Ferrets urine is dark.

Question
QUESTION: My little gill is spayed and about a year old, her name is Kiera. She was found in a field and taken to our local animal rescue center. She is very small and skinny and she now lives with my neutered male Taz who is fed the same food and has the same access to water as Kiera. Overnight Kiera's urine has turned from normal to a thick looking tobacco juice colour. She seems fit in herself and has in fact just gone to bed after making it as hard as she could for me to type this question! The only thing that she and Taz have had that is out of the ordinary, was a tiny and I mean tiny, piece of cooked venison burger, could this have affected her in this way? Their normal diet is "Mr Wellbeloveds" dried ferret diet and water. Nothing else. 2 nights ago Kiera escaped through a window that I had forgotten to latch. I heard her go out.She is a very well trained ferret, after spending half an hour fruitlessly calling her, I remembered that she used to come running when I played with a squeaky toy. I went into my front garden and squeaked the toy, at 10.30pm I felt a twit but after about 6 squeaks, she came running to me. Good girl! The reason I mentioned this was because in the morning I noticed that she must have ripped 2 holes in a bag of orange sand thats waitng to be used, if for some strange reason she ingested some of the sand, would that make her urine that funny dark orange colour?

Mary

ANSWER: Hello Mary,

I use the same squeak tactic to find my ferrets when they sleep in strange places and I can't find them.  It works every time!  It was smart of you to try that.

Onto the urine issue:

I do not think the dark urine has anything to do with her getting outside or a bit of burger.  Although it is not part of her diet, if anything it would cause GI upset and not a strange colored urine. I am unsure if the sand could cause such a color, but it is possible.   

There are two reasons dark urine is concerning.  It means that the urine is very concentrated and the brown color could be caused by blood.   Blood has iron in it, so as it oxidizes, it turns sort of brown and rusty colored.  Bright red blood in the urine would mean the blood source is close to the exit.  Brown Blood would mean it is happening earlier in the process, closer to the kidneys.

Is she still drinking and eating ok?   I would bring her in to your vet for some blood-work and a urine analysis.  This could help point to some answers and make sure all of her organs are functioning properly.  Brown urine can indicate extreme dehydration and/or liver and kidney problems, so it is best to ensure those are alright.

Could she have gotten into anything else such as aspirin?  

-Cindy P


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Unfortunately my little ferret had to be put to sleep. It turned out she was diabetic and her earlier symptom of which I wrote was the first visible sign of liver failure. I am devastlated to think that I didn't notice anything untoward in her behavior, not even excessive drinking. Both my ferrets have the run of the conservatory in which is a large bowl of water, shared by the dogs. Is there a way I could recognize diabetes before it becomes untreatable? It was heart breaking to see such an active, affectionate little animal stretched out on the vets table, without the energy to even give me a kiss.

Best Regards

Mary

Answer
I am so sorry to hear about your little girl =(  Ferrets tend to get ill very quickly and especially with diabetes, they can descend into diabetic keto acidosis (DKA) very rapidly.  The situation becomes serious quickly, and you did the very best you could.  Diabetes is rare in ferrets.  They tend to get insulinoma (low blood glucose), which is virtually the opposite of diabetes (high blood glucose).  

Symptoms for diabetes are much the same as in humans.  There will be a HUGE increase in water consumption since there is so much excess glucose in the blood that it gets excreted in the urine.  Since water molecules are attracted to sugar, they follow.  This makes the ferret urinate large amounts frequently.  Also, because he is loosing water in this manner, he will be extremely thirsty.  In veterinary terms, we call this Pu/pd.  The ferret will also loose weight since the glucose is the energy molecule for the body and it cannot be utilized like normal.  They must use their fat reserves which produces ketones. and the reason for acetone smelling breath.  Another symptom is extreme lethargy.

Again, my deepest condolences for the loss of your little girl.  You are a wonderful owner and did everything you could in the given situation. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  

-Cindy P.