Hi everyone,
 
I need some medical help fast!  I am a foster ferret mom.  I have 5
ferrets, and seem to be the local ferret magnet for those who can't keep
their sweet babies any longer.  I was just given the sweetest little boy
who I named Kismet.  His mom said she didn't have the time for him, and
wanted him to have friends.  After picking him up I suspect she also
couldn't bear to see him the way he was any longer.
 
When I got Kismet, he was literally skin and bones.  Now I have lost a
baby to liver cancer and she got thin, but not this bad.  Kismet is so
thin I can feel his internal organs!  He is dehydrated, and every bone
and joint is poking into his poor skin.  He wouldn't eat ferret food
since he had been raised on cheap canned cat food, and by the time I got
him he wouldn't even eat that.
 
Apparently the medical history goes like this... He once was a huge ferret
weighing in at over 5 lbs.  His mom boarded him out to a ferret shelter,
and he lost a major amount of weight there.  I don't know if it was the
difference in food, or as the mom said he was roomed with a ferret that
would lay in the food dish and never let him eat!  Either way when he was
picked up he was very thin, but the shelter mom felt he was in better
shape.  (I know this ferret mom and have always found her to be a loving
and caring povider) Anyway once Kismet got home he began having what his
mom called seizures, and started dropping weight.  She took him to a local
vet, one who is adaquate at treating ferrets, and they did what the mom
called a cat skan which ruled out any tumors and they didn't think he had
hairballs.  He started vomiting severely and the weight kept dropping.
They couldn't tell her what was wrong and suggested putting him down.
 
This is where I came in.  After I go him, I tried him on several types of
duck soup, just to get some meat back on his bones, but he refused to eat
anything.  I didn't think he was going to make it.  He continued vomiting,
and finally just quit eating all together.  After about two days, I tried
a recipe with beef baby food, and he ate it.  There was no more vomiting
for several days, but the poor little guy was so weak, I had to help him
poop!  That was a week ago.  He is steadily gaining weight now.
 
Now I come to the problem.  I am sorry for the long intro, but I didn't
want to miss anything that might help.  My regular ferret vet is out of
town for Christmas, so any ideas you all have would be great.  Kismet
hadn't vomited for almost a week and I thought maybe he was over it, but
last night after a very good feed, he got sick again.  First he got very
zoned looking, like he was a zombie.  He started making gulping sounds,
and then tried to move around erratically.  I held him so he wuldn't hurt
himself, He finally got sick, but there was NO FOOD in the vomit.  It was
a clear foamy saliva type stuff.  All during this episode he was very
still.  It happened twice last night.  No food in the vomit, and the same
wierd movements and zombie-like behavior.
 
My husband thinks he may be expelling stuff from his lungs since there is
no food involved.  Also, his behavioer reminds me somewhat of an epilectic
seizure since he goes stiff and stares just prior to the vomiting.  One
other thing that may not mean anything.  When I am feeding him with the
siringe, he has an odd habit of just spacing out, and staring for a
second.  If I move the food it brings him out of it.  He also grinds his
teeth when eating, and his tummy makes a lot of rumbling noises while
eating and just after.
 
PLease, if you have any suggestions write be back directly.  I don't want
to loose any time.  Kismet is one of the sweetest ferrets I have ever had.
One of those curl up in your shirt and kiss you on the nose babies.  I
don't want to miss anything that I can do to help him.  He is gaining
weight, but the odd vomiting scares me.  Not something I have seen
before.  If you have any ideas, please contact me a
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Thanks from all of us!
 
CJLadybug
[Posted in FML issue 3635]