Darlene
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 287
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Post by Darlene on Dec 22, 2010 1:45:31 GMT -5
I recently took Koby in to have a lump removed. Since he was going to be anestitised I had the vet take blood to see how Koby was doing on his raw diet. When I got the report it turns out that Koby is slightly anemic. Is there anything I could add to his diet that would help?
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Post by rarnold18 on Dec 22, 2010 8:01:31 GMT -5
adding liver will help with the anemia
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Post by sunnyberra on Dec 22, 2010 8:05:05 GMT -5
I'm not an expert, but iron rich foods could help, possibly (I tend to associate anemia + iron; but it could be an idiopathic thing, as well) - things like beef, turkey, pork, chicken. Livers especially are great iron rich foods. Oysters and clams are, too, I'm just not sure if ferts can have those or not.
Of course, you have to monitor that, as well, and make sure he's not getting too much iron. Just a thought!
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 22, 2010 19:42:13 GMT -5
I also remember reading something a long time ago by mustelidmusk about blood tests sometimes differing in raw fed ferrets than in kibble fed, but can't remember what the difference was. Does he act anemic? Does he tire more easily? Not as active as he used to be? Pale gums/lips?
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Post by Heather on Dec 23, 2010 0:10:28 GMT -5
The difference is that they are on the upper ends of the tests, not on the lower end. I would be concerned as to why Kody is anemic, especially if he's going into surgery. Does your vet have any ideas. I've heard that some cysts divert blood flow and can cause some bleeding internally? Is this a possibility? ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 23, 2010 21:52:29 GMT -5
Thanks, Heather! I couldn't for the life of me remember what the differences were
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Darlene
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 287
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Post by Darlene on Dec 23, 2010 23:37:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the input guys. Koby already had the lump removed (from his armpit). Kobys yearly exam went well,he's just as active as I would expect for this time of year. He did have hair loss late summer,but I am giving him oral melatonin and hair has grown back. I suspect Koby is adrenal, so maybe this could be causing the "slight anemic" problem. My vet is in the process of getting Suprelorin and he's hoping it'll be in by the end of December.
Here's the comment from the lab:
"Slight anemia-chronic disease? Blood loss? Mild increased alk phos-biliary oriented liver lesion? Secondary to enteric or cardiac diease? Persistent? You may wish to check bile acids/hepatic function. No other remarkable abnormalities." Dr. Jxx Bxxxxx
My vet is not concerned about the results,otherwise he would've contacted me. Koby looks and acts great. I would like to know if there's something I could add to his diet that would help. Is there something other than liver???
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Post by Heather on Dec 24, 2010 0:39:53 GMT -5
You could try some milk thistle. This would help strengthen his liver function and it can be used to counteract various cancers and tumours and the toxicity that accompanies these issues. I vaguely remember someone saying that anemia was a possible side-effect of adrenal but I'm not sure about that one. Maybe Jennifer can answer that. Milk thistle will can also be used to help an animal recover from anesthetics, vaccinations and anti convulsive drugs (Herbs for Pets..Mary Wulf-Tilford & Gregory Tilford. I was trying to get the deslorin too, but it seems that they've had a huge number of requests for this product and I was informed that there would be no shipments until Feb. I hope that you can yours asap. I need it too, for my little Pooka, who only showed an initial improvement on lupron. Good luck ciao
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Darlene
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 287
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Post by Darlene on Dec 24, 2010 0:55:17 GMT -5
Thanks Heather,I seem to remember reading that anemia could be a problem with adrenal disease. Would love to hear what Jennifer thinks. I don't know anything about milk thistle,how much would I use and could I put it in his soup with melatonin?
I'm really excited about my vet ordering the superlorin. I tried to convince him last year in ordering some but the clinic where he worked at wasn't interested. This November him and another vet opened their own clinic (only 5 min drive from where I live!) and has been totally opened to ordering. Koby and Dontae will be getting the injections.
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Post by Heather on Dec 24, 2010 1:07:15 GMT -5
I noticed that there are milk thistle drops (homeopathic) that might work to be placed in his food....you might take a look at the requirements. It may only be a couple of drops. I can't help you with the dosages....I saw some at a Natural Foods pet store and the dosages were geared toward small animals so you might be able to find out even if you contacted the mfg. I know that I contacted Ambertechnologies to find out the dosage of the Vibactra and Parvaid when administering it to ferrets (and also to find out if it could be used on ferrets) ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on Dec 24, 2010 11:48:53 GMT -5
If your ferret is otherwise behaving normally, I would suspect that adrenal disease is probably the cause of the anemia. (However, there are quite a few possible causes) Elevated estrogen levels can suppress generation of red blood cells in the bone marrow.
Raw fed animals may show higher red blood cell/PCV counts (higher protein/blood/iron). Liver is a good source of iron. However, if the body cannot produce new blood cells in the marrow, adding a little extra iron may not help but probably won't hurt.
Assuming adrenal disease is the cause, the milk thistle may not help with aplastic anemia. My only concern with the milk thistle is that it can raise testosterone. If adrenal is the cause of the anemia, the adrenal has probably been going on for a while. I would be concerned about aggravating the prostate,which may already be affected by adrenal, with milk thistle.
these are my thoughts, but I'm no expert. It's possible the anemia could have other causes. Either way, you need to watch the anemia and try to get it under control as quickly as possible. I'm assuming addressing the adrenal issue will take care of the issue (Lupron shot may work)
-jennifer
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Post by Heather on Dec 24, 2010 11:59:59 GMT -5
I'm liking the use of the lupron or the deslorin to see if the anemia goes once the adrenal is treated. I'd forgotten about the hormonal effects of the milk thistle (the nice thing about having multiple persons answering ) and if nothing else one of the reasons why jumping into herbals is not for the faint of heart I would be keeping a close eye on it because it has multiple implications of other underlying illnesses. I would be tempted to have another blood screening done after the lupron or deslorin implant was done to see if the results remain on the low side. ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on Dec 24, 2010 13:12:18 GMT -5
Here is a good article that talks about anemia. There's an interesting part about monitoring heart rate and respiration, which may help assess whether or not lupron/des. is helping. If the you baseline heart rate/respiration now, you should see these values go lower as the anemia resolves. Admittedly, it can be difficult to get accurate measurements if improvement is minimal. However, Des. can take a while to start working on some ferrets, so taking blood too soon may show little change for a few months. Your vet may be able to monitor the heart/breathing for a while to help avoid multiple blood work-ups/expense. www.2ndchance.info/ferretanemia.htmjennifer
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Darlene
Cageless and Roamin' Free
Posts: 287
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Post by Darlene on Jan 13, 2011 22:30:03 GMT -5
Today I took Koby and Dontae in for the Desolorin implant. The plan is to do another blood test in 4 mths to see if there's any improvement in Koby numbers. I had also found out that my home made cage neede to go. Apparently raw food up against galvanised wire is not a good thing. So I started to look for a new cage,as luck would have it,I was able to buy a brand new FN142 for 150$. The woman who had it only used it for three months. These cage are a rareity where I live,to buy it would normally cost 350-400$. I can't believe how much my ferrets love it!!!
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Post by bluemoose on Jan 13, 2011 23:48:43 GMT -5
Grats! I bet they're having a blast in their new cage
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