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Post by angelfish on Dec 22, 2010 13:09:46 GMT -5
I'm supposed to give antibiotics and sucralfate several times a day. Needless to say, my baby really hates it. She doesn't like the taste and ends up rubbing her head on the floor to get the taste off her fur. She won't even try the sucralfate after the antibiotics, and I've found I need someone to hold her because she gets very squirmy.
This morning she threw up part of the antibiotics. She wouldn't eat the A/D and wasn't interested in the EnterCal. She is still drinking, so that's good.
She's going to our regular vet tomorrow along with her buddy.
*sigh* I didn't think I'd have to worry this soon. (I just got them a few days ago).
I just can't help but this she has an obstruction and that the vet misdiagnosed her. Thinking back, I noted that her poo was very very small, about an in or two long and thin the first day or so I had her and then she started having diarrhea.
They x ray they took showed a big gas bubble and a few little bubbles. I'm concerned that that might be the site of the obstruction. I'm taking her to a more experienced ferret vet tomorrow. Hopefully he'll be able to figure this out.
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Post by 3kaw on Dec 22, 2010 13:22:01 GMT -5
I've never had to give liquid meds, but I have had to force feed a sick ferret. It was recommended to me to use a syringe. That might help you get some of the meds into her. I got the syringe from the drug store for about $3. When holding ferret I aim the food to the roof of her mouth, and she doesn't have much choice but to swallow. Wrapping her snuggly in a balnket might help if having to do this alone. Just do a very small bit each squirt to not over whelm her. then rewarding her with something she loves to eat after may help. HTH
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Post by angelfish on Dec 22, 2010 13:27:47 GMT -5
Thanks for the reply. I am using syringes (I'm a nurse so getting her to take meds is very much like getting infants and toddlers to take them.) She's not interested in ANY treats which concerns me. The first day she came home she liked ferretone as much as her buddy, but now she has no interest in it. I can't wait until tomorrow morning. I had to skip the appointment for her buddy today because sitting/standing up is making me nauseas and dizzy and I didn't have anyone I could call to take me.
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Post by 3kaw on Dec 22, 2010 13:32:31 GMT -5
Have you tried pumpkin? If there is an obstruction the pumpkin can help. I'm not sure how it will effect the diarrhea though if it's from another cause. As well if you are sick, is it something that can also effect them? There are a few illness that ferrets can get,like the flu. Just a thought.
Hopfully another more experenced ferrent will long on and give you more advice.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 22, 2010 13:50:57 GMT -5
shoot the antibiotics towards the roof of her mouth and slowly so she doesn't gag. i have had to give nasty tasting antibiotics to many ferrets. some of them will spit it out, shake their heads violently and it ends up on your and/or the wall. they can spit a few feet away too. however, i have never seen a ferret literally throw up after taking meds. it sounds like your vet may have misdiagnosed an obstruction. this can be very dangerous. you need to take her in to have a barium x-ray it is the only way to tell. has she gotten in to something? Did you find that they were chewing on things and eating them? how old is she? sometimes babies will eat cloth or blankets. check all of her toys and her blankets, etc. i would definitely take her to have a barium test. a few days makes a big difference. i recommend that you do it now bc christmas is a few days away and you know ferrets always have emergencies on days that you can't get a hold of a vet! that sounds like an obstruction to me. small poops, skinny poops, diarrhea, not eating. i'd check the toys. any rubber in the house? paper? i had one that ate 1/4 of a bounty napkin. i had another that like to unravel the toilet paper and eat it.
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Post by angelfish on Dec 22, 2010 14:03:15 GMT -5
I agree with you Miamiferret, it does sound like an obstruction. I gave her the sucralate a few minutes ago and she did drink water (which for some reason she likes to drink from the floor rather than the dish so I spilled it for her), and eat a couple of pieces of food. I just watched her use the bathroom and is was just clear-ish slime. I'm going to try pumpkin when my husband brings it home later today. I did notice that they tore up the puppy pad that I put in the bottom of their cage and some fluff came out. Initially I thought she may have gotten into that which is why we rushed off to the vet yesterday. I mentioned this to her but she seemed to think ferrets usually get obstructed with string (not that they can't) instead of other things. Although they see ferrets (all animals really) they aren't really experienced with them. Supposedly, one of the only ferret specialists in the area is at the vet we're seeing tomorrow. Part of the problem is that we only got her this past Friday. It's possible that she got into something at her previous home that I don't know about. Or maybe she got what I have before I did. *sigh* I'm going to lay down again. My hubby is going to have to let the ferts out tonight and watch them 'cause I can't stay upright for more than 5 minutes. As for shooting into the back of her mouth, she won't yawn no matter how long I scruff her, so I've been putting it in the back corner of her mouth. She get's most of it and then shakes a bunch off but at least it's something.
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Post by angelfish on Dec 22, 2010 18:01:53 GMT -5
I microwaved some kibble (Meow Mix because that's what she was eating a few days ago) with water and made a mush. She ate it readily so obviously she is hungry.
I was also able to give her about 2 cc of plain pumpkin mush. She readily took the pumpkin, no fighting ferret. I'm going to give her a few more cc's in a few hours. Hopefully that will help whatever is obstructing her.
Here's hoping.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 22, 2010 19:38:20 GMT -5
You can also give her plain vaseline as well as the pumpkin. When our girl had an obstruction(still no idea where she got it from), I started alternating between the two. I figured better to deal with possible diarrhea later on, than have her pass from a blockage. She finally did pass it on her own. All together, she'd had about 2 tsp of pumpkin(had to force feed both), as well as about a tsp of vaseline.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 22, 2010 23:32:32 GMT -5
well the poop jelly can be a clear sign of an obstruction. all the more reason to take her in again. is she grinding her teeth? grinding teeth kind of sounds like when you scrape the soft part of your finger on a thick piece of paper (that is the best way i can describe it). they usually grind their teeth it when they are eating. could also be an ulcer (often triggered by the stress of a new environment) and that is why she is not eating. when we moved into our house it caused by ferret so much stress he developed ulcers and it was just awful. so i'm kind of an expert on ulcers. lol. try some pepto bismol, give .4 cc's every 8 hours. she will hate you and she will spit it everwhere. be persistent. also pepcid a/c twice a day. you have to dissolve 1 tablet in 5 cc's of water and then give .25 cc's every 12 hours. but give the pepcid like 1/2 hour before the pepto so it doesn't interfere with absorption. for obstructions you can also try this: when you make her soupies, make it thin like a gravy and put 1/3 of a teaspoon of metamucil in it. if you want to use the pumpkin that is fine too but the metamucil will work faster and it is alot stronger than the pumpkin. totally safe to use. the thing is that you will have to do the metamucil once a day for like 3 days to clean her out and make sure she gets plenty of fluids while doing this treatment. i would even use clear Pedialyte. mix 1/2 pedialyte with 1/2 water. pedialyte (even the clear one) has some sugar in it (tiny bit) but it will keep her hydrated which is the most important thing. get one of those big droppers from the pet store. ferrets will drink more when they are sick if you give them fluids with a dropper. usually the droppers will be 5 ml (5 cc's) you will want to give a sick ferret about 80 to 100 ml's (cc's) a day in fluids. of course, this includes whatever fluids you put in the soup. sometimes you will have to hold them while you give them the fluids with the syringe but trust me they drink alot more when you do this. i have revived many a ferret this way. and some of these ferrets i was sure had obstructions but it turned out to be ulcers all along.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 22, 2010 23:33:47 GMT -5
sorry the pepcid, i do 10 cc's of water /1 tablet of pepcid and then do .25 cc's every 12 hours.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 22, 2010 23:35:47 GMT -5
easy on the ferretone. that stuff is not so great. i give like 4 drops of linatone (lambert kay brand) a day and that's it.
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Post by Heather on Dec 22, 2010 23:39:40 GMT -5
What order were you told to give your antibiotics and sulcrate? The sulcrate should be given half an hour before the antibiotics and if at all possible the antibiotics should be given only after food. If your little one has an ulcer and you put antibiotics into an empty stomach she will vomit the antibiotics. There is no way they will stay down. You should note an improvement within 48 hrs. if the antibiotics are working. Please keep us updated. ciao
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Post by angelfish on Dec 22, 2010 23:56:28 GMT -5
You're right about the antibiotics and the vomitting. Stupid me wasn't thinking straight when I gave her the antibiotics this morning. She was terribly resistant to the sucralfate so she probably didn't get much of it and I didn't give it enough time to work. This evening I made sure to give her the sucralfate and 4 cc of pumpkin half an hour before the antibiotics. She didn't throw anything up this time, although she did try spitting it out. I've been keeping an eye on her but I haven't seen her poop yet which makes me even more worried. I tried warming her food with water again but she wasn't interested. I do see that she WANTS to eat because she picks pieces out of her bowl, plays with it a tad, and puts it down then tries again with another piece. She is continuing to drink water on her own though. I'm sure they'll take another x ray or do a barium tomorrow to see if anything has changed from yesterday. I'm preparing for the strong possibility that she may go into surgery. She been in our house less than a week. I feel like I failed her. I afraid to add any other meds right now because she's already on 2 antibiotics and the sucralfate. I don't want to stress her even more and make things worse.
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Post by Heather on Dec 23, 2010 0:02:55 GMT -5
You didn't fail her....if you did there are a lot of people on this list and many like it who have failed their little ones too...but I know what you mean. It's so hard when you can't seem to come up with the solutions. Do you have any all meat baby food and a syringe? You add enough broth to make a liquid with the baby food and syringe it the same way you would the meds. ciao
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Post by katt on Dec 23, 2010 3:37:57 GMT -5
I mixed Koda's meds with a HEAVY dose of ferretvite. With some of the meds I could put some ferretvite on the end of the syringe and while he licked it off I would squirt out the ferretvite-medicine mix and he'd continue lapping. With others this would not work - no amount of ferretvite could mask the taste! So, I smothered the end of the syringe in ferretvite and still mixed the mes with it. Then I'd scruff him and squirt the meds in the side of his mouth. He'd lick at first, at which point I'd go fast (not fast enough to choke him though of course) so then when he tasted it and started struggling, all or most of the medicine was already down. I'd let him down and reward him with more licks of ferretvite. Too much ferretvite for my liking, but the poor little guy was being tortured with 5 meds 3x day for a while, and it was the only way I could make it somewhat bearable for him! Good luck!
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