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Post by hales on Jul 18, 2008 18:07:36 GMT -5
So Todd and I are up north visiting his parents right now... in the middle of nowhere...
And I noticed that Rikki's stomach looked kind of bloated. When I picked him up, it felt much more firm than usual...and he was acting very lethargic.
While I was holding him, he let out a little burp...and when I set him back in the cage, he went to the litterbox to go to the bathroom and out came a LOT of noisy gas, but not much poop.
I was worried about him, so I've been keeping an eye on him...I had Todd take a look at him, and he squeezed his belly a little, and some gas escaped from his bum. So Todd squeezed again, and some more came out....
Do you think something is wrong with him? Or is he just overly bloated and full of gas today? I'm getting really worried, and the closest emergency vet is an hour and a half away, so I'm not really sure what to do right now...
Any suggestions?
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Post by hales on Jul 18, 2008 19:21:06 GMT -5
Okay so.. My boyfriend told me he had seen on the emergency vet show before....a ferret came in with the same symptoms, and had a bowel obstruction...so they gave him pumpkin filling, and he passed a giant rubber ball thing a couple hours later.. So just to be safe, we gave Rikki some pumpkin pie filling.. But they have been in their cage all day since we're visiting family, so there's nothing he could have eaten...all he's been eating is the soupy and the chicken chunks... and its making me worry. Could chicken cause this? Are there side effects to this raw diet that I didn't know about? He had a bowel movement, but (just like they have been from the soupy), it was kind of runny. But the weird thing about this one is it was also foamy, and he passed a lot of gas with it. I have no idea what to do right now...and I'm freaking out... Every time we go home to visit family, we have a ferret emergency.... which is really awful, because our families live in the middle of freaking nowhere. Does anyone have any sort of advice? Been in this situation? Going to the vet is a last resort because of A. money, and B. Distance.... I'm freaking out here
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Post by weaselsmum on Jul 18, 2008 19:45:57 GMT -5
Hi Hales Gas can be a symptom of a blockage/partial blockage, so it's good that you're aware of that as a possibility. Is he still drinking and eating OK? We've had 3 intestinal blockages. 2 needing surgery and one that passed with the help of a little lubrication. All I can suggest is that you keep a close eye on him. Make sure he's willing to drink. If he grunts or whines (straining) when trying to poop that can also be a sign of an obstruction. If he's not willing to eat, drink and/or appears lethargic, then an emergency vet visit is definitely in order. Good luck. I really hope it isn't a blockage and will keep my fingers crossed for him
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Post by hales on Jul 18, 2008 20:00:28 GMT -5
Well right before he got really bloated, he ate a lot of soupy, so he isn't hungry right now... That, and I crammed some pumpkin pie filling into his mouth, so I'm sure he didn't appreciate that. He also ate some willingly, so there's that. As for the lethargy, he's very tired and doesn't move a lot...but his curiosity still gets piqued by loud noises, and he was digging at the litterbox. He is still having full bowel movements, they're just accompanied by lots of gas... And he isn't sore at all. We've palpated his abdomen multiple times, and he has never complained once...he's also twisting up in his usual weird positions, which I doubt he would do if he were in any discomfort. I'm stumped. *Also, he just farted a pretty big one.... and it smells really bad. What in the world?!
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Post by hales on Jul 18, 2008 20:14:56 GMT -5
Okay... So he won't eat. I tried to see if he would even give peanut butter a second whiff (he loves peanut butter), and he wouldn't touch it. So we tried giving him some more pumpkin pie filling (forcefully), and he choked it down, but got VERY angry about it, and pushed us away really hard and squealed a little bit. Should I take him to the vet? I'm confused because there was NOTHING in their cage besides blankets and a litter box, so there's nothing he could have ate to get an obstruction.
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 18, 2008 21:09:28 GMT -5
You'd be surprised. Piper had a bowel obstruction in January, and she went down fast. I force fed and watered her for a whole day before we realized she was very, very sick. She would just run away and hide. NO eating. No drinking on her own. Before we took her to an emergency vet, she wasn't moving very much at all anymore. We got her there just in time, and the vet said the rubber piece she found in her bowel appeared to have been there for a long, long time. It only recently had shifted to cause a blockage.
If you are that concerned, I think you know what you need to do. I am very grateful we did it...Piper would not have made it another day if we hadn't taken her to the vet. She is still a very big part of our lives because we took her. I pray this isn't the case in your situation, but I wouldn't chance it either. We second guessed ourselves for a whole day....a whole day when she was stronger and would have taken the surgery better.
Please keep us informed!
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Post by hales on Jul 18, 2008 22:25:59 GMT -5
Well I'm going to monitor his progress through the night.. He's still passing gas, and the pumpkin we gave him is passing as well, so I'm not as worried as I was. His belly feels less firm, and we're keeping a very close eye on him. By morning, if he's not feeling better, we are definitely going to the vet. And that way, it won't be "emergency" hours, and we can work something reasonable out with the vet. He's not eating or drinking on his own, but all of them are so tired from the stressful trip (and being hassled by Todd's mom's yorkie : that they're all just sleepy and inactive. I do, however, worry an obscene amount about the smallest things, so I can promise that he will be monitored. He hasn't thrown up anything, so that gives me some hope. He's still not tender, so that makes me feel better as well. I'll let you know mid-day tomorrow whether or not we took him in. I'm still convinced that it's not an obstruction because there was nothing but blankets (not chewed up), soupy, and litter in that cage, so there is nothing to obstruct. Ill update tomorrow!
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 18, 2008 22:47:19 GMT -5
Mine didn't throw up either. I would recommend for you to keep him hydrated....even if it is syringe fed water. That is what kept Piper in better shape. She wasn't dehydrated before the surgery. I hope all goes well!
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Post by hales on Jul 19, 2008 7:24:22 GMT -5
Well right before I laid down last night (with the ferret cage right in front of me, of course), Rikki walked himself over to the soupy and started eating some. That made me feel muuuuuch better.
This morning, I felt him, and his belly feels completely normal. I believe I'm in the clear.
I checked the litterbox and none of the poops have anything in them, so maybe it really WAS just a lot of gas? Such a strange experience....
I'm still keeping a close eye on him, though. I'll probably be hand-feeding him for a while, just to make sure he's getting enough food.
::)Ferrets are so much work
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Post by Jaycee on Jul 19, 2008 8:55:26 GMT -5
Maybe he ate something that had gone bad? In anycase, that is good news!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 19, 2008 16:33:11 GMT -5
Are you feeding kibble and raw together? They digest at different rates and can cause tummy upset if you feed ALOT of kibble mixed with raw (a few kibble sprinkles on raw shouldnt cause this).
Chicken wouldnt cause a blockage. There is nothing in it that COULD cause a blockage (especially if the chicken is boneless). Even if you were feeding bone, blockages are not something I would worry about (I would only worry if you had a ferret that gulped down huge fragments of bone----which we all know practically NO ferret does this).
Im happy to hear all is well, and Im sorry I didnt see this earlier.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 22, 2008 19:22:58 GMT -5
I just saw this too while watching Apple's thread.... If you're on vacation, it's very, very possible that the water where you're visiting may carry a bacteria or a "bug", such as giardia. Are you feeding tap water? Where I live, ferrets commonly get giardia from the tap water. Other things can be in water too. So, if a ferret gets sick every time you visit and you're feeding tap water, you may be able to avoid a lot of issues by giving your ferrets bottled water only. Here;s the type of trouble I've seen with girdia from tap water. For giardia, your ferret can get bloating, gas, mucoid stools, lethary, low fever, dry hacking cough (acid relux), and sometimes even a choking/gasping type of response, presumably from acid reflux. Giardia usually hits really hard for a few days and then settles down a little bit - but you'll still meds to knock down the "bug" population. -jennifer
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Post by hales on Jul 25, 2008 19:27:25 GMT -5
It couldn't have been the tap water because we kept the water from home in their water bottle...I don't like switching up between waters because it's too much stress to add to the stress of the vacation and 2 hour trip and all of that. His gas subsided on its own, and he began eating by himself as well. He's completely fine now, but I just wish I knew what had happened so I can prevent it from happening again.. And it also only happened with one ferret, while three of them were in their cage together. So I'm not really sure I understand... It still baffles me.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 27, 2008 22:30:31 GMT -5
If it cleared up on its own, it was probably stress poops. Ferts are goo at that! (good move on keeping your ferts off of strange tap water. -jennifer
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