Ronan update

[alonewiththemoon]

We had Ronan's vet appointment this morning--I think almost the entire exotics staff was in the room with us at one point, two regular staff vets, two visiting vets and a couple of vet techs.  He was very cute and charmed everybody, of course.  It all went about how I expected.  He's got another clostridium overgrowth, so we've got two weeks of metronidazole to get that under control (fun, fun--ferrets hate it) and then, since it is apparent that his IBD is not being controlled by about his maximum dose of prednisolone, we'll gradually switch him over to Imuran.  I had pretty much figured we'd end up with Imuran sooner or later--I actually would have been perfectly willing to start with it, but I suppose the vets were right to want to start with prednisolone first, there was always a chance he could have responded really well to that.  His weight had dropped further to 940g, but as he demonstrated in the exam room, his energy level is good and he is bright and engaged, so we don't need to panic, just watch him.  It seems odd to think that we have to try to bulk Ronan up!

It turns out that Dr. Graham knows Dr. Burgess out on the West Coast pretty well--Dr. Burgess has done a lot of work with IBD ferrets and is expert on Imuran treatment, so she'll talk with him about it.  I gather Ronan is the first ferret to go on Imuran at Angell, so they want to be sure to absolutely follow protocol.  While I am sorry that the pred didn't control his IBD, I am glad to know that we have another option that may substantially add to Ronan's quality of life.  This isn't exactly good news, but in a way it's a relief to move along to the next step in treatment.

Comments

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The fact that Ronan was cute and charming to everyone in the room somehow does not at all surprise me :)

Best wishes to him!