To Nancy Hartman:
 
>...girl has a swollen abdomen that 'feels sort of hard to the touch'.
>And she'll bite when he does touch it.  Which is very uncharacteristic
>of her, indicating it hurts her.
 
        Nancy - even though the vet said there wa no blockages - a one year-old
ferret with pain in the abdomen - that has to be top of the list.  Most ferrets
are very stoic - they have to be in pretty severe pain to show it, let alone
bite the owner.
 
        With an acute abdomen like this, I wouldn't rely simply on a survey
radiograph.  I'd suggest a contrast study with barium, or possibly, just
stabilize the animal and open it up to take a look around...
 
        Also some bloodwork is probably in order...
 
--
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask]               Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]             Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
(202) 782-2600/2602
[Posted in FML issue 1179]