-- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., XXXXXXXX wrote:
>First off, I am not a vet but am used to prolapses.  How bad is it?  Is
>it pink?  Red?  Purple?  Slight in size or large?  A bad prolapse needs
>veterinary care, perhaps even a bit tightening with simple purse string
>stitching or sometimes even more correction.  If it is red (esp.  deep
>red) or purple, or has not gone back in with moisturizing, or if a lot of
>tissue is involved I think that you should immediately contact your vet
>and speak directly with your veterinary professional.  If it is mild
>(pink, small) try Preparation H.  If it doesn't go in with that call your
>vet.
 
Good call, XXXX. I often put a little cortisone (0.1%) in with the
Preparation H.
 
>Be sure to wet down any food you give the kit to decrease irritation.
 
I'm not sure if it will make any difference.  Kibble that is chewed up is
probably no harder on the colon than that which is pre- moistened.
 
The key to prolapse is curing the diarrhea - the colon is straining to push
out stool with no form - there is nothing to push against.  In this case,
the diarrhea is probably stress-related.  It is uncommon that a prolapse
could occur as the result of a stressful episode of only 10 hours in
duration, but perhaps there was subclinical diarrhea earlier, and this
was the last straw.
 
Just to be on the safe side, I'd suggest a couple of fecals to make sure
there are no parasites causing the diarrhea (I tend to doubt it, but it
doesn't hurt to check it out.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3358]