From:
pikku@telus.net
Date: 2006-03-07 22:17:07 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Proud Neo
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
I have a proud and handsome ferret named Neo who has been going through some tough times.
In the middle of January of this year, he started having a terrible cough and having moments of tiredness, very rapid breathing and whole body twitches. After being back and forth with the vet a few times and after he stayed a few days at the vet's, an ultrasound gave us some very grave news.
It seems poor little Neo's cough was due to either a mass or a lot of fluid in his heart and lung region. The ultrasound also found a mass on his adrenal gland and infiltrates in practically every organ of his body (including his heart and liver). The vet said that he thought Neo showed signs of having cardiomyopathy (which was confirmed by his positive response to Lasix), he had developed an irregular heartbeat- where it stops every once in a while between beats and most likley he had lymphosarcoma. But the vet didn't want to do a biosy because he didn't think Neo would make it through the sedation. At the time, my husband and I decided not to go through with Chemo since we didn't think it was fair or right to do that to Neo.
Since then, he has been on varying does of Lasix to help make his breathing easier and to slow it down. Like everyone with cancer- he has his bad days and his good days.
The question I really have though is how do I know if he is in pain. My husband and I don't want him to suffer- but we can't tell if he's in pain. He spends a lot of his time, when he has his bad days, lying on the floor, eyes half shut just shaking. He isn't asleep but he really isn't alert neither. Is that pain? He doesn't recoil or bite when we touch him. He is still eating, and drinking and going to the bathroom just fine. He is also able to run across rooms quite quickly when he wants to (but he usually has to rest afterwards).
We don't have any problems with putting him to sleep if he is suffering, but we don't want to be premature in our decision. So if you could, I would really appreciate any help anyone could give me on recognizing pain in ferrets.
Thanks so much,
Crystal
Vancouver, BC, Canada
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