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Post by katt on Jul 1, 2010 2:45:55 GMT -5
So I made this post earlier about Koda being really frantic with a f/t rat. At one point he gagged but I figured he was eating, Then he started being all weird so I forgot about it, Now he is gagging like he is going to throw up!!!! I CAN'T afford another 1000 surgery. He has been in his cage all day and has been pooping plenty. I mean I cleaned his box today and it was pooped and peed in. He was acting normal all day, and in his cage bc I had work. I don't know of anything he could have gotten into. Could the gagging be from something else? He was acting normal until the rat....could there be something wrong with it? I got it from a reliable source...He is drinking water and I am going to feed him some Vaseline now. Heather - Could it be those d*** treats?!?!?!
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Post by katt on Jul 1, 2010 2:47:26 GMT -5
Can I heimlich him and make him throw up?
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Post by katt on Jul 1, 2010 2:59:25 GMT -5
He has had nothing in his cage except hard plastic toys and his usual bedding. He was only out today for a short amount of time and was supervised. He is drinking a lot of water. I got him to eat some Vaseline, and he wanted it enough but he had to stop and gag for a bit a few times. I am already up to my ears in debt over this little guy. I don't know what I will do if I have to bring him to the vet again! I am keeping a very close eye on him right now, but I am very worried. the only time I have really seen him gag a lot and act frantic was when he ate those erasers. He seems to be acting normal now until he has to gag. Which is happening a little less frequently....He is not pawing at his face that I can tell yet. Why oh why does he have to do this in the middle of the night every time when everyone who can help is sleeping? Gaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by katt on Jul 1, 2010 3:08:11 GMT -5
Could it be due to low blood sugar? I read somewhere that that can be a cause of hacking like that. Is there something I can give him to raise his blood sugar a little bit and see if that helps to rule that out or not?
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Post by katt on Jul 1, 2010 3:34:02 GMT -5
Now he is just sleeping and looking sad that I will not let him out of his cage. He hasn't gagged in a while, but he is sleeping, so that does not make me feel better. Edit: he is awake now and moving around the cage. He keeps trying to get out, but I want to keep an eye on him...
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Post by rarnold18 on Jul 1, 2010 9:48:47 GMT -5
I'm praying for Koda!!!
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 1, 2010 10:57:12 GMT -5
It sounds like he simply couldn't figure out where to stash the rat at first, and maybe just got some fur in his throat. That WILL cause gagging and retching. If he's pooping/peeing normally, I don't think you have to worry. Once in a while, mine will go crazy with a choice bit of whole prey, the whole running around thing, etc. He should be fine.
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Post by Heather on Jul 1, 2010 11:35:55 GMT -5
Sounds to me that he may have eaten his fav treat a litte too fast and scratched his throat. Keep an eye on him, but if he's peeing and pooping fine, the only thing left is to see if he can eat anything. One thing you might check is to see if he has something (hair or bone) caught in his back teeth, this will make them gag and paw at their mouth. They will probably displace this on their own but just check. Sometimes is all it takes is a flick with your finger nail to dislodge it and help the little one. The frantic activity with a favourite treat isn't uncommon. You should see them when someone else wants that favourite treat ciao
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Post by 1 on Jul 1, 2010 12:44:34 GMT -5
I once was chokeing on my meat, tell Koda to stay healthy.
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Post by katt on Jul 2, 2010 1:15:37 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I am still not so sure about hair in the throat/teeth though. It could have been, I hope it was, and that is good to know! He has gagged eating though and usually after once or twice he stops (I keep a close eye/ear on him any time he gags). The only other time I have seen him continuously gagging off/on for a long period (hour or 2 maybe?) was when he ate the erasers, and the only time I have seen him gag/throw up, and act all weird and frantic was then also. So, yeah...paranoid much? lol Sorry! Anyways, this is why I am hesitant to say it was fur in his throat: I have regularly been checking Koda's stomach. I scruff him until he is relaxed, and gently run my hands with slight pressure on his belly. I do this so that I can see how his normal (feeling good) reaction is to belly pressure, and get used to how hard/soft his belly is so that I can tell if say it gets really hard and bloated, or super sensitive or something. And it gets him used to it so that if I am worried he won't be as squirmy. Anyways, normally he just hangs there, but last night he was definitely not wanting me to touch his stomach too much. If I ran my hands along his belly in the area right under his rib cage he tensed and squirmed, and when I picked him up by his middle (near same area) a few times that seemed to instigate the gagging. Today he seems ok, and has no problem with me touching his belly; though he did have a weird poop (that could have just been the liver I gave him earlier in the day though), and at one point I was by his cage and smelled something terrible. The only time I have smelled that bad of a smell from him was when he threw up a bunch of pinky rats (I gave him too big of a dose of Benadryl before his shots ). I looked through the entire cage and could not find any puke, and even after cleaning the litter box you could still smell it for a while, so it may or may not have been the weird poop that smelled. It was disgusting though. BUT, he IS eating and pooping and playing. So for now at least it looks like he feels ok. Or better anyways... I think he just likes to freak me out when he thinks he is not getting enough attention lately. Maybe he heard me talking about leaving for a week and was trying to make me stay! haha
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Post by sherrylynne on Jul 2, 2010 16:02:38 GMT -5
I was just reading through your last post here, and it reminded me of something. If Vincent is at all stressed, he's much more likely to have a sensitive tummy, as in gagging on things more, sometimes some really viscous clearish diarrhea that stinks to high heavens. Once he's got that out of his system as it were, he feels much better. And before you ask- virtually ANYTHING can stress Vincent out Cat being mean, me making him eat something he doesn't want, anything!
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Post by katt on Jul 3, 2010 4:30:07 GMT -5
I was just reading through your last post here, and it reminded me of something. If Vincent is at all stressed, he's much more likely to have a sensitive tummy, as in gagging on things more, sometimes some really viscous clearish diarrhea that stinks to high heavens. Once he's got that out of his system as it were, he feels much better. And before you ask- virtually ANYTHING can stress Vincent out Cat being mean, me making him eat something he doesn't want, anything! Hmmm I wonder if he was stressed about something? I have no idea why, but I suppose that is a possibility...
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 4, 2010 10:02:36 GMT -5
The only thing my ferst tend to get frantic over is something involving the digestive system, so I understnd your concern - koda is very talented when it comes to getting into trouble . Tomichi ate a cricket. Within about 5 - 10 minutes, she got frantic and was racing around the room thrying to run away from her stomach - she then barfed up the cricket - but it took her a while to calm down. Koda may have a constricted area in his gut from scar tissue. If he has had issues /discomfort from eating mice before (espsicailly post syrgery, he may have trouble with th high amount of bulk in whole prey (fur/bones). Although whole prey is typiclly the best under normal circumstances, it may be difficut on Koda's system because of his surgery. To be honest, I'd be inclined to feed Koda a ground diet and/or smaller buts of meat/bone. I would also be less inclined to feed whole prey becase of the fur (that's a lot of non-digestible matter. But that may be my paranoia. Has he done this with whole prey before? I so, was it after his surgery? -jennifer
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Post by katt on Jul 8, 2010 5:45:54 GMT -5
No, he has never done it before other than when I had to take him in for his surgery. He has had whole prey before and since with no issues. He has had live mice, and f/t rats several times since his surgery with no problem. I never thought of the scar tissue being tight though. Perhaps I should do a little physical therapy type stuff with him regardless of whether he seems to be having issues or not? I mean he runs and jumps and climbs ok. And I tickle/rub his belly a lot. Would it help him if I rubbed his stomach muscles more to try to loosen up the tight areas if there are any? If so, is there a certain way that I should do it? As for the whole prey, I will give another rat a shot. He has had the treats since then and before then and so I don't think they were the problem. Maybe he just had a belly ache? I have never seen him so frantic with his food.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 8, 2010 8:46:40 GMT -5
Rubbing scar tissue will not help. Scarring can tend to build up over time (my scars tend to build for about a year) before they begin to fade. He probably just had a belly ache, but keep an eye on Koda after feeding him whole prey. If he seems to get uncomfortable after eating whole prey, you may want to watch to see if he's chewing well, check his teeth, and stick with smaller prey (mice, chicks, etc. ) rather than large rats or rabbit. He's probably fine, but paranoia is not a totally bad thing when it comes to ferrets -jennifer
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