Message Number: SG2815 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: snobound@aol.com
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2003 03:00:39 +0000 (GMT+00:00)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Subject: I thought she was dying* LONG but PLEASE read*
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. =
=
Send comments to Pam at pjdutche@email.unc.edu. Please note that this address is only useful for questions about the FHL archive. Questions about ferret health, or those intended for the FHL, should be sent to the Ferret Health List.