Baby Bear (the ferret) is sick..

[Tink]

To make a long story short, Baby Bear's has an upset tummy. Green liquid diahhrea. I dropped off a fecal sample at the vet but no results yet as they were slammed when I went there (literally--a line out the door an hour from closing time!!). They are open half day tomorrow so hopefully the vet calls me back tonight or tomorrow morning so if something needs to be done it can be with his regular doctor.
He played a little but you can tell his tummy hurts. I picked up some pedialyte on the way home as his scruff is not bouncing back like I'd like it to and I'm gonna give him some soupies because I'm not sure how he's been eating today (been kind of a crazy 24 hrs so wasn't able to observe him as much as usual).
I hope the vet calls me soon. My thoughts originally were ECE and then I thought maybe parasites and now it seems to be less bright green and this last one had a bit more brown to it although still the consistency of water (poor kid!!) so now I am starting to wonder if he has some kind of blockage but I don't know how I could have missed anything as they've only been in THEIR ferret proofed room as of late. And ECE, well our newest kid is Pino who has been here two months so why this late and why only him?? And parasites, well Solomon had worms when we first got him so that's possible...
I don't know. I haven't had much sleep in the last 24 hours and I'm running on empty so everything feels confusing right now because I'm not thinking straight. I'm going to syringe him some pedialyte and give him some soupies and then take a nap and maybe my head will be more clear when I wake up.
Needless to say, I'm worried.
Good vibes please?..Thanks.

[Tink]

oh i think i am going to be up all night, i am so worried he is only three pounds, too little to be losing fluid like this. there is this horrible metallic smell to his feces like he is losing blood or nutrients, i've smelled it when i worked at the vet and also the human hospital, i can smell sickness and his bowel movements reek of it and this just cropped up SO fast and he is my "first born" ferret and i am so scared, i could just cry and cry.

[calismum]

Oh Tink, I'm sending you both loads of vibes. Please let us know how he is. (((hugs)))

[Manyana13]

The poor thing... sending vibes from me and my fluffies.

[angieh]

Sending healing vibes from here too Tink. Fingers and toes all crossed for Baby Bear.

[farthing]

Hope you find out what is going on and can deal with it. Its exhausting just worrying about then, never mind having to nurse as well.:(

[PoshPuss]

Sending lots of get well soon vibes for Baby Bear, poor sweetie, nasty tummy bugs can be a distressing time for them and us ! :(

[dandysmom]

Hope things have improved since you posted; sending healing vibes. It's so awful when they're ill.... :(

[Tink]

thank you, he has perked up a little today. still loose stools but with a good amount of pumpkin it has made it a little less watery. i phoned the vet and they are absolutely slammed again, completely booked. the tech said she would ask the dr. if we could somehow squeeze him in or at least phone in some meds to the pharmacy close to my house to tide me over as most places are closed on sunday and i don't trust our emergency vet very much as they are not very ferret knowledgable.
sorry if i sounded a little crazy, i was just really worried. i'll let you know how he does and if there's any news/progress.

[dandysmom]

It sounds a little better; hope they do phone in the scrip and it'll help.

[Shelley123]

Hoping Baby Bear is feeling better and that you have managed to see the vet or at least get some medicine for him.

[Tink]

just off the phone with the vet. his fecal came back negative for parasites. she wants me to continue pedialyte and syringe feed him up to 1cc Pepto Bismol up to 4x a day as needed and check in again with her on Monday.

[dandysmom]

Glad to hear that; hope Baby Bear will continue to improve, poor little guy.

[Shelley123]

Hoping he's doing well on the treatment you are giving him, Tink.

[angieh]

Glad no parasites Tink. I never knew you could give Pepto Bismol to animals - does that include cats, do you know?

[dandysmom]

How is he today, Tink?

[Tink]

Angie I am not sure about cats. Ferrets are so close to humans I think that's why they can get a lot of things you'd see at your normal grocery to help them (Pepto, Pepcid AC, Carafate...). I do know when I had a cat with diahhrea before I added pumpkin to his food per vet's advice and it helped a lot so that does work safely for cats to just kind of help firm things up a bit and no worries about risk of toxicity.
Eileen, he is "okay". Still not very active but he's bright eyed and interested in his surroundings so that's always promising. His movements are definitely still not normal but they are at least not completely watery like before so that is good. Lots of mucus in it which makes me worry about his intestinal lining. There is a ferret illness called ECE that I was concerned about but none of the others seem to have it and it would be highly contagious. I've also talked to some other ferrents and they recently have had the same symptoms and their doc put their babies on antibiotics for a bacterial infection, although it could be viral and then it would just be a preventative of secondary infection. My vet told me to call her tomorrow and if he's not improved she'll send me home some antibiotics as a precautionary measure. Everything I keep reading about ECE or possible viral just indicates all you can offer is supportive care until their system fights it off (keeping them hydrated and such). I'm really confused as my ferrets are not exposed to other ferrets, we don't do play dates and I haven't even stepped foot into a pet store lately so then that has me thinking maybe it is a side effect of something internal that was already going on with Baby Bear. Certain cancers and such will do that.
Sorry that was long, went off on a bit of a tangent there. Can you tell I've been thinking about this a lot? :roll: :wink:

[Tink]

Guess who just came out dancing around and playful??? :-D

[dandysmom]

Aaah! Good news!. :D

[PoshPuss]

Nice to know Baby Bear is back to normal. Thank Goodness :D

[angieh]

Hope everything is as it should be in the poop department!

[Shelley123]

Guess who just came out dancing around and playful??? :-D

Great news :)