carol wrote:
>Dr. Smith said he found where there must have been a blockage going
>from the kidney to the bladder causing the urine to back up and shutting
>the kidney down.
 
Yes, could have been from a kidney stone in the ureter, though there can
be other causes.  Sounds like no stone was recovered which is too bad
because if that was the cause different stone types can be from different
causes and need different approaches to prevent recurrance.  For example,
there is one type from too much vegetable matter in the diet (struvite)
and another from too much protein (cystine) and they need to be tackled
in different ways.  It can also be very useful to follow the ferret's
urine pH.
 
Here is some info for you to pass along to Dr. Smith; it is a study of
cystine stones (which in the last year have markedly increased among the
stone samples found from ferrets in a urolith laboratory).  The study's
investigators need stones, histories, and when possible also need tissue
samples.  Please, have the vet contact the testing pathology lab about
not tossing the specimen, and getting in touch with Dr. Hawkins.  The
new study on cystine stones (cystine uroliths) in ferrets is being
coordinated by Dr. Michelle Hawkins VMD DABVP (Avian) who your vets
can reached at:
2108 Tupper Hall, University of CA, Davis, CA 95616
1-530-752-1363 (phone) <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 4784]