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Post by optimo on Jul 21, 2008 12:49:56 GMT -5
swisher just got done eating and then couldnt breath and was violentley throwing up and choking and i dont know what to do we raced to the vets to find out there isnt even a doctor in im freaking out. then he had really bad diareha while he was puking and now the choking stopped but he is very lathargic and tired his eyes are watery and he looks like he is about to die... help me now please.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 21, 2008 19:05:39 GMT -5
How is swisher doing? I am technically "out of office" today but something told me to check the forum (weird, huh?)
Questions:
1. What was swisher eating before he started throwing up? 2. What did swisher throw up? 3. Is it possible he got into something he shouldnt have (chemicals, etc)? 4. Is he the ferret that had the birdseed poop?
For diareha get him pedialyte IMMEDIATELY. Moniter him and keep him hydrated. Since its been some time since he vomitted, it would be a good idea to get some food in him. Blend up some plain chicken with water, and feed him a little bit by syringe (NOT alot, just a little).
Please let me know if you are able to find a vet and how swisher is doing.
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 22, 2008 17:11:22 GMT -5
What was Swisher eating when this happened?
He could be allergic.
What's the news?
Hope all is better now. Kim
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Post by optimo on Jul 23, 2008 15:36:43 GMT -5
he was eating a chicken wing, then about 5 min afterwards thats when he started puking, then all that happend i brought him home he drank alot of water and after about two hours i feed him gizzards because thats all he will eat now he doesnt even want the chicken just gizzards so idk what to do i cant feed him those everyday correct?
He ate like normal on his own drank more water then i let him sleep for the rest of the day and night, then this morning at about 5-6 am i came home and let them both out to play after about an hour of playing he seemed a little tired i put him in his cage and he started coughing
everysince last night he has been coughing and gasping for air every five to fifthteen minutes for a few minutes.
He is doing it right now its like he cant breath correctly.
i looked up veternirians who know something about ferrets and have had experiance i found one in taylor about 15 min away i made an apt for tomorrow 2pm. hopefully they can figure it out.
i thought it might be a hairball or something so ive been givign him lax for the past two days, I really dont know its tearing me up I feel so bad:(
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 23, 2008 16:48:56 GMT -5
Can you get Swisher to yawn? Scruff him and let him dangle, usually they'll yawn then. Or if you can cradle him in your lap, but towards yur belly while Swisher is on his back. Rub the sides of his jaws, this too will get them to yawn, while he is yawning look to see if anything is lodged in his throat.
Try massaging and gently squeezing his throat, see if he starts gagging, choking or coughing.
If he does it is likely he has a hunk of chicken wing lodged in his throat. Usually they don't do this, but it can happen. My Roman bit off a huge chunk and tried to swallow the large piece because he thought another ferret was going to steal it from him. I put him in a cage for observation and he hacked a bit and kept "swimming" across the floor of the cage- is Swisher doing anything like that? Is he pawing at his mouth at all?
He obviously isn't choking, because he can breathe and swallow some water so it isn't life threatening at the moment. No, he probably won't eat anything solid because it won't go past the blockage( if there is a blockage). The diarrhea could easily have been from stress. The vomit a reaction to try and dislodge the blockage.
Did you examine the chicken wing closely to see how much was eaten?
Make an appointment with your vet and in the meantime offer Swisher thin soup. Roman learned from his mistake and doesn't try to inhale his food, hopefully Swisher will learn too. Don't let this discourage you from feeding raw, many ferrets choke on kibble too. Eating raw is a learning experience that most ferrets never get. Swisher needs to learn how to use his teeth properly, that's all.
Gizzards can be allowed a few times a week, but not as a large part of the diet- he needs to eat the bones too (properly of course).
Hope this helps, Cheers, Kim
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Post by tss on Jul 23, 2008 22:46:13 GMT -5
I was really guess that it is damage to his trachea or esophagus.. A raw fed dog I know had something exactly like this happen, after a couple weeks on slippery elm extract the dog was 100% again. Take him to the vet and see what they say.
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 25, 2008 5:49:38 GMT -5
Optimo,
What is the prognosis on Swisher? Its been 4 days since he first was in distress, has he improved? Were you able to get him to the vet's? Worried minds are wondering!
Cheers, Kim
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Post by wmella85 on Jul 29, 2008 1:58:39 GMT -5
did anyone find out what happened to Swisher??
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Post by christysferretlov on Jul 30, 2008 22:53:56 GMT -5
I just want to point out that I have had 5 or 6 ferrets chock on kibble at different time in my care,zupreems gets stuck on the roof of their mouth.
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Post by optimo on Aug 4, 2008 3:43:04 GMT -5
the vet took an x-ray and told me he was fine but then she told me he needs to eat kibble to? so i dont belive her. but he is ok now i still think he is losing weight and not eating as much as he should.
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Post by Heather on Aug 4, 2008 10:35:16 GMT -5
If he's still loosing weight, what are you feeding? Can you weigh him? Did the vet weigh him and can you just bring him in for another weigh in? My vet allows me this privilege all the time. I'm assuming it's raw whole meats?? Sounds to me that he may have originally swallowed part of the bone and given himself a sore throat (obviously I don't really know any more than you but it's probably a good assumption). Try feeding a little more fat in the meat. We often forget that they don't need the lean cuts that we eat. My guys get a lot of dark meats with fat and skin attached. Lamb is high in fat and my guys have a tendency to get real plump when they're eating lamb (I know it's not natural prey but they like it ) Another thing is too, I find with fuzzies who've been ill, it seems to take some of them a little longer to pull it all together and get the eating and weighing more. It's almost like all that nutrition goes into making repairs rather than putting on weight, then all of a sudden they're fat again. I'm glad to hear that your guy is doing better, and I'm not surprised about what your vet said either Unfortunately, they're very quick to blame the diet. Keep us posted ciao
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Post by aleronferrets on Aug 4, 2008 11:32:39 GMT -5
I am wondering if this isn't heart related? Coughing and weight loss can be associated with heart problems.
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Post by Heather on Aug 4, 2008 14:19:19 GMT -5
It's very possible and but my guys always put on weight. Unfortunately, my guys have always developed the weight gain with the heart problems. At first you think it's ok, then you realize it's that awful round bottom thing. I have two fuzzies right now who are cardiac babies, but right now are being treated homeopathically. I know that eventually I will have to resort to the allopathic meds in the end. At least I had to with Mayhem He did live almost 3 yrs after diagnosis which is seemingly very good. He suffered a stroke which was what seemed to start the whole ball rolling, he never coughed much except in the very end when the fluids in his body would build up beyond what the lasix and other heart meds could move. ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 4, 2008 16:46:41 GMT -5
There is another possibility that I thought of immediately, although it's impossible to tell what might be going on....
My first two boys had a really rough time with giardia. they got the runs, vomitted, lost weight, wern't eating enough, etc. They had a very drug-resistant strain and weak immune systems that would not fight, so my boys had a lot of periodic flare-ups.
My one boy periodically got the dry hacking cough, the "choking", gagging, gasping, squeaking and panicking his poor little tail off. I was convinced he heart and/or lung problems - or a tumor compressing these organs, mega -E., or some kind of abnormal vagal response.
After a couple of years with this happening on and off again, we FINALLy figured out that he had acid reflux from the giardia.
That being said, giardia may not be bothering your ferret, but another stomach "bug", such as helicobacter, campylobacter, or whatever could be causing your ferret (and you!) a bit of heart burn!!!
-jennifer
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Post by optimo on Aug 11, 2008 4:38:17 GMT -5
do you think that these things would show up in an x-ray she said there was nothing wrong, but then again she didnt even let me see the x-ray i should call up there and tell them i want a copy or something to look at my self? he has been coughing since he was little but it has decreased alot almost all the way, the pet store i bought him from has the entire bottom of the ferret cage covered in cedar:( Are your ferrets vacinated for heart worms because mine are not and they have been outside when there were alot of sqeetos..
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