>From:    Jenna Leigh <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: scabs and spitting up  from a ferret who's the picture of health
>I read on a web-page that vomiting can signify that her lungs are filling
>with blood, which scares me to death.  But I can't imagine that that's the
>only possible cause.  No one has assured me that ferrets simply throw up
>from time to time as do most animals, but because she's alert, energetic,
>eating and drinking well I find it hard to believe that the cause could be
>that serious.
 
Vomiting is a sign of gastrointestinal distress.  Could be a blockage,
intestinal virus, etc.  Ferrets don't vomit from time to time for no
reason at all.  I've never heard of vomiting caused by lungs filling with
blood, but I'm no doctor so I wouldn't even begin to say that it can't
happen.  That's a new one, that's for sure.  Seems to me they'd choke to
death before vomiting.  Where is the web page on which you read this?
 
>So, do you suppose that my ferret my survive three more weeks until I am
>able to afford a checkup?
 
Maybe, maybe not.  Ferrets can go from the picture of health to deathly ill
in the blink of an eye.  You should really take her to see her vet.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club and Rescue, Inc.
*
* Visit our shelter's web site: http://www.miamiferret.org
* Visit my Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/FHC
[Posted in FML issue 2454]