well, biscuit, the elderly ferret who has been sick for months is still
hanging in there, but still unwell...
 
initial symptoms seemed to suggest stress-induced GI ulcer--tooth grinding,
pawing at mouth, etc.  pepto+amox+flagyl was given, to no effect.  i think
this was back in january, but time blurs.
 
he went entirely off solid food, and has been eating a soup mixture which
consists primarily of ground kibble, wet iams kitten food, and chicken w/
broth baby food ever since... his weight has fluctuated, but has remained
between 2 pounds and 1 pound 2 oz... i dont' have a scale, but right now
my guess would be right around 1 pound 6 oz.
 
after that, he has developed pus in his urine, and a mouth ulcer, which
was treated with cefadroxil.  the ulcer cleared up, the pus went away,
but he quickly developed a nasty ear infection.
 
onto otomax we went, it didn't really seem to have much effect... the
infection spread to his sinuses and affected the eye.  i put him on
benadryl for the sinuses for a day or so until i could get him to the
vet--at this point we tried clavamox.  cleared the sinus thing right up,
but he's lost most of the use of the right side of his face--i think he's
blind in that eye now, and holds his head lopsided.
 
i think this was around the time he got *really* weak... dont' remember
for sure.  he lost almost all balance and use of his rear legs, and the
doc pulled some blood... we suspected insulinoma.  dr.  tudin honestly
didn't think he was going to last a week at that point, and neither did i.
insulinoma results came back negative, and *i* started taking him to work
with me, so i could feed him soup 4x a day, noon to midnight.  that feeding
regimen did wonders... he gained 5 ounces, got his strength back, and
started eating his soup at feeding times out of a saucer instead of me
having to syringe-feed him.
 
unfortunately, i haven't been able to continue bringing him to work with
me, because i dont' have the use of my car right now, and walking in the
florida heat with his carrier would be worse for him, i think, than less
frequent feedings.
 
then, the pus in his urine came back.  we tried baytril at this point, and
it's not cleared the urine up, although it does seemed to have finally
kicked the ear infection almost entirely.
 
he was absolutely refusing to eat hard kibble, but i recently started
giving him "junk food" (meow mix) in his bowl, and he eats some of that.
i still give him 4-5 oz. of soup a day, though.
 
anyway, he's been on baytril, clavamox, cefadroxil, amoxicillin... any
suggestions to try and get the urinary tract/kidney/whatever the hell it
is thing for good?  if a TN panel would be likely to at least ID the
source of the problem, i'd try to collect together the funds to do it...
 
my current thinking is since the cefa drops cleared it up before, to try
it again.  i haven't talked with my vet yet, as their office closes at noon
on weds.  i'll be calling them tomorrow (i need some advantage/frontline,
and i also recently discovered mouth cancer in one of my hedgehogs, and
i'm hoping to be able to get her looked at soon.)
 
please send suggestions my way (and cross your fingers for biscuit, and
the hoggle.)
 
-k-
[Posted in FML issue 3504]