From:
ferretfury@hotmail.com
Date: 2002-07-07 08:06:20 UTC
Subject: New ferret, Cardiomyopathy?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <32560748.1026029180947.JavaMail.root@scandium>
The weekend after my darling little boy (Hei Jyo Shin) passed away from sud=
den onset of diabetes, I was out walking my other two boys and a man came u=
p to me to tell me that his mother also had a ferret whom she was no longer=
able to care for, and would I be interested in taking her? So we introduc=
ed the three, and they got along fine, and I took her home. Shortly after =
that, I had to go on vacation (where I am now) and leave everyone with a ho=
usesitter/petsitter, so I'm planning any vet appointments for when I get ba=
ck. They had no idea how old she was because they found her in their backya=
rd years ago. she's a silver, and seems to be about 5-6 years old from the=
looks of her teeth, or has been badly fed. She has one chipped uppper can=
ine, and incredible amount of plaque, some bleeding gums, and is occasionna=
lly nippy. Not blind or deaf as far as I can tell. She seems to eat with =
less gusto than my other two boys, but I suspect it hurts to eat. She not u=
nderweight, but is thin. The previous owners say that she drinks a lot, bu=
t I haven't had a chance to check her blood glucose yet at home. She came =
with really long nails but luckily no earmites. They have no idea when her=
last shots were, which kind of worries me. She is also being kind of coar=
dly at home now when I let her out to play wityh the boys. My alpha male a=
ttacked her and cut up the back of her neck pretty good once, but my other =
male, who is a real gentleman, will follow her around, and when he gets too=
close, she screams and backs up and hisses and wheezes, and does a flat fe=
rret until she keeps walking. it's almost funny to watch, and they occassi=
onally will sniff each other without any ruckus, so i have high hopes for t=
hem getting along just fine. As for my alpha male, we're planning on a mut=
ual bath and all over vanilla spray for everyone, and then hot sauce on the=
backs of necks if that doesn't work. but we wanted to give her time to he=
al first from the last encounter. (I also find it funny that they didn't fi=
ght at all when they first met outside, but I guess it was because they wer=
e all in a new, scary place) =
Now to the point, after all the background. My new little girl wheezes. A=
lot. She seems to be slow to wake up a bit, or at least slow to start movi=
ng, even though her eyes are open. She is much less energetic than my othe=
r boys, though older might acount for that. But she wheezes when eating, a=
nd eats like it hurts her, and also wheezes when stressed out, or even when=
you hold her around her ribs. I'm not entirely sure what all the signs of=
cardiomyopathy are, or what the consequences are either, but any advice wo=
uld be great for my peace of mind while I'm on vacation and can't get then =
to a vet. I beleive they're all in good enough health to wait until I get =
back on the 15th for any vet appointments, but let me know if anyone thinks=
otherwise.
Thanks,
Amber & the wild weasel rumpus
in northwest oregon visiting ohio&maine
=