Hello everyone,
 
I've been getting the mailing list for about a year now and have found
it to be extremely helpful and informative, but I can't find any info
on gastric ulcers and diagnosis and i was hoping some of you had some
experience in this field.  I have had ferrets for about 12 years and
currently have 12 (all rescues) but I have never had a ferret with this
problem before.
 
My ferret Dudley started acting really painful and tired about three
weeks ago, on the weekend (when all the vets are closed) of course, he
had the black tarry stools and he wouldn't eat or drink anything (he's
lost around a pound).  At first I thought it was a cold (I hadn't seen
the stools at the time) so I let it go for a few days and the it got a
lot worse so I made the vet appt for the next day.  The vet said it was
a gastric ulcer and gave me instructions to give him carafate, pepcid,
amoxi, and a couple of days on bene bac.  I had him on this for about
two weeks and he doesn't seem to be improving or getting worse.  I have
been hand feeding him baby food every few hours so he's been keeping his
weight on and he's drinking on his own, but my question is: Is there
something more I should be doing?  ,and, How long does it take for the
medicine to work?  I have an appt for him on Monday for exploratory to
rule out anything serious, I just hope i'm doing the right thing, I so
worried about the little guy, he's had a tough life before I got him
and I could stand to lose him at 3 years old .
 
Thanks For Your Time,
Lisa and the Diabolical Dozen (Tango, Beavis, Leia, Oscar, Bucky, Chobi,
Chlo-Bear, Miles, Max, Mickey, Minnie, and the Dud-Muffin)
[Posted in FML issue 4179]