We are currently working under the assumption that we are dealing with
helicobacter in one of our ferrets.  Odin has had intermittent diarrhea for
a few months now, and has not responded to other treatments.
 
His main symptom has been the diarrhea - he is still eating just fine
(though has dropped a little weight), drinking fine, mostly active (somewhat
"off" at times).  He was also showing signs of straining - or trying to go
repeatedly, but just leaving a small dot of diarrhea.  Diarrhea was grainy
and tan or orangey in color.  Stool cultures and xrays have not shown
anything positive, blockage is still a possibility, but he does still have
some poops, isn't vomiting, is eating, etc.  My vet doesn't believe in doing
surgery unless we feel it's absolutely required - she'd prefer to try the
treatment and see if it works before subjecting him to anesthesia and
surgery.
 
So last week he went on a treatment of amoxy (.5ml 2x daily), metronidazole
(.2ml 2x daily) and pepto (.25 ml every 4-6 hours).  I think we are starting
to see some improvements finally, after a week on this treatment.  But it's
hard to tell for sure, so we are going to continue the treatment for at
least one more week to see if this is in fact effective.
 
My question is whether it normally takes this long for improvements to be
seen, or if we should be trying to positively diagnose him before continuing
this treatment?  Will there be any long-term effects due to the fact that
this has been going on for a couple of months now?  Or is this something we
will now have to treat continuously in the future?
 
Also, what exactly is it like when a ferret grinds his/her teeth?  Odin does
do this "weird" thing which sorta looks like he's trying to scrape something
off the roof of his mouth with his tongue (hard to describe) - is this what
it's like when a ferret grinds his teeth??
 
Neither of our other 2 guys have shown any of the same symptoms - they've
been just fine (knock wood!).
 
Thanks.
 
Amy (and the butt bros - Odin, Thor and Loki)
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[Posted in FML issue 1841]