From:
"debturcott"
Date: 2006-12-21 03:26:13 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Loss and Playmate
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I will try to keep this as brief as possible. We HAD three ferrets- all
of them almost 7 years old. They were raised together as kits so they
spent all their lives with each other. In August we lost one of them to
Insulinoma. He had been doing well and was being scheduled for surgery.
That left two - one a male Luke- adrenal case who is alpha- he has left
adrenal removed- gets Lupron shots every month. Lots of UTI's and other
problems. Because the male had been so sickly I was concerned how the
female would adjust being the only one left. So I got a 4 month old
kit-Gabriella- who stays in her own cage. She and Cassy make fast
friends and play all the time - I mean a real fun time- I have never
heard so much dooking in my life. My husband and I thought wonderful
this is good. Now fast forward to this month. The DEW female develops
a UTI. She is put on antibiotics does OK during the week but over the
weekend she faded fast- lost tremendous weight and was very weak. Took
her to the vet - told him to take a full blood panel, xrays/ultrasound
and what ever else he needed (short of surgery) to find out what her
problem was. Prognosis was BAD- she was in severe renal failure and had
some type of problem with her liver- he felt Liver Lyphosarcoma- only
way to be for sure would be an exploratory surgery. He said her chances
of recovery were less than 30%. She had been in pain and suffering. I
did not feel she was strong enough for the surgery and the vet agreed.
So my husband, Vet and I made the decision to help her leave this world.
She passed quietly two weeks ago today. My husband and I were stunned
and shocked. Even the vet could not believe it as her blood tests had
been coming back normal.
Now here is my question. Gabriella and Luke do play but not for very
long. He tires quickly- she does not bug him when he is laying down
resting. He has to initate the play. We feel it is very unfair that
Gabreilla does not have someone her own age- they would not be caged
with the older ferret. She has tremendous energy and runs light
lightening- are we wrong to want her to have a playmate? What
questions should I be asking myself about making this decision? Thank
You in advance for any and all suggestions.
Kind Regards
Deb
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