From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2002-11-28 15:03:38 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Help, Ferret died after Surgery
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <1450.192.168.132.34.1038495819.squirrel@webmail.seaconinc.com>
> My daughter's ferret had surgery on November 26, 2002, for the
> adrenal gland disease. According to the Vet that did the surgery,
I agree with Dale - 2 hours after surgery is much too soon to bring a
ferret home, particularly one that had this much done at once. You
need someone medically trained to keep an eye on her for a while for
watch for obvious (to the medical professional) problems, not to
mention the ability to respond quickly if something IS wrong.
Both adrenal and pancreatic surgery recoveries are particularly
tricky. After adrenal surgery, the ferret's electrolytes need to be
monitored regularly for any change signalling the need for steriod
therapy. Adrenalectomy patients also tend to dehydrate quickly while
their hormones rebalance. With a resection of the pancreas, you can
have a patient's blood sugar shoot up to dangerous levels soon after
the procedure. All of these conditions can lead to fatal
complications if not corrected. Your vet needs to watch for these.
Also, all ferrets have difficulty regulating their body heat during
and after surgery, and need to be on heat support - either in an
incubator or on a water-regulated heating pad (no electrics, please).
If this is missed, the ferret might go into hypothermia.
If your vet does not have 24 hour observation, then it makes sense for
you to take the ferret home. In that case, I would wait until closing
time to pick up the ferret - just to leave the vet as much observation
time as possible. Some (extraordinary) vets will even take a
difficult case home overnight to observe them themselves. If you do
take the ferret home, make sure you find out about the vet's
after-hours emergency plans - ferrets can change condition very, very
quickly.
I'm not trying to imply any negligence on part of your vet, and I'm
glad you didn't do so in your post either. These things happen -
there's never a guarantee after surgery. As one poster noted,
sometimes DIC gets them, and nobody really knows yet why that occurs
or how to prevent it. Anyway, I hope these tips are helpful with your
next ferret. And I hope even more that your next ferret never needs
surgery!
I am not a vet, just an avid reader with post-surgical ferrets of my own.
roger & the fuzzies
missing bear