What can anyone tell me about jaundice in ferrets? Around 10:30 this evening
I noticed Buddy was turning yellow. I rushed him to the emergency vet clinic,
and the vet there said he was very jaundiced, slightly dehydrated, and his
temperature was rather low; around 35-36 celcius. He was very active during
the car ride over and during the exam. The vet said this is a good sign, but
that in her experience the prognosis for this is not good, though I should
consult my own vet in the morning as she had little experience with ferrets.
She gave him subcutaneous fluids and suggested I give him a hot water bottle
to sleep with to keep his temperature up.
Some background: Bud hasn't been eating well for the past several days. I
have been trying to separate him from the other ferrets, as he is supposed
to go on medication for thin tail fur, but he hates the medication and
nothing I've tried could make him take it. I had planned to gradually mix
it with his food, which required that he be separated so the other ferrets
wouldn't eat it. It seemed his loss of appetite started when he was first
separated from the other ferrets, and every time I caved in and put him back
with them he would eat again, so I figured his loss of appetite was because
he missed the others or felt uncomfortable in a strange new room. Also,
over the past couple of days Bud's pee has become very dark. I was going to
call my vet first thing tomorrow, but when I saw Bud this evening I knew
something was *very* wrong and I got him to the emergency clinic as fast as
I could. Incidentally, I hadn't yet started Bud on the medication for his
tail.
I don't know if it could be related, but Bud had adrenal surgery August
22nd. He also had a number of nodules removed from his pancreas, and
samples taken of his spleen and liver. No problems were found on the spleen
or liver. Anyone interested can view Bud's pathology report at the
following web page:
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/Ferrets/bud_patho.html
A rundown of his progress after surgery can be seen at:
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/Ferrets/bud_progress.html
Anyway, I've scanned all back issues of the Ferret List for information on
jaundice (who can sleep at a time like this), but didn't find a single case.
I also searched for "turn yellow", "turning yellow", and "yellow skin".
Nothing. I checked all my ferret books, and again there is no reference to
jaundice. Can anyone tell me the probable cause and prognosis? The
emergency vet said it's probably a problem with his liver, and as I
mentioned she didn't think the prognosis was good. Can anything be done for
my little boy? I'll be calling my vet first thing of course, but any advice
from anyone out there would also be much appreciated, as will any prayers
you care to send our way.
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Buddy, Cassidy and Sammy
Technical analyst, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets.html
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[Posted in FML issue 1416]
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