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Cardiomyopathy & Heart Disease in FerretsQuite often, heart disease is diagnosed in ferrets that are 3 years old and over. Dilated Cardiomyopathy causes thinning of the heart walls and the heart will then overflow with blood. The thin walls are therefore not strong enough to pump the blood out to the rest of the body. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy causes thickening of the heart walls, thereby reducing the space in the middle of the heart. Due to the decreased space available, less blood is able to enter the heart so as the muscle contracts, only a small amount of blood is pumped out. Some of the symptoms of cardiac disease are
Your vet will most probably give your ferret a diuretic to get rid of the fluid which has built up in its body, and probably other medication to help the heart.
Some of the sites which I've found really interesting have been ... The Ferret Heart Disease FAQ on the Ferret Central website; An article about heart disease in ferrets by Dr Heidi Hoefer, DVM; There's information about dilated cardiomyopathy at the PetPlace site, as well as a very interesting article written by Dr Ron Hines;
And there is also one by Dr
Bruce Williams
about cardiomyopathy, which is on the excellent Miami Ferret website.
In July 2007, my oldest ferret, Kaos, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. Thankfully, as at January 2008 she was still going strong! You can read all about Kaos's Story here.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained on this page is not meant to replace seeing a veterinarian if you think your ferret is ill. It’s only meant to supply general information on a particular illness which was obtained either from personal experience with my sick ferrets, or from books and/or the Internet. Return from Cardiomyopathy & Heart Disease in Ferrets to All About Ferrets
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Lethargy 
