To Peter Graziella concerning young Morkette with vomiting:
 
        Peter - The first thing that I would think of with a young ferret
     with projectile vomiting and abdominal pain would be an abdominal
     blockage.  As a minimum, I would suggest a CBC, serum chemistry panel
     - to see what changes are going on in the blood and how the vomiting
     has affected Morkette systemically, and abdominal radiographs, with a
     Barium series that may pick up a blockage.  If there is any sign of a
     blockage, I would make sure that she is stable and go right to
     surgery.
 
        Has there been any blood in the stool?  Has it been tarry?  Or has
     there been any pain on defecation?
 
        I have found fecal cultures to be unrewarding and generally a waste
     of money.  I am not really familiar with E. coli enteritis as being a
     problem in ferrets.  Most cases of diarrhea in young ferrets are due
     to them eating something that they shouldn't and I always start them
     immediately on Laxatone and Amoxicillin 10-20 mg/lb.  If there is
     sufficient damage to the lining of the intestine, you can have
     absorption of bacterial products and/or bacteria from the lumen of the
     gut, which adds to the problem.  The antibiotics seem to prevent a lot
     of problems in these instances.
 
        Peter, I urge you, if you are not think of a foreign body, let's
     turn our attention to that possiblity.  A bacterial enteritis in an
     animal on antibiotics is probably not life-threatening, but a foreign
     body definitely is.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       OR [log in to unmask]           Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
            (202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1110]