From:
"caseytoo1999"
Date: 2007-03-16 00:12:34 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] need advice
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi everyone. I wish I was joining this group under better
circumstances. But I need some advice. And I appologize in advance
for my long-windedness. :)
I have a ferret (female) who is approx. 7 years old. She was
diagnosed back in Aug. of '06 with Insulinoma. When I took her to the
vet, I had been force feeding her, she had lost considerable weight,
was unable to control her backend, and I honestly thought that if the
blood glucose didn't come back confirming insulinoma, she wouldn't be
coming home with me because she was on her way out. It all happened
very quickly.
Anyways, she is still on Pred. 5 mg/day. She eats Diamond Brand
Kitten kibble/Nutro Natural Adult Cat Kibble in her bowl at all
times, and twice a day she gets a small amount of gerber baby food
(with her crushed pred mixed in), sometimes I add KMR, sometimes I
add Ferret-Vite. (I switch off and on to make sure she doesn't get
tired of the same thing every day, and begin refusing to eat it).
She quickly put all her weight back on and was acting very normally.
About two months ago I noticed her tail fur thinning considerably.
Now the last inch/2 inches is almost completely bald. Her body hair
is still there, but thinner. She shivers a lot, even though the room
she is in is temp controlled. She is ITCHY.
I self diagnosed Adrenal Disease because I didn't want to put her
through the exploratory surgery at her age. (and if I'm being honest,
the "exotics" vet here is incompetent) When they shaved her neck for
blood draw in August, it left her bald there. The hair never grew
back. I couldn't imagine her trying to recover from surgery if she
couldn't recover from a shave.
I started self treating with melatonin. While her hair has still not
grown back, the itching had seemed to subside considerably.
This past week, week and a half, I've noticed the amount of food she
eats every day has dropped considerably. She sleeps a LOT. When she
IS awake, she is obsessively scratching. She seems to have lost
weight, though she is not emaciated by a long shot. Everything tells
me this is it. It's coming. She can't fight this anymore.
But when she is out of the cage, she bounces around and acts
relatively normal for a fert! Quite spunky for an older ferret at
that! But what is her quality of life, if she itches obsessively, her
body is full of things that upset her natural balance........ am I
keeping her alive for me, or is she still living the good ferrety
life?
Everyone says "When it's time, you'll know" but I am afraid I don't.
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