Hello,
I am hoping one of the vets or breeders on the list will give me some advice
on treating my ferret.  I have an eight month old jill who just started
coming into heat about two weeks ago.  Last week, although she was acting
perfectly normal, I noticed what seemed to be a brown discharge from her
vulva, so I took her to my vet.  Dr. David examined her and said that it was
a white discharge (it just turned brown on contact with the air.) There were
no white blood cells in the discharge indicitave of infection, however,
since it should have been a clear discharge, she put Cinder on .25 of amoxi
twice a day and told me to come back in a week for a recheck.  Also to keep
an eye on Cinder.  Well she is still acting perfectly normal, but the amoxi
didn't help.  When I took her back today, Dr. David said that the discharge
is now pure puss.  She definitely has a uterine infection.
 
Dr. David said that spaying is the usual option.  However, Cinder is one of
the sweetest, most beautiful ferrets I have ever seen and I would really
love to have kits off of her, also, Dr. David says she doesn't like the idea
of spaying right now because Cinder is in full heat and her cervix is open.
So we are really going to do our best to get her over this infection.
Dr.David has put Cinder on a dropperfull of Cephalexin twice a day and says
that there is a good chance this will work.  I am also to keep an eye on her
eating, watch for diarrea and increased water intake, and notify her
immediently if there are any changes for the worse.  If this doesn't work,
she says that hormone shots work well in dogs so she will try it with
Cinder.  However, she has never done that with a ferret before.  So she is
calling a vet in New Orleans to ask his advice on the procedure.  I don't
recall his name, but she says he is a preeminate ferret vet.  I really only
have two question for you.  Is this the correct procedure to follow or is
there something else we could/should do?  Is this the best way to handle a
uterine infection?  I really do want to do what is best for my little ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 2168]