From:
nurse_nic@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-07-07 11:03:00 UTC
Subject: Re: my ferret died...I need major advice
Lisa
I'm sorry, I don't have any answers for you. I just wanted to reply
to say how sad I was when I read your post. It made me stop to go
search for my "Digger" and give him a long hug. I hope you find some
answers. Not that it will bring Nala back, but will hopefully
provide some sense of closure for you. Take care. Nichole.
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Lisa Shortley" <shortleylj@m...>
wrote:
> I don't even know how to write this.
>
> Last night, my ferret Nala, aged 4 was fine. She was playing well,
> eating well, everything.
> She had a yeast infection in her ear, which she was receiving
Otomax
> for (1 drop twice daily).
> After about 4 hours of playtime, around 11:30 PM Thurs night, I
> scruffed her to administer her ear medication. I noticed that her
> scruff was a little stiff (slight dehydration). I gave her some
duck
> soup with extra pedialyte in it and she ate this fine on her own.
>
> Today around 11:00, I went to check on her and found her limp. She
is
> a DEW. Her nose was purple, her tail was purple, her skin was
tinged
> purple. She wasn't blinking. Her mouth was partially opened. She
> was breathing but barely and there was a gurgling sound coming from
> her. She was cold.
>
> I rushed her to my vet's. At 11:40, her temperature was 98. My
vet
> checked her heart - sounded strong. Her windpipe sounded clear.
She
> took her in the back to do x-rays. This was when I noticed there
was
> blood on my t-shirt and shorts.
>
> My vet returned to the room with the x-rays. Nala's lung's looked
> great, heart looked fine. Her stomach looked black. She inserted
a
> tube and found her stomach was filled with blood. In this blood
was a
> sandy substance. She wanted to sent that off to pathology. Nala
was
> placed in an oxygen tank on a heating pad, with IV fluids,
> antibiotics, and carafate being injected into her stomach in an
> attempt to stabilize her and stop the bleeding. Blood should be
back
> from pathology tomorrow (Sat).
>
> At 4, my vet called me. Nala had arrested. They were able to give
> her an injection to stimulate her heart. My vet reported that she
was
> very out of it. Her legs were so dark that there was trouble
finding
> her veins to insert a catheder. She was injecting fluids directly
> into her abdomen. It didn't look good. I was told to come see
her -
> she most likely wouldn't make the night.
>
> I arrived at the vet's at 5:05. Nala arrested two additional
times,
> the third time killed her. My vet is doing a post mortem tomorrow.
>
> Here's what I know: Nala did not injest anything. I went through
her
> room with a fine-toothed comb. No signs of any toys being chewed
on,
> nothing missing, no poisons. She is caged with 6 other ferrets.
None
> of which are sick (possibly indicating food poisoning). On Thurs
> evening at 11:30, Nala was slightly dehydrated but active and
eating
> very well.
>
> When we returned from the vets today, we discovered bloody stools
in
> the cave she was sleeping in. There was also vomit (I assume the
duck
> soup I'd fed her the night before) on top of that.
>
> Nala had surgery on 3/30/01 to search for an adrenal reminent due
to
> an elevated estradial level and excessive baldness. All other
organs
> looked wonderful - a picture perfect prognosis. Nala continued
losing
> fur after this.
>
> This past Saturday (6/30), Nala had an injection of Lupron (1 month
> depot) to try and alleviate the baldness and adrenal behavior. She
> was fine after this.
>
> Nala had a full CBC done 5/01. All results were normal.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas? Anything? I'm devestated beyond words
> and very confused. Please help.
> Lisa Shortley