I posted last week that I had noticed a bit of reddish residue around
Cassie's vulva, but that a vet checkup and urinalysis showed no problems.  I
received the following response:
 
In FML issue 1453 "Michael Dutton, DVM, DABVP" <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>An urinary tract infection is still possible.  The other option is
>vaginitis.  If Cassie is not spayed, hormonal cycles might play a role
>also.  Most vaginitis cases clear up on antibiotics.
 
Cassie is a convenience kit, already spayed when I got her at 7 weeks age.
She is now about 3 1/2 years old, and other than some bloody stools when I
first got her (which the vet attributed to stress) has never been ill.
 
If the tests so far haven't shown anything, how do we determine if Cassie
does have a urinary tract infection or vaginitis? Should we just put her on
antibiotics and see what happens? How would the vets here recommend that we
proceed? My vet seems to think it's nothing.
 
I would also value any opinions on Bud's necropsy, ie. what likely killed
him (was it probably autoimmune hemolytic anemia?  what might have triggered
it?), might it have been related to his adrenal disease, is there any danger
to the remaining ferrets?  In fact any answers would be reassuring.  I feel
I've been stumbling in the dark from the start, and I still don't really
know why this happened.  The necropsy can be viewed at:
 
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/Ferrets/bud_necro.html
 
Thanks.
 
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Cassidy and Sammy
With loving memories of my dear departed Buddy
Technical analyst, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets.html
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1456]