From:
"zodanga1"
Date: 2010-03-06 13:57:40 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Amputated foot
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Your post brings back fond memories of my 3-legged boy, Buddy. When we got him he was missing one of his front paws and had 2 or 3 screws in each of his front elbows. The lady I got him from told me this was as a result of a kid "playing" with him by swinging him around by his legs and then dropping him! He had surgery on his elbows and was in splints for months. A couple days after the splints were removed one of his paws "just fell off!". Probably as a result of the splint being put on too tightly and cutting the circulation. He recovered from that and got around OK, but of course didn't walk normally - and developed arthritis in the elbows as a result of the pins. On his good days he could get around pretty well for a 3-footed ferret - going up and down carpeted stairs and even covering more distance, faster, outside in our yard than the other ferrets. It was heart warming to see him bounding across the green grass, or sometimes trying to dig his way into holes leading to
a den of Voles living under our shed (no, I wouldn't let him harm the Voles!). He did OK but of course didn't have good balance (which can be especially bad in the litter box - err, sometimes yuck if you know what I mean). His stump was probably sore and we needed to watch closely to make sure he didn't break the skin open due to walking on it. He was compensating by keeping his one good front paw turned inward to the center to do like a tripod type deal, but he also used the stump just as much.
As for your lack of carpet, I would imagine that won't be too pleasant both from the added direct stump contact with hard surfaces and because he won't have paw pads so will tend to slide and lose balance much more (which will put extra twisting forces on his other joints and limbs). So I would vote for getting some nice thick carpet or at least various runners or an area rug. As for your cage - you probably won't have to close it off - he will learn his limitations and what he feels good doing. Just make sure the floors and ramps are lined with carpet - no wire mesh floors and hard slippery ramps.
Adopt the little fellow - he needs a good home and you will be glad you did. He will probably be pretty much just like any other ferret - running, jumping and playing and you will be amazed at what he can do. Good luck and thank you for thinking of caring for sick, disabled critters - they all need our love.
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "chelseybakerhauck" <chelseybakerhauck@...> wrote:
>
> I'm considering adopting a 1-year-old male ferret who lost one of his hind feet when he was a kit (his mother bit it off during grooming). The ferret is out of state and I will have to decide without meeting him in person. Does anyone have experience with a ferret with this disability? What are the "special needs" I could anticipate? I have had plenty of other "disabled" ferrets, but never one with this particular issue. Just want to be sure I can provide him with the right kind of home. Our ferrets are confined to one ferret-proofed room of our house, we have wood floors (will that be hard on his stump?), and a multi-level cage (I could close it off to give him a single-level home if needed).
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