From:
jeggink98@yahoo.com
Date: 2002-10-01 00:48:50 UTC
Subject: Death of Sammy
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <13525506.1033433330792.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Well, some of you may have followed some of my recent e-mails with Sammy undergoing adrenal surgery and having cancerous adrenal glands, and having addisons after the surgery. The florineff never worked but the shot did work with the pred. Anyway, he was doing OK, but just losing weight very slowly, about .75 lbs / 2.25 lbs in a month and a half. But as I said he was doing good and we were reducing the dosage of pred. He was down to a dose every other day. I went on my vacation to get married and then get the call the 2 days before the ceremony
They found Sammy in the morning lying in his litter box all cold. The vet did not know why, and Sammy was still alive, but barely, basically comatose. They got him on oxygen and valium to help, did x-rays and blood work. We found out over the course of the day that it was probably insulinoma, most likely diffuse as no nodules were seen during the surgery and his sugar was at 95 before surgery. His sugar had fallen into the low 40's and was not coming back up far. We tried lots and lots of pred, but even at the maximum dosage 4 x's a day and a feeding tube up his nose, he was not responding well. His eyes did not respond and the vet figured that he was blind, he could not walk, only drag himself a little, and would barely swallow. The vet figured he may have had a seizure so bad that it caused permanent brain damage right away. He continued to have seizures and it was decided over the phone 24 hrs after being called that the only right thing was for him to be put to sleep.
I am OK with the decision since I did not want him to suffer and the vet thought that he may begin to suffer soon. I am upset that I could not tell my baby that I loved him though and that he was so special to me and that I could not be near him at his time. I just hope he knows how much I loved him, and that he was my special little boy. At least he left without feeling any pain.
Sammy was just 4.5 years old and had been with me since he was about 4 months old from the pet store where someone had returned him for being to playful. Once he passed I made to to have the vet place his body with the other ferrets to make sure they knew he had passed, but they didn't react very much. I believe they already knew the day before if they saw him in the litterbox. I get the ashed back hopefully soon so I can scatter him in the yard where he loved to play.
Goodbye Sammy....
Love, Judi, Simba, & Sassy