Hello everyone,
 
I have run into a problem with one of my ferrets.  Doodle is 5 years old
and for the past 6 or 7 months has had chronic diarrhea.  We first tried
some anti-biotics and it did not resolve the problem.  Lab work showed
that his albumin was low which apparently is not uncommon with chronic
diarrhea.  We decided to do an exploratory surgery ( to look for
hairball, etc.)
 
We opened him up and found a hairball, we assumed that would take care
of it.  When we had opened him up we removed some insulinoma tumors as
well as his left adrenal gland.  His right had been removed 8 months
previously, we were unable to recheck the right because of some nasty
adhesions.
 
Anyway, his stool improved for about 3 days and then was mucousy and
seedy again.  The unfortunate thing was that the vet did not take a
stomach or intestinal biopsy, but we decided to treat for Helicobacter
mustelae.  The treatment did not improve the stool either.  The vet had
biopsied the mesenteric lymphnode and it showed inflammation.
 
I then moved from Holland to Ireland where I am currently studying
veterinary medicine (1st year), I contacted the vet again because the
diarrhea issue was still not resolved.  She suggested putting him on
Walthams convalesence support and then trying to add some cooked meat to
see if he is allergic to any food.  I tried for a while but he was very
picky and getting stressed out about it.  He would urinate and poo on
me, his hair coat became even more dull.  He was also loosing weight.  I
decided to let him eat his food again because I am at vet school all day
and cannot make sure that he eats enough.
 
So I decided to try pediapred.  He is currently on 1.25 cc (ml) of 1mg/ml
liquid pred once a day, and 0.5 cc carafate twice a day mixed in his soup
( he freaks out otherwise, only way I can be sure he takes it).  His
stool has improved, his diarrhea is not continuous.  But he still has his
off times where he will have diarrhea for a day or 2.  Should I increase
the dose untill the diarrhea stops?  When should I try to reduce the
dose?  Should I be trying something else?  And can some one recommend a
recipe or two for a bland diet to see if he likes a different kind (The
soup he does accept is made with Hill's A/D.)
 
I do not have access to a ferret knowledgeable vet here, maybe someone
knows of one?  Doodle is also on 0.2 cc of Percorten every month but I am
wondering since we could not inspect the right to see if there was any
new growth maybe he does not need it.  Would giving him the percorten if
he does not need it cause any problems or symptoms that I should watch
out for?
 
I appreciate any help and ideas, I also hope that a few vets will respond
to this.  Thank you in advance, if you need any further info please ask.
(I have blood values, radiographs, etc, etc.)
 
Saskia
[Posted in FML issue 4307]