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Post by katt on Aug 22, 2010 22:44:31 GMT -5
Koda has been urinating a LOT more than normal today. I did a google search "Excessive Urination in Ferrets" and it brought up a long list of links for adrenal disease! He has been super itchy, but I didn't think much of it because he is always super itchy and it is getting close to fall/shed season. He has pooped and urinated far more than normal today. Also, Shane went to check on him while I was cooking dinner and was bringing him from the bathroom (where he had been eating a mouse) to his cage and heard a bubbly noise like Koda makes when he poops and saw a little drip down. He said it looked like poop water. Like "a really watery substance that looked brown in color with fecal matter in it - it was just a couple drops." He tried to make him go potty but he just wanted to play so he put him in the cage. Should I worry about adrenal? I mean he is not even a year old...but he is in unnatural lighting a lot. What signs should I watch for, what else could this be due to? Is it normal for the seasonal change?
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Post by Heather on Aug 22, 2010 23:53:27 GMT -5
I personally think he's way too young but it's been hitting younger all the time. Hopefully, Jennifer will pop in on this thread...either that or pm her. I think he's too young.....I hope he's too young I thought Loki was young as he got his adrenal surgery at 4 but I've heard of younger ferrets. All my guys are super itchy at this time of year....bump them out of the hammy itchy...they're shedding. Sounds to me like a tummy upset....have you tried some pumpkin? Up the bone a bit? Is he drinking more? Good luck, give the brat a hug from me Tell him to stop scaring you all the time, I'm running out of healing candles for him ciao
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Post by katt on Aug 23, 2010 1:14:03 GMT -5
www.2ndchance.info/inflammatoryboweldisferret.htmCould he have IBD? The runny poops all summer wand whatnot would kind of make me lean towards that...the mushrooms definitely helped, but I need to get some fresh ones and haven't gotten to the store to get more. I don't think he has been drinking more, but he did eat more last night...
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Post by rarnold18 on Aug 23, 2010 1:54:33 GMT -5
I'm hoping it's just an upset tummy, saying a special prayer for Koda tonight!
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Post by katt on Aug 23, 2010 2:49:56 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I really do think that he is too young to have adrenal, but when I did that search that was all that pulled up which alarmed me bc 'tis the season! His tummy is obviously still sensitive (or I am assuming so from his continuous mushy poops) from his surgery so I hope that is all it is. Also, not sure if this is related or not, but today in addition to pooping and peeing way more than usual, he also had several accidents where he pooped right next to his litter box. That is very unlike him - HOWEVER - I think it might be that, bc he was peeing more, the box was wet (newspaper spreads even one pee through the majority of the box) and he didn't want to get pee on his feet when he pooped. And, since it is the seasonal change, maybe he is being hormonal and, being a male (even a neutered one), is getting territorial? Just ideas. I am not super alarmed just yet as he is acting normal otherwise, but I want to make sure that the excess urine is not (or IS) something to be concerned about...I worry about him becoming dehydrated. Any way to try to convince him to drink more water?
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Post by Heather on Aug 23, 2010 12:53:04 GMT -5
Do you feed soupy? I add more water or I make up some soup base (flavour doesn't really matter, I use chicken normally because it's easier) and let them drink that. If he's still having problem poops and has been since his surgery, I would be awfully tempted to take him to the vet for a culture. I would think that his tummy would have settled by now. I would be concerned about IBD (only caused by damage of either the surgery or the obstruction) or a bacterial infection. These are things you need to discuss with your vet. We can offer options and possibilities but in this case I would be tempted to take him to the vet and get it cleared up. ciao
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Post by katt on Aug 23, 2010 13:59:41 GMT -5
Well when I add the mushroom or pumpkin, his poops are nice and solid. Unfortunately, school started back up today and tuition is due. I haven't even bought my books yet and rent is due in a week but I don't get paid for about 2 weeks...my loan money is running out. I'd like to save it for emergencies. Obviously, if I REALLY have to take him in, I will. But I would like to avoid that if at all possible. His surgery really put a... dent in my savings. Esp because his poop is good (nice healthy, and solid) when he gets the bulk. The runny poops yesterday are probably because I ran out of mushroom and pumpkin and he didn't have any bone that day either. It was mainly the excess urine that concerned/concerns me. I have class in a few min, and was in class all morning so I haven't been able to watch him yet today. Perhaps because he ate a bit more yesterday and the night before, he just had that much extra fluid to get rid of?
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Post by Heather on Aug 23, 2010 14:58:14 GMT -5
See what happens when you get the bulk back in his diet. Keep an eye on him. I totally understand the whole financial thing, I've got 3 right now that are being seen by the vet for some unknown bite (cat?spider?) that has become infected and requires more care than I can offer to them (looking like antibiotics time ), so yes I totally understand about finances. The problem is, is knowing when to take the whole thing in before it gets ahead of you and costs you either a fortune because you waited too long or costs your little one his life or health. So, believe me I know all about walking the financial tightrope The extra liquid you may be seeing is liquid poops?? I know that Ghenghis has horrible poops that could resemble urine in the litter box because they were that liquid These were the poops that he got when his IBD was acting up. Good luck and keep us posted. We all worry about your little one too ciao
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Post by katt on Aug 23, 2010 23:06:03 GMT -5
Thanks Heather. The extra liquid was definitely urine. I also looked at the poop he pooped after Shane noticed him "leaking" yesterday. I think that that was just a runnier drop of the poop starting and when Shane moved him it startled him out of his poop and then he held the poop in. The poop was not much runnier than usual it just had a little (really small) amount of liquid -aka runnier poop- with it. His urine was normal colored and he doesn't seem to be abnormally dehydrated.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 24, 2010 23:52:44 GMT -5
How's the pee thing going? Still way excessive? My stinking computer is dropping dead (possible HW issue). I'm thinking that Koda is pretty young (about a year old??? ) As such I'm questioing infection or dietary imbalance. The kidneys may be working overtime tryng to flush the system. Long term, this can be hard on the kidneys. If he's active and bouncy, I'm inclined to question his diet. I want to think you had recently asked about bone meal...Any recent dietary changes? Please let us know everything Koda is getting in is weekly menu (describe the quantities, etc.) -jennifer
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Post by katt on Aug 25, 2010 1:24:40 GMT -5
Nope, he seems to be urinating less now - so back to normal. And no recent dietary changes. I can't say precisely what he gets each day as when I buy the meat (in bulk) I chop and mix it all into different serving sized baggies so each bag has a different variety of meats, organs, and bones. I don't label the bags - typically I can usually tell which bags have chicken, beef, organ, or bone when I look at the bag, but I just grab them randomly from the freezer for meals. It works well. Here is what I bought the last round... Beef meat (beef stew cubes, and steak chops I think - it was at the beginning of the summer) Chicken meat (whole chickens, and chicken wings) chicken heart chicken liver pork slices (don't remember the cut - muscle meat though) pork kidney beef liver beef heart Perhaps this time around I just got too much organ meat? I wanted a better variety of organs, but the pork and beef pieces are pretty big... I need to restock on meat here very soon, so I will try getting more muscle and bone and less organs to see if that helps. I will get veggies to grate and chop to freeze with the meats as well, so he will already have a little fiber with each serving and I don't have to worry about running out. Maybe he had just had more to drink earlier that that day/night and I didn't realize it?
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Post by rarnold18 on Aug 25, 2010 4:28:57 GMT -5
Beef Liver!!!! OMG! I know from my experience that when my crew get too much beef liver in their food their poo's are super runny and stink to high heavens!!! They are also much darker than normal... you can tell that I've fed beef liver at my house because it also give my HORRIBLE, open all the windows, turn on all the fans, clear the room GAS! EW!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 25, 2010 11:16:48 GMT -5
Good! Glad to hear that Koda ia back to normal. I was thinking you may have used some of the Tito's bone meal (I seem to remember she is getting some kind of calcium supplement but this might just be my faulty brain Anyway, too much dietary calcium can result in hypercalcemia, which causes excessive urination. Excessive urination can be a sign that the body is trying to clean the blood becuase of toxins or build up of something in the system. Some ferrets do have trouble with beef organs - they tend to be very rich and sometimes difficult for some ferrets to digest. -jennifer
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Post by katt on Aug 25, 2010 23:26:35 GMT -5
BEEF LIVER! Why didn't I think of that? Now I think more too it could actually be the beef heart too. I fed him a beef heart or liver (Can't remember which...)once and it STUNK!!!! His poops smelled and were dark and runny, and the cage stunk, and the meat stunk. I swore up and down I would never get another, but then later (aka last time I stocked up) I decided well, maybe it was just a not so good piece of meat last time. So I got beef heart and beef liver... Hmmmmm.....Maybe that could explain the stinky, soft poops! They are always darker when he eats any beef meat (even just muscle meat).
Perhaps I should just start feeding him a single type of food and add to it to see how his poops change? Like feed only chicken for a while, then add turkey, then add beef? Perhaps beef is just too rich for him. I know he does really well on chicken and rodent, but I want him to have a good variety too other than just fowl (chicken, turkey, game hen)...
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Post by katt on Aug 25, 2010 23:32:14 GMT -5
Oh so for fiber (not to drag up a much visited topic haha) I think I will do this - what do you think...? I will get Mushrooms (are oyster mushrooms ok? Shiitake and oysters are right next to each other and not labeled well so I can't tell which is which, any type of mushroom that is NOT ok?), squash, lettuce, and maybe one other fiber (sweet potato? Carrots?) and blend it all up REALLY well. Then I will freeze it, and add little scoops to his food daily. I might have to do ice cubes of it if it freezes too solidly.
Other fibers OK or Not OK? Collard Greens Mustard Greens Turnip Greens Kale Carrots Veggies (beans, peas, etc) parsnip zucchini (I assume this is ok since it is squash) bell peppers
The above (except carrots) are all things I buy anyways for my Ig, so I could cut up a little of each and add them to the fiber mush...
And Jennifer to answer your question - no I didn't add any of the calcium powder, but yes, Tito is on it. It is not bone meal though, I believe that it is Calcium Carbonate (from oysters if I remember correctly) from RepCal (No phosphorus or D3). Iguanas need it (and UVB light) regularly or they risk getting Metabolic Bone Disease.
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