Teddy Jo

Question
Thank you for your help.  I did go and get the acidphollus and the metamucil.  I gave her 2 capsules with her watered down AD this evening and she took it fine. She was doing a little better this afternoon when I returned from work.  I have a few questions --how often do I give her the acidophollus? How many times a day and for how long??? Also, I am afraid or not sure of just how much I am supposed to give her of the metamucil at one sitting.  She is no way going to dring 4-6 ounces of water and metamucil mix at one time. I mixed up 1/2 tsp to 8 ounces of water per direction for a child on the label (she is so small .47kg), but then I knew she was not even going to drink 4 ounces.  So could you please give me instructions on how much she should drink at a time and how many times a day I should give this to her.  let me know if the mixture is correct, but I think you said 1/2 to 1 tsp to 4-6 ounces of water and I was afraid that would not be enough water as the label says watch out for choking if not taking with enough water.  Any details on instruction of the both of these meds would be greatly appreicated.  She is a little better tonight, still weak, but at about 1 1/2 tbsp of wet mixture.  Thank you again.

Answer
Hi Toni & Teddy Jo:

(What a cute name - I had no idea she had a middle name! :-)  All my favorite ferrets have always had middle names - wonder why that always is? LOL

Anyway, I have some orange-flavored 'no grit' Metamucil here that I experimented with, mixing it in hot water and stirring until it was cold to see how thick it got. I found that 1/2 teaspoon of Metamucil added to 2-ounces of warm water worked out just fine. Do be sure you don't put too much into it to thicken the water because that 2-oz measurement was based on 'water only', not soup as such, so just keep it really watery.

Also, how often to use Acidophillus - use at least one capsule/tablet per day for at least a week since you just finished giving antibiotics.  From now on, you can give acidophillus ALONG WITH antibiotics to prevent extreme tummy upsets and intestinal upsets AND then also keep her on acidophillus for at least ONCE A DAY for at least ONE WEEK PAST WHEN YOU STOP ANTIBIOTICS - that will ensure time for her little system to get back to a healthy way of functioning.  You *should* see a complete resolution of diarrhea. If not, do be sure to report to your vet that you have given her a complete series of acidophillus and she still has diarrhea. That would be indicative that *something* inside her is still causing diarrhea,not just a system imbalance caused from the antibioticis themselves.

Hope that helps - I'll be anxiously waiting to hear of great strides in improvement from your house :-)  She sure is ia very lucky little girl to have such a loving mommy!  My thoughts and prayers are with you - please keep me updated and don't hesitate to write again for anything at all. Let's get this little girl up and going again! :-)

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers