4649]