solostoke 1 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 hi, got home from work yesterday afternoon and noticed one of my jills was not quite right, a bit lethargic with some reddy discharge around her eyes and nose. i separated her and put a bowl of water in for her to drink from (they always have bottles but i think this helps sometimes) and she drank quite a lot so i thought that the other jill she is with had just been trying to "keep her in the nest" and been depriving her of water. couple of hours later i went out again and she was a bit worse so i went to walk to the vets but the police had shut the road lol!! back home, by which point all the other vets were shut, ring the emergency out of hours vet and drive there where they put the ferret on oxygen and gave her some antibiotics and me a rehydration mix to make her drink. cue getting up at 12, 2, 4 and 6!!!! was seeming to stay the same - dopey and with a bit of diarrhea but still becoming alert at times. got up at 7 for work and went out again and she was stone cold and heartrate really low. by the time id had a shower and come back out she was dead. i was wondering if anyone else had had this - iv never had a ferret live under 10 years so this 1 year old jill was a real shock, especially considering she was 100% fine this time yesterday!!! she had been taken out of season with a vasectomised hob and was just beginning to show signs of coming back in. iv took her for a post mortem as she was in with my other ferrets and i really want to find out the cause of the problem. £100 for that and samples of 6 organs to be sent away for analysis. sound fair?? the emergency callout was £85 so by far the most expensive ferret so far :-( atb solostoke... Quote Link to post
joe14 98 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) It could be a number of things, be canine distemper Found this on the internet.. CANINE DISTEMPER While rabies are rare in ferrets, canine distemper is not and is almost 100% fatal in ferrets within 12 to 42 days after exposure. Once a ferret gets the disease, euthanasia is recommended to prevent the spread of the disease to other animals and end the animal's suffering. Some of the sign of canine distemper include loss of appetite, foul-smelling yellow or green sticky eye discharge, swollen eyelids, green or yellow nasal discharge, swelling of lips and chin, thick brown crusts that form on the eyes, nose, lips and chin, lethargy, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, dehydration, convulsions, and, in the later stages, a thickening and hardening of the paw pads. Edited June 9, 2009 by joe14 Quote Link to post
solostoke 1 Posted June 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 It could be a number of things, be canine distemper Found this on the internet.. CANINE DISTEMPER While rabies are rare in ferrets, canine distemper is not and is almost 100% fatal in ferrets within 12 to 42 days after exposure. Once a ferret gets the disease, euthanasia is recommended to prevent the spread of the disease to other animals and end the animal's suffering. Some of the sign of canine distemper include loss of appetite, foul-smelling yellow or green sticky eye discharge, swollen eyelids, green or yellow nasal discharge, swelling of lips and chin, thick brown crusts that form on the eyes, nose, lips and chin, lethargy, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, dehydration, convulsions, and, in the later stages, a thickening and hardening of the paw pads. she was already vaccinated against this as are all my ferrets, but its not a "ferret" vaccine, its just a small dose of a dog one so they wont guarentee it works lol. but they are all walked in a park that is full of dogs every day, always are during the summer so i would be surprised if it is. but you have me worried now as this years kits i have are not vaccinated and they were in contact yesterday :-( atb solostoke Quote Link to post
solostoke 1 Posted June 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 well it turns out that she had large stones in her bladder that was stopping her body expelling waste products into her bladder and so poisoned herself. they are very surprised that a ferret this young had such sever stones and so they have been sent off for analysis to determine what caused this build up (diet, predisposition, disease etc.) but this may take a few weeks. just hope her sister doesnt go the same way!!! Quote Link to post
joe14 98 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 (edited) Im glad you have found out what was wrong with her. Just a thought, you dont feed cat or dog food do you? As that can cause bladder stones. RIP Ferret Edited June 9, 2009 by joe14 Quote Link to post
solostoke 1 Posted June 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 no, i feed ferret specific food, normally james well beloved supplemented with shot meat at this time of year. so prob 50 50 meat and dry atm rising to about 85%meat in winter. was my best jill that i was going to breed off next year for the 1st time!!!! Quote Link to post
Dowen Pest Control Solutions 0 Posted June 9, 2009 Report Share Posted June 9, 2009 Sorry about your loss this happened to me and she was my best working jill ferret at one year old strange isnt it. Quote Link to post
dpb82uk 138 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 not long ago i red that ferrets dont show much signs of illness or infection early on ( its like thay just try and carry no with ther day ) so im gessing when a ferret looks unwell it cud be to late to help and any illness or infection cud verywell be in ther later stage"s Quote Link to post
Coneytrappr 30 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Sorry about your jill. I had a jill flop over and die one day, she'd been perfectly fine the day before. Like you, I was worried it was something that my others would get so I had a PM dome...she was riddled with cancer from end to end. Only a year old. Quote Link to post
sue 1 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 sorry about your jill ,postmortems dont come cheap either .I had a litter a few years back i borrowed a friends little hob ,kits were really healthy ,they were nearly 6 months old when 1 died nearly 2 weeks later another and almost 2 weeks after that the 3rd one died ,i had a postmortem done the results came back negative to any obvious signs why they died, at least it has put your mind at rest for the reason why your jill died. Quote Link to post
solostoke 1 Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 thanks for the messages. turns out not as expensive a post mortem as it could have been, they made me sign an estimated cost form of £100 but only charged me £35 quid as all they had to do was cut her open and they saw it straight away, they know a company that tests the stones for free so thats good. they could have charged me for it, i wouldnt have known!!! i guess some vets are ok lol..... Quote Link to post
sikastag_1 689 Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 sorry about your ferret mate, good to see you went an dgot a PM done though theres a lot unknown about ferret diseases and doin this will help find out more. Quote Link to post
solostoke 1 Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 sorry about your ferret mate, good to see you went an dgot a PM done though theres a lot unknown about ferret diseases and doin this will help find out more. yeah too true, plus if it turns out that she was just genetically predisposed to this then i wont breed off her sister and hopefully do my bit to ensure future healthy ferrets lol!!! Quote Link to post
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.