Renegade really needs vibes...
- Thread starter JessLough
- Start date
Hope Renegade continues to recover! Everything that goes wrong sees to cause rear leg weakness in ferrets, so I would guess it's probably a side effect of having such a severe, near fatal reaction to the vaccine. I've been there and done that with vaccine reactions and ferrets, very scary to see for sure. The scariest was that a friend and myself both had a ferret react hours after the vaccine, when they were home and the nearest vets were all closed.
FWIW Renegade is a pretty classic case of vaccine reactions with ferrets, it generally occurs in adults with a history of vaccination (repeated exposure). All of the ferrets I've had and known who started reacting to vaccines were adults who had been vaccinated multiple times in the past. All recovered and went on to live normal (vaccine free) lives, so it doesn't mean he will now have other problems. From my experience, I really think Renegade will be ok. He's made it through the very worst, most life threatening part of it and is home
The vaccine reaction ferrets have is Anaphylaxis or Anaphylactic shock. Here are some informative sites for people who have or are recovering from this, if you are interested:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~aair/anaphylaxis.htm#SEC7b
FWIW Renegade is a pretty classic case of vaccine reactions with ferrets, it generally occurs in adults with a history of vaccination (repeated exposure). All of the ferrets I've had and known who started reacting to vaccines were adults who had been vaccinated multiple times in the past. All recovered and went on to live normal (vaccine free) lives, so it doesn't mean he will now have other problems. From my experience, I really think Renegade will be ok. He's made it through the very worst, most life threatening part of it and is home
The vaccine reaction ferrets have is Anaphylaxis or Anaphylactic shock. Here are some informative sites for people who have or are recovering from this, if you are interested:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~aair/anaphylaxis.htm#SEC7b
Renee, she thinks what happened was his previous steroids had worn off, so he was having a delayed reaction. She didn't seem quite surprised about it, and didn't seem to be all too worried. That said, he could be reacting to something at home, because he's also seemed to grow allergies to everything.
Yah Aleron, we wouldn't be so worried if he hadn't developed allergies to pretty well everything in the last year he has developed quite severe environmental allergies (it happens in the spring/summer, not sure of what but my guess is it has to do with the pollen levels), and we are seriously starting to believe that yes, he IS developing an allergy to meat, even though it is very very rare in ferrets. It all adds up to the possibility of a tumor or some other more dangerous condition than just a vaccine reaction -- the reaction was more of an eye opener, IYKWIM. Regardless, we're treating him for helicobacter starting today to try and see of that isn't causing some of his issues with meat (he's already on the Metronidazole and Pepto for 30 days due to the reaction, anyway)
As far as how he is doing today, I last saw him at 5am, but he fought me hard for his meds then, and was back to being himself
Yah Aleron, we wouldn't be so worried if he hadn't developed allergies to pretty well everything in the last year
he has developed quite severe environmental allergies (it happens in the spring/summer, not sure of what but my guess is it has to do with the pollen levels), and we are seriously starting to believe that yes, he IS developing an allergy to meat, even though it is very very rare in ferrets. It all adds up to the possibility of a tumor or some other more dangerous condition than just a vaccine reaction -- the reaction was more of an eye opener, IYKWIM. Regardless, we're treating him for helicobacter starting today to try and see of that isn't causing some of his issues with meat (he's already on the Metronidazole and Pepto for 30 days due to the reaction, anyway)As far as how he is doing today, I last saw him at 5am, but he fought me hard for his meds then, and was back to being himself
oh yah, he's been fed raw to try and eliminate *what* it was, but of course, he did worse on raw than kibble :rofl1: I'm obviously being punished for something I did at one point.
He seems to be able to handle buffalo. But uhh... a) I can't afford to feed him buffalo and b) Even if I could, I have no idea WHERE I'd find said buffalo
He's fed mainly fish kibbles now, and isn't *as*miserable on them (on kibble, he just has funky poops, on raw, he pukes... he also managed to get both salmonella and e. coli poisoning while on a raw diet, this ferret is going to be the death of me).
I picked up some Bene Bac to give him, to try and grow some more bacteria in his stomach so maybe he can be a little happier, but I really don't have high hopes, but any ideas are always welcome!
Both his and Rogue's cases are making the rounds through ferret vets around the world, cause nobody has ever heard of either of their cases :rofl1: Well if they have, they hadn't documented about them. That is my luck.
He seems to be able to handle buffalo. But uhh... a) I can't afford to feed him buffalo
and b) Even if I could, I have no idea WHERE I'd find said buffaloHe's fed mainly fish kibbles now, and isn't *as*miserable on them (on kibble, he just has funky poops, on raw, he pukes... he also managed to get both salmonella and e. coli poisoning while on a raw diet, this ferret is going to be the death of me).
I picked up some Bene Bac to give him, to try and grow some more bacteria in his stomach so maybe he can be a little happier, but I really don't have high hopes, but any ideas are always welcome!
Both his and Rogue's cases are making the rounds through ferret vets around the world, cause nobody has ever heard of either of their cases :rofl1: Well if they have, they hadn't documented about them. That is my luck.
One more update.
Just spoke to my vet. We're going with the option that he had a vaccine reaction, but there is a chance that he went into shock like that from being handled (we had to handle him rough, vaccinating him is a bitch), which would mean he has a Mast Cell Tumor in him. We're going ahead with treatment for helicobacter, if the diarrhea persists, we'll be treating with Prednisone. We'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it. (Which will not be a decision taken lightly, I am against the use of Prednisone)
Regardless, he will never be vaccinated again, which will mean a life style change but it's gotta happen.
Just spoke to my vet. We're going with the option that he had a vaccine reaction, but there is a chance that he went into shock like that from being handled (we had to handle him rough, vaccinating him is a bitch), which would mean he has a Mast Cell Tumor in him. We're going ahead with treatment for helicobacter, if the diarrhea persists, we'll be treating with Prednisone. We'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it. (Which will not be a decision taken lightly, I am against the use of Prednisone)
Regardless, he will never be vaccinated again, which will mean a life style change but it's gotta happen.
Jess, one of the grocery stores here carries ground bison. If this little backward place has it, you can probably find it It's not that expensive, relatively, either.
Or there are places you can order it online. You might find something helpful here. http://canadianbison.ca/consumer/default.aspx
It's not that expensive, relatively, either. Or there are places you can order it online. You might find something helpful here. http://canadianbison.ca/consumer/default.aspx
More or less, I'm against it for use on ferrets due to many severe side effects. I *have* used it -- Rogue was on it, and Rascal was on it shortly before I found another med to use, but basically, I use it as the last resort. It's a great drug that can have a lot of uses, but ferrets are so prone to other diseases, that I don't want to risk liver disease or sight loss or other side effects if I can help it
Hope things look up for Renegade health wise, definitely some rough things to deal with.
Are there any bison farmers around you? Or raw food companies that sell novel proteins? Or health food stores that sell organic weird meats (LOL)? What about goat? Or llama? I know he doesn't do good on raw food but if you got a raw mix that was in your price range, you could always cook it for him. Beneficial bacteria certainly can't hurt. And I wouldn't worry about the lack of vaccination at this point, if he is able to form immunity from vaccines he is probably set for life at this point
My friend struggled with disgestive troubles with one of her guys for a long time. No real diagnosis was ever made with him but it was years ago when there was even less known about ferrets medically. It's really hard when you don't really know what the problem is. Good luck and I hope there are some solutions for Renegade's troubles soon!
Are there any bison farmers around you? Or raw food companies that sell novel proteins? Or health food stores that sell organic weird meats (LOL)? What about goat? Or llama? I know he doesn't do good on raw food but if you got a raw mix that was in your price range, you could always cook it for him. Beneficial bacteria certainly can't hurt. And I wouldn't worry about the lack of vaccination at this point, if he is able to form immunity from vaccines he is probably set for life at this point
My friend struggled with disgestive troubles with one of her guys for a long time. No real diagnosis was ever made with him but it was years ago when there was even less known about ferrets medically. It's really hard when you don't really know what the problem is. Good luck and I hope there are some solutions for Renegade's troubles soon!