From:
Ashley
Date: 2005-12-09 23:50:39 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Help?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Hi, I just subscribed to the group. I'm not sure how to go about this, but
I'm hoping this is okay? I have a very sick ferret and I'm hoping to get
some insight so I can avoid euthanizing her, if possible.
So here's the situation...
I purchased two ferrets, Lilly, the female, and Lockie the male from
Debby's Petland in Nashua, NH on 11-25-05. They were said to have come from
the same litter (from Marshall farms, both born 9-11-05). Lilly seemed much
more calm than Lockie, but I realized eventually that this was more lethargy
than temperament. Both ferrets were pretty thin. Lilly was skinnier than
Lockie, but both underweight. Once I set her down on the floor for the first
time, I noticed that she had trouble with her back legs. She lacked the
"ferret arch" in her back and would kind of splay her legs out while trying
to walk. She did relatively well on a textured surface and could get around
without too much difficulty. I was concerned and brought her to the vet the
next day. I work as an Animal Care Specialist at XX
Veterinary
Hospital, so I brought both Lockie and Lilly there. Lockie for his second
distempter vaccine (as marshall said they'd given the first), and Lilly for
a checkup and possibly vaccines, if she checked out healthy otherwise. The
vet basically said that we'd hold off on vaccines for her and try to get her
weight up and see how she does.
Well, I had originally wanted three ferrets, so the next afternoon I
went out to the Petco in Burlington, MA and got Tyko, another male. He was a
marshall ferret also. His birthdate was said to be close to the other two,
however he was a good deal larger, heavier and more active than the others.
Lockie has not shown any signs of illness, though he isn't nearly as
rambunctious as Tyko.
That night Lilly was doing great. She was running around seemingly
healthy as could be, playing with the boys. The following day she started to
deteriorate. I brought her back to the vet. And her diagnostic testing has
basically been going on since then, with her health fluctuating daily but
gradually, and on some days suddenly, declining. She had bloodwork done and
all of her results were normal. She had a bile acids test run, that was
normal. She had an ADV test, that was negative, she had her blood glucose
tested three times, once with fasting. Normal each time. She had xrays done
which showed nothing significant, she had an ultrasound done, which showed
nothing abnormal. Three days ago I got home to find her completely immobile,
save a few twitches and stretches here and there, laying in her cage,
covered in feces and urine, drooling. I cleaned her up and fed her (she's
been eating A/D and has had food available at all times, but lacks the
coordination to eat by herself on most occasions). I gave her some
pedialyte. She seemed to perk up a bit, but was very weak and unable to hold
even her head up. (she seems weaker on the left side..even the left eye is
closed more than the right). She had also been shivering ( a lot, which she
does often), and that seemed to stop after eating. The next morning she was
still unable to walk, however could hold her head up fairly well. I brought
her back to the animal hospital and they gave her fluids. This is when they
checked her blood glucose for the third time. At a loss, they recommended I
either take her for a second opinion at YY hospital, and probably get a CT scan
or an MRI (Unfortunetly, after talking to the financial department
at YY, I figured out that this would likely cost me a minium of $900+
to well over $2000 in addition to the close to $500 I've already spent. And
more unfortunetly, that is something I absolutely cannot afford at this
time.) My other option was to euthanize her. I have grown quite attatched to
this ferret, and it's very hard for me to make that decision. Not to
mention, I feel terrible for her that she is so young and may not be able to
live to see even three months of age. I decided to see how she did for a
while before I made that decision, as I was hoping it would be something she
may recover from. Though I know that's not likely.
Today when I got home from work she was doing terrible. I fed her and
bathed her again, and she seems to be doing a little better now.. but she's
been griding her teeth on occasion while I feed her (she is not force fed,
she accepts food very well, just needs it to be held up to her). She's also
been making some noises when she breathes on occasion. Not noises consistant
with a respiratory infection or pneumonia.. but little vocalizations. I'm
guessing these are indicators of pain of some kind, and I don't want to see
her miserable. I booked an appointment for tomorrow to euthanize her, but it
is my LAST option. I don't want to do it, I'm looking for ANY insight into
what is going on with her. I'm willing to do everything I physically can to
help her.. or even to find out what may be wrong with her in hopes that I
will feel better about my decision to euthanize her if it comes down to it.
Right now the vets only theories are that she suffered some kind of
injury or ingested some kind of toxin before I got her, though both are not
likely in their eyes. They said it could be distemper, however that is also
unlikely considering the unlikeliness of her contracting it and the fact
that she is not showing symptoms of it. The other theory is a congenital
defect. However they're unsure of exactly what it could be, and exactly how
it is affecting her, in the sense that we're not sure whether or not she'll
ever recover from it.
I'm hoping that someone will have some idea of what I should be doing
for her, what could be wrong with her, whether or not I should euthanize
her.. ANYTHING to help her out... This is a quite urgent situation, and any
insight or suggestions are very much appreciated. I can be reached through
email at DazyDaizee@gmail.com, or by phone at 1 978 337 1312.
If anyone can help, I would be more than grateful! Thankyou!
-Ashley
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