Marcuz’ Vet Visit

 

Marcuz was great until Saturday morning after breakfast. It is still unclear as to what happened. I fed both him and Manny their breakfast and went to do some chores for about an hour.

Returning to let them out for playtime only to find Marcuz laying on the bottom of cage in an awkward position and unable to move his front paws or hold his head upright.

I gently picked him up and carefully checked to see if I could find anything wrong. The only thing Marcuz did was flinch a couple of times along with grinding his teeth, a sign of pain, but I couldn’t feel anything out of place.

I then placed Marcuz in the travel tote I have for the boys which has a nice fleece bed and a soft blanket in it. I heated up one of my handmade rice packs and put that in with him as well. That seemed to help him relax enough that his paws were no longer sticking straight out as if he was part of a zombie movie.

So started our long weekend of Rescue® Remedy, heat and ice, gentle massage, and range of motion. Marcuz slept a lot more than normal for a ferret but I am sure that the pain wore him out.

I know the whole weekend wore me out as Marcuz wasn’t able to move himself well I had to reposition him every few hours so his skin didn’t break down as well.  I also had to hold him upright so he could go to the bathroom.

A ferret lifts his tail over his rump and uses it like a pump to release the waste matter and food should travel from mouth to rear in 3-4 hours.

Roomie offered to watch Marcuz while I slept a little bit. The nap I took helped to refresh me and cleared my mind enough to realize that our vet has something called Pet Portal which allows you to ask questions and request appointments. Only thing was they had changed the format since the last time I had used it. I filled out a form and submitted it.

By Monday Marcuz didn’t want eat anything but furo-tone®  and Greenies® and I still hadn’t been able to find a ride to the vet’s. Nor could I get through to talk to some one at the vet’s office.

I asked a friend if she could take me to the vet’s on Tuesday as that was when I had requested the appointment only to find out she had appointments of her own.

Tuesday brought on a new problem green diarrhea which can indicate a nasty bug called ECE. Ferret owners call it the green slime disease more on that in another post.

Tuesday night I hadn’t heard back from the vet office so I went back to the Pet Portal and it was then I realized that I had filled out the wrong form. I submitted the right form and heard from the vet office the next morning and was given an appointment time that worked for my friend as well.

Wednesday afternoon had us at the vet’s office. Gave the tech the stool sample. She had never seen ferret poop and trying to accurately describe it was a challenge.

She asked if I had any problems holding Marcuz while she took his temperature. Ferrets will poop if something startles them by touching their anus and Marcuz pooped a lot of green slimey poop his temp was elevated. What I didn’t know was green poop will stain things. Next she weighed Marcuz and he is a 2.5 pound boy.

Then we had to wait for the vet. Who let me know right away that she wasn’t overly knowledgeable about ferrets and felt I should try another vet that might be more so. The ones I know about are another fifty plus miles away from me in any direction and impossible to get to without transportation of my own.

She then examined Marcuz from head to toe and asked my opinion about getting an X-ray done of his spine which I told her I wanted done to rule out possible breaks or dislocations.

Marcuz did great and I forgot my camera so I couldn’t take a picture of the awesome X-ray of his spine and what it revealed.

 

This is not of Marcuz but it shows the skeletal system well. Note where the neck, front leg, and back are.

Note the spacing between each vertebrae or disk. It is approximately 1/8th of an inch apart. Marcuz’ X-ray revealed a narrowing of the space between the disk just after his shoulder and the next one in his back.

While it doesn’t appear to be pinching a nerve it is causing some issues with his front legs and neck.

But the prognosis is good for a full recovery provided I can keep Marcuz from doing what ferrets do best which is running, climbing, jumping, and basically doing everything for the next couple of weeks.

He is also on four different types of medications. Two for his green slime and two for his back. 

As of this writing his green slimey poop is getting back to normal ferret poop color and consistency and his energy level is raising.  He is also using his front paws more and is able to use the litter box on his own.

Because I have to limit his movement he has been upgraded from the tote to the boys travel carrier. Where he has access to water, food, a soft bed and his litter box. His play time for the moment consists of massage, range of motion to his front legs and lots of love and petting.

The vet said it maybe a one time thing but more than likely it could happen again and it might not have happened on Saturday but could have happened months before and Marcuz either moved wrong or Manny landed on him the wrong way when they were playing in the cage.

Cost of going to the vet for an emergency was almost two hundred dollars. Half of that is Marcuz’ medication of which I get to wear pretty pink polka dots of amoxicillin at least once a day.

Disclosure: The X-ray photo do not belong to me but to Ferret Health and Long Beach Animal Hospital

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Brushing Your Ferret’s Teeth

The top dental issues for ferrets are periodontal disease and fractured canine teeth. Periodontal disease is easily preventable with daily brushing. While I don’t brush my boy’s teeth daily I do brush them weekly.

Brushing is easier to do when you start doing it when your ferret is still very young. It can be done when you have an older ferret but you will have to offer a lot of praise and good for their teeth treats for letting you mess with their mouths.

You will need:
Pet toothpaste I am using and the tube will last me a long time.

A toothbrush that you and your ferret are comfortable with; I use a Colgate® Wisp that I have pried the mouthwash bead out of.

You will also need a container of water and some dental treats for a reward afterwards. I use Greenies® Feline Dental Treats.

I recommend that you let your ferret out for playtime and let they run out of energy. It will make the experience more pleasant for the both of you.

Set up the area where you will be brushing their teeth. Having a table that is the ideal height and a comfortable chair for you will beneficial while you are brushing your ferret’s teeth. Put a small amount of pet toothpaste on the brush and have it next to the container of water.

Once they have run most of their excess energy off you can pick your ferret and get ready to brush. First you should run your hand along their jaw to feel for any bumps or unusual feeling areas. By doing this often you will know what your ferret’s mouth should feel like.

Now it is time to brush their teeth.

Scruffing your ferret will let you see inside their mouth without hurting them or you getting bit. Scruffing does not hurt your ferret.

Pick up the prepared toothbrush dipping it into the water and then gently start brushing the back teeth with the same motions you use on your own teeth. Look to see if there are any discolored teeth that may need looked at by your vet.

Move to the canine teeth and check to see if they are chipped or have any evidence of fractures. Such as cracks, missing enamel, or even pieces missing. Don’t forget the tiny teeth in between the canines.

This picture isn’t the best but Marcuz was a jewel to let me brush his teeth that day.

By brushing your ferret’s teeth you help to eliminate bad breath and are more aware of what their mouth looks like and will notice if a problem arises sooner than if you didn’t. You will also surprise your vet as most ferret owners don’t brush their ferret’s teeth thinking that it isn’t needed.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

James and Insulinoma

     First I want to thank all of the anipals that donated to our listed charity Heart of Ohio Ferret Rescue and Association. Not only did we meet the goal we surpassed it.

     James had his first visit to the vets on Tuesday July 27 2010 it was an emergency visit. He didn’t want to wake up for his morning meal or move around too much. All I could think was it was going to be a repeat of Lance. James was having a few of the same issues that Lance had but to a very lesser degree.

     Waiting for the vet to call back with a time I could take James in to be seen I managed to get him to eat a few bites of Gerber® chicken baby food that I keep on hand for such emergencies. He seemed to perk up a little bit but not much and all he wanted to do was sleep. When I added a drop of ferret lax to the chicken James really went to town licking it all up and wanting some more. He also perked up a little bit.

     Finally the vet called back and off we went to Franklin Animal Clinic where we were put in a room and waited for the doc to come see us.

     James at this point had more spunk and wanted to run around I let him scamper the length of the bench in the room. Dr. Doverspike came in and did a quick examination where he noted that James also has an enlarged spleen something that is common in older ferrets.

     While Dr. Doverspike was talking to me about what the problem might be James energy level dropped and James became the way I had found him in the morning. Dr. Doverspike had James’ glucose  level checked. This is done by drawing some blood and putting some into a glucose meter to measure the level of the blood sugar.

     In ferrets it should read between 80-120 mg/dl. James’ result was 27. This means he was in crisis and I was very glad he was at the vet so they could help  him. It also meant that he had a cancer called Insulinoma.

     Many people confuse Insulinoma with diabetes. Diabetes is also a blood sugar problem but Insulinoma is caused by a tumor on the pancreases causing it to produce too much insulin. Insulin’s job is to reduce the amount of sugar in the blood normally but too much decreases it to fatal levels.

     If James had been younger there would have been the option of surgery to remove the tumor but Dr. Doverspike and I agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk to James’ life that left us with only one other option. Maintenance of the insulinoma with prescription drugs, for the moment James is now on 1ml of Prednisone  to interfere with the tumor and thanks to Greenies(r) I haven’t worn the medicine.

     In only a couple of days I noticed a remarked improvement in James activity level. He is back to eating more that a few bites. This disease is common in ferrets and it does add more work to caring for them but I don’t care it’s worth it to me.

     What it does mean though is that James maybe only able to travel by vehicle and not by air. We have to see how well he tolerates the meds and how much it stresses his little body. It also means I have to update their travel case so that it has some emergency supplies for James. Like a couple packs of honey or some other high sugar liquid I also have to update his travel paper so that it notes in large red letters that he does have insulinoma.

     I must mention that James more than likely had insulinoma before he started eating Young Again Ferret food and Dr. Doverspike said the food may have keep him out of crisis for a bit longer.

     The three of us, James, Manny, and myself, are gong to be at Bark World Expo in Atlanta, Ga. August 19-22 but it maybe only Manny and myself at Blog Paws West, paws crossed, in September.

Keep on Chittering,

Jo

Speaking in Public

     I would have never guessed that two small furry little creatures would help me learn how to have conversations with people I just met. I am for the most part a shy individual that is until it comes to my ferrets then I am a chatterbox.

     It didn’t hit home until today that I can give speeches without panicking like I did in speech class. I have been taking my boys on outings for a while now to get them used to traveling in a vehicle and today’s adventure included the local Laundromat. I left them in their carrier while I put my small load of pet laundry into the washing machine and then it was time for them to wander around on their leashes.

     Our Laundromat has a four bay car wash attached to it so of course the boys had to go see what was in each of the bays. Walking by another car we heard a small voice scream. “Looky at those doggies. Doggies come here please.”

      Neither parent wanted us to approach and told the young boy “Those aren’t doggies. We don’t know what they are. They look mean.” Needless to say we made a point to stay away from them while they were finishing their laundry.

     I finished up our own laundry and put it in the car and as I was getting ready to pick up my boys from the sidewalk two men got out and started cooing over my boys.

      Alan and Mark were very interested in James and Manny and asked a lot of questions. Alan was from Texas and Mark from Tennessee and enjoyed James and Manny’s attention for the moment or two they had it.

     Mark finally had to go get his camera because he couldn’t believe how cute ferrets were. Took a Greenie each for them to pose for the camera.

     Alan knew a little about them that made it nice to talk to someone about them. I gave them my business card and hopefully they will stop by our little blog and say Hi.

     I can only hope that I Enlightened Alan and Mark a little more about ferrets and what these cute little fur balls are like.

Jo

P.S. We are going to Bark World Expo August 20-22. This time James and Manny will be with me.

Blog Anniversary and Event Filled Day

     Many of you knew that today was the day I took James and Manny for a walk along the Allegheny trail. We were going to walk about 12 miles originally but this morning decided that we were only going to walk about 2.5 miles one way and then walk into the town of Franklin.

     After a couple of false starts we got out of the house and on our way by 7ish. Judy (hooman2) and I discussed how we should work the walk and came to the agreement that the ferrets and I would meet her at the local coffee shop.

     First I had her take a picture of me wearing my brand new tee shirt from Pet Wiki holding James and Manny. Manny decided to be a ham for the camera and James was attracted to the bright colors.

     After that we started down the path towards our goal. I took a couple of videos but not as many as I would have liked. I think sometimes a picture tells a lot more than a video at times and this was one of those times. Videos will be uploaded at a later date.

This is the Allegheny River and across the way is the town of Franklin at this point we are headed south.

     After walking for about 15 minutes both boys decided it was treat time and they wanted one of their favorite treats. Feline Greenies they love them so much that they will do tricks for them. Again the video will be uploaded later. Off we went again only I noticed that the trail is lined with poison ivy and James wanted to play in it. Not an option I would ever vote for so we turned around and headed the other way. At this point the plan was to walk into Franklin and be early to the coffee shop.

     20 minutes later we were back at our starting place and now I needed a potty break and a few minutes to sit down and look at the map so I wouldn’t get lost. LOL. While sitting there I had several people come up and ask me about James and Manny. They were amazed at how active they both were and were they ever hamming it up for the attention.

     15 minutes later we were on our way again we stopped to read about the old oil refinery that had once been a crossed the river.  

      We went under a bridge and found the trail map posted on the billboard. the boys rested in the shade while I followed the trail line to my destination. Although they were a bit vague.

I snapped two pictures to show how far I was and how far I was heading

and it is at this point I should have realized I was going to make a mistake.

     See that bridge in the first picture? That is where I should have gone but no I followed the trail in the second picture. Now don’t get me wrong it was a beautiful walk and the boys loved it but it meant I went two miles out of the way and were now off schedule.

     These pictures of what remains of a 3,000-acre farm and thankfully it was at this point someone asked me what I was doing and I asked about the path to Franklin and found out how off base I was. I am sure my twitter followers had a good laugh about James ordering me around.

     Now I knew I needed to some how get back on schedule as close as I could before Judy got worried. Lets just say I know I can hoof two miles with two ferrets in their carrier and a five-pound backpack in a decent amount of time.

     We rounded the corner to where we should have gone in the first place   and there Judy was getting ready to bike in the direction we were suppose to have gone.

     Once the last effects of her scare wear off she’ll be teasing me about being wrong way Harrigan and that is a running joke in our house because I could get lost in a paper bag without landmarks to tell me where to go.

     And so ends the first year of Enlightened Ferret what a learning experience it has been and I sure it will continue to teach us many more things.

             

Jo