Sunday was horrible.  Cayanne walked out from the bathroom litterbox and
stopped halfway to where I was sitting.  All of a sudden, she sat down and
started coughing very deep, liquid sounding coughs.  The poor dear couldn't
stop!
 
I picked her up and cradled her in my arms, trying to get her to settle
down.  She curled right up, but kept on coughing.  When she wasn't coughing,
she was wheezing..  I was so worried!  She calmed down and crawled into my
sweatshirt and went to sleep.  Every five minutes, she started coughing
again.  I grabbed the pet carrier, and left Cayanne in my sweatshirt where
she could be very close to me, and took her off to the emergency vet.
 
It was not an intestinal blockage, as after the thermometer was removed,
Cayanne chose to express her displeasure with that arrangement by pooping
all over the vet!  The vet and I were quite happy to see that, as it meant
there was no blockage, as the poop was perfectly normal.
 
Her temp, and heart were normal, and there was no fluid around the lungs.
There just appears to be some tenderness in the pharyngeal area right
underneath the jaw.
 
That got me to thinking.  I am worried that it can be the lymphosarcoma, as
she is still a "teenager" (30 weeks old now) and the throat tenderness is
one of the symptoms.  But I also got to thinking... ferrets taste food at
least similar to the way we do.  Spicy foods nail us right there under the
jaw, doesn't it?  Well, someone had posted the idea of putting pepper down
where the ferrets like to dig.  Granted, the pepper had been on the floor
for two weeks, but it is possible that she has just gotten an overly-large
snoot-full of the stuff and started reacting.  The pepper has since been
vaccumed, and Cayanne is on anti-biotics to make sure a secondary infection
doesn't take advantage of her irritated throat.
 
Needless to say, I am now dead-set against the use of spicy substances to
deterr any sort of behavior in ferrets.  I don't know what the cause is, but
for now, I'd rather blame the hot pepper rather than face the alternative...
Lymphosarcoma or some other nasty.
 
Again, needless to say, I shall be paying VERY close attention to her for
some time.  Is there anything else associated with any disease anyone knows
about that might cause tenderness in the pharyngeal area while maintaining
normal heart rate and temp?
 
My deepest sympathies for those who have lost their fuzzies.
 
   Respectfully,
 
    Bryan Hall
[Posted in FML issue 1765]