PLEASE remember that not all blockages *will* show up on an X-ray!  Not all
items that will get stuck are sufficently dense to show up.  If nothing is
coming out, and there is food going in...there's something *very* wrong,
and even if there isn't anything showing up on the X-ray that very wrong
thing is likely to be a blockage.  Don't wait, do the surgury, it doesn't
take long to do the little loved ones in.
 
I lost my first ferret to a cigarette filter, my ex-fiancee would smoke in
my home without my knowledge, and when I got the couch, there were things
stuck in it that I had no idea about.  The boy came through the surgury
fine, but the toxins from the filter, which had built up, killed him
shortly afterwards.  He went from seemingly fine to dead in less than 24
hours.  But wouldn't even have had a *chance* at living if my wonderful
vets (where I was living at the time) had said "I don't know" and sent me
home.
 
Blockages can be partial too...letting some pass through but not enough...
NEVER let a vet tell you that if there's something coming out, it's not
a blockage.  Don't wait for partial blockages either...get them removed
immediately.  If your vet won't listen, find another vet.
 
Blockages can also move around...get stuck, then dislodge and get stuck
further down the line.  Again, please don't wait.
 
I *believe* a barium swallow can also help with X-rays to determine if
there is a blockage...I've never had it done, so I'm not sure how it works,
but I *think* the theory is that it allows the X-ray to "see" more, and
then if it doesn't go through, or only a little goes through, a blockage
that would not have otherwise shown up can.  Maybe someone else can talk
about it more....
 
It is *my* opinion, as a fuzzy owner and lover of animals that it's better
if you suspect a blockage, DON'T wait.  DON'T accept "I don't know" when
there's stuff going in but nada (or little) coming out.  To me, it is worth
the surgury risk to be sure, than to know you could have done something
later.  And all of my ferrets that die of unknown reasons *do* go in for
an autopsy...in the end it makes me a better owner to know for sure, if
answers are to be had.
 
I wonder sometimes if vets are not aware that blockages don't have to show
up on an X-ray because more owners don't take their pets (ferrets or
otherwise) in when they die of unknown reasons, and therefor the vets don't
*see* that an animal that didn't show anything *did* have a blockage.  It's
hard to take a pet in for an autopsy...it was hard when I did it for Brit,
and there were no real answers there.  But I still encourage owners to do
so, since things can be learned...you can equate symptoms with something
specific, and if the vet had seen your pet with those symptoms then *they*
can too.
 
*hugs* for everyone that has lost a fuzzy, it's never easy!
 
Sue
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[Posted in FML issue 2598]