From:
Kez Fizzygig
Date: 2001-04-11 19:27:48 UTC
Subject: My Handsome Bear
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
From: "Kez Fizzygig" kezfizzygig@h...
To: Ferret-Health-list@y...
Hi Everyone,
Tara sent me your way and told me to let you know all about my
Bear.
Bear is going to be three on the forth of July and he is just as
festive as the holiday itself. He is a beautiful sable boy with a
nice lazy personality and quite as a mouse unles he is having a good
time with his sins!. He is also very sick right now.
On the 17th of March he and his other siblings (Hobbes, Mazzie,
Raphael and Pi' O Pa) received their distemper and rabies vaccines
and were pronounced healthy and with very lovely coats. Bear and
Hobbes do need to have their teeth brushed a bit more, but other
than that they were great condition.
It is their time of the year to begin loosing winter weight and
winter furr so I saw nothing wrong with the weight loss as they were
all doing it. We were gone from the 28th of March until the 4th of
April and during that time, while he was at our wonderful sitters
house, Bear began sleeping a lot more thanusual - he is the first to
poop out after a day of play and snoozing is part of his nature -and
did not seem all that intrested in playing with his siblings or his
friends. When I got them home 4/6/01 I bathed them all and to my
horror Bear had lost, what I would guess, about half of his weight.
I called the vet and they said I could bring him in and I did.
Vet visit date was 4/6/01 They did a blood count - 25 - and
rehydrated him and told me for the next week he would be consider in
critical condition. They sent us home with medication for an
infection (ammoxocilin .4cc twice a day, follow with yogurt,
something for his diarehha Keolin? .6cc every 6 hours and water
every hour, as much as he could drink) and food/supplements (AD
Feline - every two hours and Nutrical - .3cc every hour) and home we
went. I stayed up until 5 in the morning, feeding, giving fuilds and
meds and by the next day he looked a bit better. Thing is he got
nasty with his brother's and sister and began aggressivly attacking
them. He could move, but real well, as his back legs seemed a bit
useless to him, but when he got ahold of one of them, he held on for
dear life. I called the vet and told them about how he was doing and
they said that I was to keep up on the food and meds and fuilds.
They said nothing about his nasty temper, so I chalked it up to him
not feeling well and separated thim away from the rest.
Sunday he went downhill and we keep up on everything and he came
back a bit. I think by then I had not really slept since he had been
ill, and was determined not to, not until he got better or until
Sandee called him home to the rainbow bridge.
Monday I called the vet and she said she would prescribe him
something to help his appitite and my husband picked that up Monday
evening and we gave it to him. The bottle was simply labled Pred.
0.5 1/3 tab a day for two days and then phone vet. We crushed half
of a tab up and put it in his water and continued his treatments. I
should mention that the vet, in passing conversation, told me that
if that did not work, at least I knew I had done my very best for
Bear. In all honestly I felt like she handed me a death sentence and
as I write this I am crying again. this IS my child, I may not have
carried him, as I did my three sons, but I am the only mommy he has
known, he was only 4 or 5 weeks old when we adopted him and he and
his siblings have been our whole lives, just as our non-fuzzy
children are. To be told that was a blow my hear has still not
recovered from.
Tuesday I called our guardian angel, Linda, and told her that he was
not doing well, he seem to be seizing and I was worried. She had
made an appointment for him the day before, but when I told her of
his present condition, she rushed on over and took me to her vet.
His name is Dr. Doug Hardy and he has done everything I think that
can done for Bear.
He gave him valium to clam the sezuires ( on the way over he had at
least 7 or 8 of them and he was crying during two of them, I cried
too,and held him close and told him how much I loved him, and that
was about all I could do, I felt SO helpless and useless to him!) He
took his blood count and it was- if I heard him right - 218 - and
then he told me he would give him moer fluids, contiune feeding him
and run a full blood panal - The pills the other vet gave me were-
Predasone? I think it is called and sadly I left his little life in
Dr. Hardy's hands, and went home with an empty carrier and an even
emptier heart. He thinks it may be insolnomia ( as did his other vet
) and told me the ways that it can be treated ( meds and surgery)
He called last night and told me that Bear was about the same. the
seziures were not as bad, he had inserted a cathitur into his femur
for fliuds and meds, but he was still non responsive and lethargic.
He told me part of the battle had to do with Bear himself, he has to
want to live and fight for it, otherwise all the treatment in the
world will not help him.
Today I called in the morning and at noon and Bear is doing a bit
better but he still is being force fed and given fluids. The panal
should be arriving back sometime today and I will post those results
as well.
This had been a terrible nightmare and I am at a lost as to what to
do. I have receieved so many wonderful notes and cards for Bear and
I plan on reading them all to him when he comes home. Please help
our beloved Bear - he is such a wonderful little spirit wrapped in a
soft chocolate furry package.
Kez Fizzygig
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Attachment 12k (application/octet-stream) Bear.wps
Attachment 12k (application/octet-stream) Bear.wps