Hello all
Condolences to all for your sick and precious fuzzies that have gone to
the Rainbow Bridge.  I am new to the FML and the FHL, been lurking for
about a 1 1/2 and am owned by 4 fuzzie monsters.  I first posted this on
the FHL looking for information but have not received any response yet so
maybe that was not were I should have posted it.  Sorry about that.  and
sorry for the length as well but I wanted to give as much information as
possible :o)  Any thoughts advice and comments are more then welcomed
Thanks for listeningư..well reading actually hehehe
 
 >>>Post from FHL from Aug 21
I have a little girl who is about 3yrs old, beautiful bright white Albino
named Fric.  She had a VERY severe case of ECE back in May.  It took
about 2 wks for her to return to normal.  She did recover though and
since then has had her "good days" and "bad days".  Which my vet told me
would probable be the case for quite a while.  She goes a week sometimes
2 w/o issues, eats and drink well on her own but then she will have a set
back for couples days.  On those days she gets feed chicken baby food and
2cc of Pepto-Bismol/Nuit-Cal/Ferritone cocktail twice a day (which she
loves) and she will be normal again in a day or 2 day.  During her bad
days, it is really just her poo that is bad.  She NEVER seems to loose
energy(hehehe lucky me) or her appetite.
 
Besides my feeding her, she eats very well on her own.  She has actually
managed to put weight back on and now weights more then she did before
she got sick and looks wonderful :o)
 
Well last week she had a bad day on Monday by Thursday, still no good
poo, I was starting to get I little concerned, her tummy looked a little
swollen on Thursday night.  Well Friday morning no solid poo and I notice
a blueish spot on her tummy so off to the vet we went.  And of course on
the way to the vet....she had a "soft" but formed poo!!!
 
My vets office has 2 vets, the one that I usually see was not there so
she saw the other vet.  At first it was kind of funny because she asked
why we were there because there did not seem to be absolutely anything
wrong with her :o) She looked at her tummy area, and saw the "spot" wet
her fur down to take a look.  She said the mark was "under the skin" and
more then likely her spleen, and it was a bit enlarged.  Which would not
be all that uncommon when a ferret is fighting a disease.  She attempted
to give her an anti-biotic (I feel like an idiot because I can not
remember the name..  think is was something with and M..it was vanilla
flavored.  it also comes in tuti-fruit which they were out of) Anyway,
she WOULD NOT take it.  They tried to mix it, no go, scruff her, no go,
medicine shower anyone hehehehe, finally the vet scuffed Fric putting on
her back, down the vets arm and they got it in her.  They put her down
and 15 secs.  later she threw it, as well as some food she had eaten
earlier, up.  So that medicine was out.
 
The vet debated for a min about putting her on amoxicillion (which is
what she was on back in May) but then she decided that I should just keep
treating her as I am (baby food, and Pepto) and let her ride it out for a
few days.  If the spot did not go away by Monday / Tuesday, to bring her
back.  This concerned me a bit, so I asked her what about IBD?  I was
told that IBD is usually accompanied by weight loss, a sore "back end"
and other symptoms and she does not have any of these.  So I took her
word for it and we left.  The spot was gone by Sat afternoon :o) and I
continued the Pepto until Monday.
 
Yesterday (Tuesday) she was runny again.  Put her back on Pepto and she
if fine.  I guess my concern is does anyone know if long term use of
Pepto will do any damage?  And what about the spleen thing, being
enlarged when ill, is this normal?  I do not mean to doubt the vet.  I am
just concern because in doing tons of reading on ECE and IBD because I
have had 4 that contracted ECE due to my lack of knowledge.  I do not
ever recall anything about the spleen being enlarged.  I may have missed
it but still, I just want to be sure.
 
Also just a little more info...she has mild hair lose on her tail, but at
this time no signs of adrenal, the hair comes and goes.  Regular vet say
we will just keep an eye on, it could be early signs.  In mid July she/we
lost her cage mate.  She lost a lot of hair on her tail right after that.
Again, still no positive signs of adrenal at this time.  She did seem
lost/depressed as we all were for a week or so after.  But then bounced
back (I mean literally bounced, she is a big time weasel dancer hehehe)
but the hair has not yet come back.  So I don't know if that has any
bearing.
 
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give as much info as possible,
and any comments, experience or advice is more than welcome.  My vet
rules, no doubt, but other info can never hurt and may help.
 
Thanks so very much.  Cuddle your fuzzies
Brenda and the monsters Fric, Tic, Tac, Toe and my ferret angel Frac :o)
[Posted in FML issue 3884]