Hi All,
 
If anyone here has kept up with the saga of my rescue Rockadoodle then you
know there can be a rather unexpected cause for a swollen vulva sometimes.
For those unfamiliar with it, here is a brief synopsis of her story.
 
3 days after the rescue I noticed Rock's vulva was slightly swollen and a
bloody like discharge was there too.  Not a lot of it but it was there.
After the vet visit it was concluded she must be in heat (we had NO history
on her whatsoever).  Everyone I had spoken to thru the FML felt this could
be it but that a bloody discharge was not normal in a jill in heat.  The vet
chose to go in and spay her but found her already spayed.  Checked adrenal
glands : looked normal, checked for leftover ovarian tissue : found none.
We were puzzled at that point since it had seemed so clear that was the
cause.
 
After many discussions with the wonderful Doc. Williams we did a complete
bloodwork and urine alaysis on Rock.  Urine showed a definite infection,
a ton of white cells, and some red cells.  Bloodwork showed the kidney's
if damaged were under a 66% amount of damage.  The test only reveals if
they are more than 66% damaged so it is not a true indicator that there
is no damage.  You need to assume there is and treat accordingly.  So it
was determined my little one had a severe bladder infection and possibly
kidney infection. Now if the infection had not gotten this severe it is
highly unlikely there would be any bloody discharge at all.
 
First it was treated with Amoxy-Drops but after two or so weeks on it her
condition had declined rather than gotten better.  At that point I added
Silver Wing's Colloidal Silver to her treatment and she did perk up a lot.
Still there was an occasional discharge of bloody liquid and she was still
not 100%.  4 or 5 days after adding the CS I changed vets and had another
urinalysis done and there were no more red blood cells but there were still
far too many white.  Changed to a much broader spectrum anti-biotic called
Cephalexin (strawberry taste she loved!!!  Also comes in Orange and they
seem to like it too as my dog is on it now and they try to lick it off the
syringe) and after exactly two weeks on this she was pronounced well!!!
After only a few days on it I saw dramatic improvement like I had seen with
the addition of the CS about a week earlier.  Only this time it led to a
complete recovery.  There were no more discharges from that time on.  I also
continued with the CS and she gets it daily still.
 
So anyone with a ferret that has a swollen vulva and you want everything
checked out before a surgery takes place I strongly suggest an approx.  $17
urinalysis to see if there is infection and also the complete bloodwork to
try and determine the level of organ involvement.  If your vet seems
unwilling to do these standard tests first then I would seek out another vet
as I did later in Rockadoodle's treatment.  If it turns out that it is
infection then you just saved your ferret an unnecessary surgery and your
pocketbook an unnecessary bill:-) With all the uncertainty, confusion and an
unneeded surgery, to get our sweet Rockadoodle well, the total bill was
$269.65!!!  Just a little something to consider now or in the future.  TNT!!
 
      Kelleen Andrews  &  The FANG GANG!!!!
[Posted in FML issue 1562]