From:
"Mike Janke"
Date: 2003-12-28 13:36:38 UTC
Subject: Spaz Oct. 96 - Dec. 26, 2003
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <000d01c3cd47$9f5f7070$6401a8c0@FamilyRoom>
Some of you may remember Spaz, who underwent accupuncture for his hind leg
disability. That never succeeded because he was so stressed out during eac=
h
session that my vet really couldn't provide a full treatment and we
eventually stopped trying. It just wasn't worth the stress we were causing=
him and besides, he could walk, his hind legs were just wobbly.
Around the time of the Symposium in Atlanta, Spaz first starting showing
signs that something else was wrong. I hesitated going to Atlanta but
figured I could for the first day anyway and my Wife could handle any
emergency that came up. I spent plenty of time on my cell phone asking,
"did you feed him?", "did he eat OK?", "have you looked in on him?" She
really got tired of hearing from me. :)
Spaz was eventually diagnosed with chronic renal failure. He was extremely
anemic as a result and we started him on Procrit right away. Within a week=
or so his PCV was back to normal (up from 20% to 50%!) which was great news=
.=
We were giving him fluids at home every other day and eventually increased
that to daily, and we managed to keep his BUN down a little.
In the week before Christmas, Spaz suddenly lost almost total use of his
hind legs. With his previous disability, it probably didn't take much and
it was heartbreaking to see the little guy barely able to get around, yet
trying so hard. In the days prior to Christmas, he lost bladder control an=
d
we were changing his bedding every hour or so as he constantly leaked. I
thought I was going to have to call my vet out on Christmas day, but Spaz
did not seem to be in pain so we spent Christmas holding him and talking to=
him and caring for him. Feeding time became a forced issue and it was
obvious it was time. On Friday, we took him in and let him go to join
Beasley, his best buddy.
He'll share Beasley's urn, and it will simply say, "Beasley and Spaz,
Together Forever".