From:
"zevronn"
Date: 2004-07-18 11:07:55 UTC
Subject: Call out to those who are familiar with sick/recovering ferrets
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <MDBBKIELOGCNDELNONAOEENNCHAA.zevronn@erols.com>
Hello
My 10 yr old female had adrenal surgery 5/24/04. Previous 8 yrs before had
it on the other.
Before surgery -
Ate ferret food and gave her additional baby food.
After surgery -
Rarely eats ferret food on her own
Give her Duck Soup (commercially made) in the morning and evening (force
fed)
If I am home early or on weekends, give her additional soup feedings
Baby food - leave all day. She will eat it on her own. Sometimes days more
than other.
She has lost most of her hair. She is very thin. If I don't feed her the
additional food, she loses weight. With the above feeding schedule, her
weight is steady but seem thin. Possibly because I can see her without the
hair.
She goes to the bathroom by herself. Can walk. Knows me. Will wake up when I
touch her and see if I have food. Will beat on the "baby" ferret that is 3x
her size for a second if he gets too pokey with her in greeting, on her
visits to the big cage. I keep her in the sick cage when I'm at work all day
to monitor her eating.
For the first time I am wondering if she is wasting. I had a dog that when I
took to the vet to board, found out she was wasting and had to put her down.
She was 15 yrs old and half blind from age but ate alot without gaining
weight.
I want to find out if I should keep doing this. If recovery sometimes takes
longer. Was going to take her to the vet next week, thinking that I may have
to put her down. Thought I'll ask those who have experience with recovering
ferrets first. That as long as she is eating and going to the bathroom and
can walk, that I should keep doing what I'm doing.
I had another ferret have surgery in Feb (3 1/2) and recovered fine as this
ferret did from her 1st surgery with no problems.
So, please let me know your opinion.
Thank you
Zev