I am forwarding this on behalf of my housemate Lee McKee, whom some of
you may know or remember.  As she says, Ben is at the hospital now, so
he is getting very good veterinary care, but we thought we would see if
anybody here has ever seen anything similar.  If you can think of
anything that might be relevant, please email me at [log in to unmask]
or [log in to unmask], and I will forward it along to Lee.
 
Thanks very much!!
 
 ------forwarded message-------
 
Ben was a bouncy, 3.5-year-old (or thereabouts--he's a rescue without
portfolio).
 
Last Saturday, he got his head stuck, twisted in a windbreaker.  Before I
found him, he had vomited and defecated and peed in panic.{note-- he was
still breathing, but seemed spacey}
 
Once I had given him some Nutrical, he seemed okay.  I gave him cream,
which he lapped up greedily.  But by the next morning, he hadn't eaten or
peed that I could tell.  He lost an incredible amount of mass in 24 hours.
 
That's the acute phase.
 
I consulted with a vet by phone and email.  Given that we had recently
moved, and he was already in stress from that, we figured that watching
and waiting and forcefeeding if needed would be a good course to follow.
 
And it seemed to be.  He wouldn't eat unless prompted, but he would eat:
four feeding sessions, six hours apart, of Hills AD (thanks, Regina), a
quarter can a day.  With that, and between times, Pedialyte & cream, and
a little Nutrical.
 
He put some weight back on, started acting like his old self again.  He
stayed a little dehydrated, but he peed on schedule and in good amounts.
His stools were loose as I would expect with a cream & Hills diet.  Eyes
clear and bright, no discharges from other orifices.  He blew his coat two
days ago, but I put it down to stress (and the other ferrets are shedding
summer coats as well).  He just wouldn't eat on his own, and he seemed a
little nauseated after eating (head-rubbing, a little tooth-grinding).
Still, he was maintaining weight and gaining strength.
 
I had scheduled an appointment with a vet for tomorrow.  But this morning,
he had a violent vomiting episode (and I hadn't fed him yet), and screamed
during it.  so I brought him to emergency.  Before leaving, I noticed his
stools in the box were liquid and green,
 
He's staying overnight, for x-rays, sub-Q, and observation.  Vet
(generalist, not an exotics) thinks foreign body or ECE.  I think I can
rule out the latter--his symptoms are not consistent, the other ferrets
aren't sick, and none of us have been around other ferrets for almost
two years.  If it's a foreign body, it's obviously not blocking his
intestines ... but it's a pretty strong coincidence with the windbreaker
episode.
 
I'm thinking: damage or foreign body in stomach or esophagus, or upper
gastric tract ulcer (Helicobacter infection, precipitated by stress).
 
I'll be getting something more of an answer tomorrow--either of the
exotics vets who might see him are quite good.
 
But, it's an interesting case study for you ... although for me, it's not
quite so academic.
 
    ---------------------
 
Regina
[Posted in FML issue 3129]