What could it be?

[Boomer-n-Emmitt]

Emmitt will be 6 1/2 in October.  I brought him in for a vet visit the last week of June, he had his blood drawn for his androgen panel test (I have it done every 6 months for him) and they also did a CBC and a fecal exam.

Vet said he looks great, hair is thinning around his rump, and there is a little tartar on his teeth, but vet said his heart sounded great, his fecal came back negative and his CBC came back normal.  Androgen Panel results came back about 2 weeks later, and he was in the normal range.  I also asked about his bum "leaking" sometimes.  Sometimes a clear liquid will come out of his butt.  I have asked her about it before, and she had no idea what to tell me without seeing it for herself.  Well, while she had him out back drawing blood, it happened again, and she came in and said that his was his anal gland.  She said when good ol' Marshall Farms had him neutered, that they didn't remove one of his anal glands.

I am a bit concerned though.  Although all blood work came back normal, Emmitt will get out to play and after about 5 minutes, will flat ferret.  He seems to fall to his side a bit too.  If he is walking, he will seem unsteady sometimes, and sometimes will fall to his side.  The vet didn't seem to concerned, but I am getting more concerned.

I'll admit, his age scares me.  I am very afraid of losing him.  I worry myself sick.  (I paid $450.00 for a vet visit and blood work on a precautionary level!)  He pees, poops, eats and drinks.  Any thoughts?  Or could it just be old age and I am worrying too much?  I mentioned insulinoma to the vet, she said if he had it, I would know- that he would be having seizures.  I told her that he could be having them during the day and I don't know about it, she said I would know- that his cage would be a WRECK from it.  And I never find it like that.

[Susan]

Glad to hear every thing came back good on Emmitt - My Maxx had insulinoma about that age & the only sign I had was he would like stare off into space and not respond for a moment or two.  After a little sweet treat he would perk back up to his old self.  Seizures occur if the Blood sugar gets really low and Maxx never had a seizure.  And unless the sugar is down at the blood draw even the vet won't know.  Try a little Karo on your finger if you see him stumble or a staring going on where he doesn't respond to you and see what happens.  If he doesn't lick it rub a little on his gums. If it really perks him up that might be the problem.  Make sure he is eating a high protein diet, which I am sure you are already doing.  Sweet treats are really a no no with insulinoma so stay away from those.

Hope this helps some.  I am sure there are others here that may have more and better ideas.  Keep us posted on how he is doing.

[Boomer-n-Emmitt]

Susan-

He is on a diet of Wellness Core (cat form- comes in a white and copper colored bag) Innova Evo for ferrets and I tried to mix in a new food the vet suggested, but so far he doesn't seem to like it- it is Taste of the Wild.  As far as treats, he gets chicken or turkey baby food twice a day usually (1 full jar a day, or 1/2 a jar a day) and usually once or twice a week he gets a "chicken stick" it is the N-Bone Ferret Chew Treats http://www.ferret.com/item/n-bone-ferret-chew-treats-187oz-bag/650816/  (are these bad to give?)

So when he does this stumbling, if I put a dab of Karo syrup on his gums, will it be bad for him if he isn't insulinomic? (is that even a word???)  How long did Maxx live with insulinomia?

[Susan]

Well you are definately feeding him well.  If his blood sugar is low it should perk him up after a dab of Karo, if that's the case you need to discuss this with your vet again about meds they may want to put him on.  You really don't want to use all the time, but if he is showing symptoms it does help to bump the sugar up a bit.  Make sure you feed he something high protein after the Karo. 

Maxx was on prednisone, he lived about 6 months after his diagnosis, but he was not eating well.  He never was a good eater and as it progressed he just kind of said I am not doing this.

Has he had anymore symptoms?  The flat ferret can just be tired or bored I would not be to concerned about that - but staring off & stumbling I would try the Karo, again if it helps you may want to discuss it with your vet.   Where are all the really vet savay people at.  I am sure they will have even more suggestions.

Keep posting how he is doing & try try not to worry, he'll do better if you are calm & loving.

[Boomer-n-Emmitt]

I sent an e-mail to my vet asking her some questions.  But just tonight noticed his nose seems to be yellow.  Like, the skin used to be pink and appears to be yellow now.  He is sleeping, eating, drinking, peeing and pooping.  Any thoughts?!  My stomach is in knots over here!

[Norka]

Just make sure with a washcloth and some warm water and mild soap that he didn't get his little nose into anything that could've added that color. I had one who made me panic until I washed his nose and found he had gotten into something with color in the house somehow. If the yellow don't come off, note the gum's coloring and let the vet know what's going on. It honestly could be about anything, from a mild infection of that anal gland being inpacted on up, or it could just simply be nothing. Heck I had one ferret who's nose always had a yellow tint upon waking up where it was dry. The key is don't panic, he was just at the vets and she has all his bloodwork results and would know if something was amiss. She might have you bring him in for a recheck just to make sure.

As for seeing if he has a blood sugar problem, blood sugar would have to be done after a four hour fast. With ferrets the full 12 hour fast isn't needed due to how fast their metabolism runs. It's a simple test you can request to have done separately anytime the vet can squeeze you in. Generally it is fairly cheap to have done too, they should have a separate machine just for blood sugar, looks like an oversized human meter, but has a printer on it where it shoots out a print of the results. Using the human meters isn't as accurate, but can give you a general idea.

I've had a couple over the years with insulinomia. One never had a problem until she went into a coma and didn't recover, (she showed no symptoms it just happened suddenly), another lived two years after the diagnosis and surgery, and another who lived an astounding four years after the surgery for the insulinomia! So you never know, ferrets tend to suprise us every day. Plus just like in humans, seizures vary too, I've seen simple ones where just the eyes and facial muscles twitched, on down to the screaming ones that scare you to death. I pray no one on here ever has to deal with a screaming seizure ever.

So as for the blood sugar, again, unless there was fasting involved you won't know. I've had ones who knew to eat when they were feeling wonky low sugar wise. Heck the one who scared the bejezus out of me with his screaming seizure, just got up and walked over to his food bowl afterwards like nothing was wrong. We didn't know with him until he was being fasted for surgery! So if you suspect blood sugar request a fasting glucose test to be sure. Hugs, I'm thinking good healthy thoughts for your baby.

[Boomer-n-Emmitt]

I tried to wipe the nose, nothing came off of it.  So I drove down to the vet today, without an appointment, called out sick from work.  Dr. Melissa took a look, she said Emmitt's nose looks like he rubbed some of the skin off of it (anyone EVER hear of this?!).  She checked his gums, ears, eyes and underbelly and they were all pink- she said if they were yellow, I would KNOW it, and it would be a liver disease, but she said she doesn't believe it is a liver problem.

She went over all of his blood work results from June 24th when he had his CBC done,and she went over each blood result.  All were good, blood glucose was 82 I believe (after fasting for 9 or10 hours) ans she said if he had insulinoma, it would be much lower after fasting that long.  His liver, white and red blood cells...everything looked good.

She seemed more concerned with his stumbling.  And we had him walking around the room, hoping he would stumble so she could see it, but of course he didn't do it.  So we started talking about how it happens, and how long it happens for...she was testing his reflexes on the left side, as it seems to me like he stumbles to the left (but I can't be sure it is always his left side) and she seems to think he has a "hitch" on the left side, he seems a bit slower on that side.  She compared it to people and how people who are righty's lag a bit on their left.  Could be the same for animals.  I also mentioned how my mom said maybe it could be arthritis, as he is over 6 years old.

So we decided to do an x-ray on him to see if he had arthritis.  She came back and showed me the films, his heart, lungs, spine, spleen, liver, kidneys all looked good and normal in the x-ray.  She then started talking about the hips.  She told me that a normal hip would have 3/4 of the ball in the socket.  His left hip looks good.  His right hip looks like only 1/4 or 1/3 of the ball is in the socket.  She said it isn't painful for him, but is probably more of an annoyance.  She said he is probably favoring the leg, so he is over-compensating and stumbling to the left.  She sent me home with a sample of chewys that I am to give him 1/4 of the chewy treat every other day.

They are called Phycox soft chews.  They are a joint support formula to help reduce inflammation and discomfort due to normal daily activity.
Product facts:

Glucosamine HCI - 450 mg
Methylsulfonylmethane - 450 mg
Creatine Monophydrate - 250 mg
Alpha Linolenic Acid - 200 mg
Proprietary blend of Citrus Bioflavonoids, Calcium Phosphate, Maganese Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Zinc Sulfate, Alpha Lipoic Acid and Grape Seed Extract - 132 mg
Turmeric - 50 mg
Phycox - 30 mg
Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) - 9 mg
Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) - 6 mg
Boron - 100 mcg
Selenium - 10 mcg
Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) - 25 IU

Inactive Ingredients:
Flaxseed Oil, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Magnesium Stearate, Marine Lipid Concentrates, Natural Liver Flavor, Sucrose.

Needless to say, they smell very STRONG, and so far I cannot get him to eat it.  I will try to mush it up and put it in his baby food, but I know how picky it is, and I really don't think he will eat it.  We will see.  Anyone else out there every have a ferret with arthritis in his/her hips?

[Susan]

Well it sounds like you may have your answer   No ferrets w/ arthritis but do have a cat, but can't get meds into her so she limps a lot poor thing.

[Norka]

I've had ferrets with arthritis too, Old man Hobbes was one of the first ferrets out there to try Rimadyl (the dog arthritis/anti inflamitory meds, guess what? Ferrets can take it too!) It can be compounded and flavored and is fairly easy to give. Used to get mine mixed with linatone. With him he had osteoarthritis, it was in both of his hips, he had bone spurs, and on bad days he walked squat to the ground like a bat walks. His toe joints were bulby and his hind feet gnarled with arthritis. I'd watch him and the weather, his meds would only be needed on bad days to help him. But were cheap enough I could give it every day if I had to. Thanks to that stuff he motored on to hit an astounding 9 years old! (He is also the one I had that was insulinomic pretty bad and had the screaming seizure I spoke of earlier, lordy the stuff that boy put me through, he was a total soup junkie too, that helped keep him going I swear. Boy the stories I could tell about that boy.)

With arthritis, you need to rethink the cage with handicap in mind. Keeping in mind ramps and extreme climbs are harder for them to do. Ramps can be covered with indoor/outdoor carpeting to make gripping easier and belly sliding down easier too. Hammocks need to be a little lower than usual, and make sure there are no places they can fall out of that are high. I staggered hammocks all through the cage so all one had to do was slide on down into the next one. It was about the same for my arthritic ferret and my handicapped crippled ferret cage wise. They both didn't climb high and stayed in the bottom area of the cage near the food and potty area. Most either could handle was about one ramp up and the big plush hammock for surveying their turf outside.

You live where it gets cold, keep an eye on them in colder weather and when the weather changes. They too might need extra tlc when the weather is wonky, don't forget weather is felt in the joints! In the summer provide light blankets and in the winter heavier fleecy blankets for them to keep warm and keep those joints feeling good. I used to put towels over hammocks to add extra cushion for those tender joints. Just think creatively and you can find what you have already in the house for ferret stuff and how it can be put to use. Hugs!

[Susan]

How is our little fellow doing?

[Boomer-n-Emmitt]

He's doing alright.  He hasn't had much out of cage time as a friend has been staying with us the last 5 weeks, and she sleeps in the spare bedroom which also happens to be Emmitt's play room.  My friend moves out into her own place next weekend, and then Emmitt gets his play room back.

He didn't like the Phycox chews, so the vet ordered this other stuff, it is on the same idea, but granules and they are supposed to be non-flavored.  Well, I don't think it is- because I mixed it in with his babyfood and he will not touch it!  So I made up some Carnivore Care and snuck it in there, and he won't eat that either.  I don't know what to do?  Thepoor thing didn't trust me for a few days- because I was trying to sneak it in his babyfood, when I put plain babyfood in his cage, he wouldn't touch it in fear I had snuck something else in there.

I only really notice the "stumbling" when he is out of his cage playing, which hasn't happened lately because of my friend being here- so I haven't had much to worry about there.

Any suggestions on how to get this supplement into him?  He is supposed to be on it every day for life now- but how do I do it?

[Kyril]

What about crushing the granules and mixing them with a liquid then syringe dosing him?  I've found they are much more forgiving about a quick dose of meds than about messing with their food. 

[Norka]

How did what Kyril mentioned work for Emmit? It is a true good way to get meds into a ferret, sometimes you just have no choice and can't hide it in the food.