From:
snobound@aol.com
Date: 2003-01-07 03:00:39 UTC
Subject: I thought she was dying* LONG but PLEASE read*
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <31030677.1041908439842.JavaMail.root@scandium>
My ferret is 7 1/2 years old. She was adrenal for a couple of years and be=
cause of money - her surgery was put on hold. She finally had surgery in M=
ay of 2002. She developed gastric ulcers, I had her on duck soup and baby =
food around the clock so she could take all of her medications. After a li=
ttle over a month her ulcers disappeared and she seemed fine but she double=
d in size! She was always about 1.25 and she ballooned to about 2.5 pounds=
in about 2 months. Her belly looks like a big "blob" for lack of a better=
description and she does not have a big frame. She has never gone back to=
her dry Marshall food. I've been feeding her either "mashed water logged M=
arshall food with duck soup" or "mashed water logged Marshall food with bab=
y food" Either way she's been eating a lot with very little exercise.
Recently her hind legs became weak and although she did want to play a litt=
le, she began walking slower and slower. I brought her to 2 vets to see if =
she had fluid. No coughing, no collapsing, nothing like that but her head =
"bobs" or "rocks" back and forth a bit when she breathes and her belly conc=
erned me. The 1st vet said she didn't know what was wrong (not very experi=
enced w/ferrets) and the other told me she was just a "moose!" Just very o=
ver weight and not used to the weight, but otherwise healthy. The second v=
et also told me her lymphnodes were enlarged. He did a needle biopsy of he=
r neck and did "2 slides," one was inconclusive and the other came back wit=
h fat cells. That I put my mind at rest and thought she was just fat and d=
idn't get enough exercise (+ she was getting old.)
Now just 2 days ago, I woke up at about 3 am, and looked at her (why I don'=
t know) and she was laying where she usually goes potty. I use wee wee pad=
s or dog training pads since the adrenal surgery. It was easier to see how=
her potty looked and a lot cleaner than litter. =
I picked her up and wrapped her up and laid her on the floor. Her breathin=
g was shallow and she was very weak. She couldn't pick her head up. I sta=
yed with her for a couple of hours and then wrapped her up and brought her =
to my bed and laid her down on a wee wee pad with new blankets. A couple h=
ours later she started hissing, showing her clenched teeth while picking up=
her head with her eyes wide open. She was breathing very rapidly. This l=
asted for another couple of hours. My husband has been with my other ferre=
ts when they passed away and he told me that's what it looks like when they=
are dying. I would not leave her side but couldn't stand to see her in pa=
in (or what I thought was pain). We were up in the mountains and the neare=
st vet is almost 2 hours away, we also were having a bad snow storm and by =
this time it was not even 8 am. I decided if she was going to die that I'd=
help her sleep and I chopped up a TINY flake of a xanax. The xanax was my=
MIL's and was the smallest dosage. I might have given her less than a 16t=
h of it under her lip. (Normally I would NEVER EVER give people med. to an=
animal unless prescribed by my vet.) I kept giving her some drops of wate=
r also. I know the xanax takes a few minutes to start working but with in =
a few seconds she relaxed herself and crawled up in a ball and slept. My h=
usband thought she was on her way ("dying") and that she came back. Now I =
am thinking that she may have had a seizure, but it lasted maybe 4 hours at=
it's worst, about 6 - 7 hours from when I found her. Now she will take fo=
od from me, about a tsp. of baby food every few hours and drink from a drop=
per (today she held her head up and drank herself and also licked the food =
off of the saucer herself). She doesn't have any strength in her back legs=
and collapses but still tries hard to go to the bathroom in the her "area.=
" I have given up with wee wee pads, now I give her old towels because it =
is easier for her to walk on. =
I apologize for the length of this letter, but what is next? Was she dying=
? Do I just try to make her comfortable? Do I keep feeding her and helpin=
g her with her potty? Do I go for more tests? I will not put her though a=
nother operation. What could be wrong? The do not want to go back to the =
2 vets I've gone to. Although the second is very good, I feel as if I am p=
estering him. He tells me nothing is wrong - after this weekend I KNOW SOM=
ETHING is wrong! =
If I am looking for insuloma is it just a blood test? Prednisone would hel=
p that right (if I opt not for surgery).
If I am looking for cardiomiopathy (? spelling) - what does that involve? =
A diuretic would help if she had fluid, right? Is there one test for that =
could indicate this?
I apologize again for the long letter. Please email me at SNOBOUND@aol.com=
. Thank you from the both of us. Lisa & Melissa the ferret. =
=