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Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP |
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Chairman, AFIP Dept. of Telemedicine |
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(202) 782-2392 |
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Email:
williamsb@afip.osd.mil |
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Ferrets do much better at home. |
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Owners can administer fluid therapy very
competently. |
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Nutritional supplementation is a must with sick
ferrets. |
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Empiric use of antibiotics, while convenient,
may run counter to patient’s long-term interests. |
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Improper use may hamper diagnostic testing. |
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Antibiotics may mask clinical signs. |
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Antibiotics may result in their own clinical
signs |
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Antibiotics should be employed for specific
reasons (get the culture and sensitivity first!) |
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Use inhalation anesthesia without premeds. Injectable anesthetics are very
unpredictable in ferrets. |
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Isoflurane safest with mask or tank induction. |
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Heating pad suggested during and after surgery –
ferrets get hypothermic very quickly. |
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Should provide fluid therapy for all surgeries
more serious than neutering |
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Ferrets normally have high PCV and low WBC. |
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Persistent lymphocytosis does NOT mean lymphoma. |
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Hepatic enzymes are usually elevated simply as a
result of inanition in the ferret. |
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Older ferrets are commonly mildly
hypoproteinemic due to chronic bowel inflammation due to coronavirus or
Helicobacter infection). |
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Ferrets with adrenal disease rarely have
abnormalities on routine CBC/chemistry. |
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Acute Lesions |
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Vacuolar degeneration and necrosis of villar tip
enterocytes |
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Villar blunting |
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Ubiquitous disease - all ferrets infected by 2
wks of age. |
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Contributes to debility in older ferrets. |
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10% will show clinical signs during lifetime. |
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Gastric damage due to physical destruction of
gastric mucosa coupled with profound lymphoplasmacytic inflammation |
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Associated with gastric ulcers |
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Gross lesions usually absent |
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Notes