BLOOD IN POOP

Question
BELLA IS 1YR,GIRL SHE EATS KAYTEE FIESTS FOR FERRRTS, SHE IS VERY ACTIVE,BUT AT  TIMES SHE GETS THESE SHAKING SPELLS,BUT BECAME VERY WORRIED WHEN SHE HAD SOME BLOOD IN HER POOP

Answer
Hi Lorie:

So sorry to hear that Bella is not doing well. Unfortunately, the very worst news in your question is that Bella is eating Kaytee Fiesta.  I know that the colors in that food make it appear attractive to ferret owners who *think* they are buying something special for their precious ferret kids, but in reality, the dried fruits that are in Fiesta are DEADLY to ferrets....yes, deadly.

A ferret's digestive system does not have a caecum, which is required to digest any type of plant material - ferrets are carnivores and their stomachs are made to eat meat only. Their digestive tracts are too short to rehydrate dried plant material, so it ends up blocking the intestines, often resulting in either surgery or even death if the owner does not recognize the symptoms of blocked bowel.  YES, Kaytee knows this and continues to make and market Kaytee because not every ferret owner knows and they see the bag, it looks 'yummy', they buy it, *give* Kaytee their money, and risk their ferrets life....the last thing they think they are doing at that very moment!  I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but yes, I also hope it enrages you so you WILL contact Kaytee and express your anger. This food KILLS FERRETS every day it is on the market.

Several years ago I attempted to organize a class action lawsuit against Kaytee for even putting Kaytee Fiesta on the market. There are also some other treats (by other manufacturer also) that have dried fruits in them, so the project got bigger and bigger as we proceeded. At that time I was put in touch with and contacted by quite a few ferret owners (and past ferret owners) whose ferrets had died as a direct result of eating Kaytee Fiesta. Unfortunately these things take money to pursue and the *real* result we wanted was to have these items REMOVED FROM THE MARKET.  I was reassured they would be removed from the market by Kaytee, but alas, they have not be removed as yet.

Since Kaytee Fiesta and other ferret-specific treats are still available, well-meaning ferret owners such as yourself will continue to purchase them and be surprised when their ferrets suffer problems such as blockages and intestinal injury. I would STRONGLY urge you to contact Kaytee and complain to them about Fiesta and the fact that it has apparently caused intestinal injury to your ferret. It *probably* won't do any good, but at least it will be one more complaint. Since we never know when enough is enough, yours just may be *the* complaint that causes them to remove the product. If you happen to have unlimited financial means, I recommend hiring an attorney and suing Kaytee - they DO know that dried fruits cause intestinal injuries/blockages, but they also know that the colorful food appeals to owners who want something 'special' for their beloved ferrets.  (so very sad!)

Now, to specifically address Bella's tummy problem. If she is actually passing stool with frank (fresh red) blood in it, she definitely needs to be seen by a vet. Hopefully you have a vet who knows ferrets. If not, here is a list for you - vets who have been recommended by other ferret owners from all around the world. Since I don't know where you are, I will give you the whole list and you can just use the ones that apply to you. Be sure to check all that apply to you because even tho they do overlap, there are different ones on each list:

VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm   (British Columbia)
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sask_ferrets/

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

VETS  UK & IRELAND:  
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/vetlist.htm

VET INFO/ LIST OF FERRET GROUPS/ CONTACTS IN UK, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY & DENMARK:       
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-overseas.html (scroll down page to find the one you are looking for)

VET TO VET HELP: (procedure videos & phone consultations)
* http://www.westendanimal.com   Dr. Deborrah Kemmerer *order medical procedure videos (vets)
* http://www.bradleyhills.com   
Dr. Charles Weiss-does vet to vet telephone consultations for a fee
* http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html   
Dr. Bruce Williams - pathology only
* http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
* http://www.lbah.com/404.html      Long Beach Animal Hospital

Your vet will probably want to examine Bella to see how much damage has been done to her intestines and IF there is also damage to her stomach.. You would be looking for anything that would look like coffee grounds in her poops; that would indicate bleeding further up in the digestive tract, as in the stomach.  Frank (fresh red) blood in the stool usually indicates bleeding either in the lower intestine OR even at the rectum.  Is her rectum prolapsed (swollen and appears to be somewhat 'turned inside out')?  You can dab just a bit of Preparation H on it to help the tissue shrink back. Prolapsed rectum can also be caused from a young ferret eating dry kibble too early (when they should still be eating wet kibble).

I would think that the very least you would need to do as soon as possible is to remove every piece of dried fruit from the Kaytee food, so Bella is eating the kibble part of the Fiesta only.  The Fiesta "kibble" is NOT a good quality ferret food. There are so much better foods for ferrets. Totally Ferret is excellent and most ferrets take to it readily. You will probably have to change her over a little bit at a time, no matter what food you change her over to (PLEASE DO CHANGE HER FOOD THO :-)  Path Valley chicken kibble is also pretty well accepted by most ferrets. There are other excellent kibbles, but I'm trying to recommend just the ones that she is most likely to accept the easiest since she already has some tummy problems.

If you can't get her to eat any of those, at least until you can get her in to see a vet, you can make some Hill's A/D (feline, canned prescription food you get from your vet's office just by requesting it usually) "soup".  Scoop just a couple tablespoons of A/D, warm in the microwave and add just (a couple tablespoons) enough water to make a nice, warm gravy-consistency "soup". Dip your finger in it, then into your ferrets mouth behind the canines (the long teeth) a few times until she gets a few good tastes of it. Hopefully she will take to it right away. All ferrets love this if you just keep offering it over the course of a few days. So, you can at least feed the Kaytee with ALL pieces of fruit carefully removed from it and supplement that with a couple feedings of A/D "soup" daily to help boost her health a bit. Stir the 'soup' with your finger before you give it to Bella, just to be sure it's not too hot or has any hot spots in it, okay?

As long as you only see the few little bits of blood and don't see any more - assuming that you immediately remove the fruit from her food - hopefully she will be okay and whatever damage is done will heal.  It would be an excellent idea to give her a 3-day hairball treatment AFTER YOUR VET EXAMINES HER AND SAYS IT IS SAFE.  I just want to be sure her intestines are healthy enough before giving her anything that is going to put any pressure at all on her intestines. Once that is done, she really needs to get a good 'clean out' to be SURE that any stray bits of 'junk' aren't hiding in the folds of her intestines anywhere.

For the 3-day hairball (or in your case "fruit") treatment, use CONTENTS OF ONE VETASYL CAPSULE (toss the capsule itself away), TWO LEVEL TEASPOONS OF UNCLE JIM'S DUK SOUP MIX and SIX OUNCES VERY WARM WATER and STIR WELL.  Stir with your finger before you feed to Bella just to be sure it's not too hot.  Hopefully she will drink it right away and all of it - if not, encourage her by dribbling a few drops of Ferretone on the top. Dip your finger in it, then into her mouth and be persistent - keep encouraging her until she drinks at least half or more of it.  You will need to make this mixture and feed it to her ONCE A DAY FOR THREE DAYS IN A ROW.

Once you feed her the mixture, you will need to watch the litterbox and see what Bella passes in her poops. It will be interesting to see what pieces of fruits and/or toys and/or fabric from hammocks or blankies may show up in her stools. It's always a good idea to get these things cleaned out of the ferret, regardless of which is in her. EXAMINE EACH POOP, spread them on a paper towel with a popsicle stick or similar and keep track of WHAT you find, whether it is whole or partial. You will need to keep track, just in case you get 'pieces' of something. We want to be sure to find "ALL" of anything you find pieces of.  Be sure to do all three days; and IF she passes anything other than just poop on the third day, do a fourth day of treatment; if she passes anything other than poop the fourth day, do a fifth day of treatment, etc, etc.  You want to do ONE MORE DAY of TREATMENT AFTER THE STOOL IS CLEAR to be sure she is completely cleaned out.  THen, repeat once monthly to keep intestines healthy.  When she sheds, you can do this daily to prevent hairballs in the future.  You should ALWAYS see big fat poops - anytim Bella's poops are not big and fat, do a treatment series.

I hope Bella will be okay. I'm so very sorry that Kaytee Fiesta is still out there maiming healthy ferrets!  This absolutely frustrates me!!  Please, please contact Kaytee and complain to them about this? Let them know that you KNOW ferrets are CARNIVORES, but that you didn't know it when you bought their product.  My way of protesting Kaytee is to NOT BUY *ANY* KAYTEE PRODUCT.  In my opinion, as long as Kaytee has products of any kind on the market that are MARKETED ESPECIALLY FOR FERRETS and yet DANGEROUS TO FERRET'S HEALTH, that shows a complete lack of product responsibility to their customers, so I refuse to purchase ANYTHING from them! I encourage other ferret owners to do the same - maybe some day they will hear us if we stand and speak loud enough.

I just hope and pray your little girl is going to be okay. If there is any way I can be of further help, please don't hesitate to write again, Lorie.  Hugs to little Bella.  And if I could ask... a quick prayer in our busy day for all the broken-hearted ferret owners who have lost their little ones due to intestinal blockages from Kaytee Fiesta..so very sad, so unnecessary!  We should never ever forget, and we need to keep the message alive so others hear it before it's too late.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers