Dear Karen:
 
>About every 2 months or so she has a bout of something wrong with her
>stomach.  The symptoms are a lot like a blockage.  No eating on her own,
>vomiting, diareah (when there is any poop and straining to go), blood in
>the stool and lethargy.  Sometimes a vitamin b shot and antibiotics will
>get her well.  Not this time.  She is on her sixth day of being like this.
>She has been in the hospital for the past 2 1/2 days and not comming home
>today.  The vet did a barium series and regular exrays for blockagae and
>she seems to be clear.
 
Please realize that X-rays are best when foreign bodies are of metal or
bone - many foreign bodies do not show up well on radiogarphs.  In my
experience, regular X-rays only detect about 10% of foreign bodies in
ferrets, and barium series may double the yield (but that's still only
20%)
 
My suggestion is to do the abdominal exploration sooner than later.  The
longer you weight, the harder it will be on her.  Becuase of the fact that
this has been going on intermittently for months, I think that the chance
of discovering the cause with a non-invasive procedure is shrinking daily.
Many foreign bodies, including hairballs, just don't show up well on
X-rays.  Additionally, if it is not a foreign body, your vet can take a
good look at her GI tract and biopsy any suspicious areas.
 
I would rather go in early on a suspected blockage and find nothing and to
wait until the animal is a poor surgical candidate.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3198]