From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2011-06-20 08:28:50 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Prostate removal? Stricture correction? Other?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi, Jeff, and everyone else,
On 6/20/11, Jeff <inner.harmony@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I would be very leery about having any surgery performed on an 8 year old
> ferret, especially an involved surgery such as this.
I've twice had surgery done on an eight year old ferret. In both
cases it was insulinoma surgery where non-surgical treatment had
failed to offer any help. In each case the vet felt it was a
life-or-death matter. Both ferrets came through surgery and recovered
well. In each case sevoflurane was used for anesthesia to reduce the
risk in an older ferret. The first one, Podo, did have his heart stop
when waking up from anesthesia but was revived. He lived for another
two years. The second ferret had a perfectly routine recovery. The
main points the vets made in each case is that the ferrets in question
were otherwise strong and had no other health issues to add to the
risk.
Like you I am reticent about surgery on ferrets that age but in each
case the vets (two different ones) made clear that old age is not a
disease. Given a choice of a somewhat risky surgery or the ferret not
surviving very much longer and having a reduced quality of life in
what brief time would have been left the choice became fairly easy.
We opted for surgery.
Our original vet did a surgery on a 10 year old for a member of the
local ferret group. Again, it was life or death. The owner wasn't
quite ready to say goodbye. The ferret came through just fine and
lived for another six or seven months, I forget exactly how long or
the details of what was done. I don't know that I would have made
that choice as it was pretty extreme but, heck, it worked out well for
both the ferret which had a better quality of life and the owner so I
can't criticize.
I don't feel at all qualified to comment on whether surgery would make
sense or not in this specific case. My point is that I don't rule out
surgery based strictly on age. I try to weigh the risks versus what
will happen if surgery is not done and make an informed decision with
the help of the vet.
The usual disclaimer applies: I am not a vet. I don't even play one
on TV. I'm just a moderately experience ferret owner who has had to
make this sort of decision before.
All the best,
Caity and the dynamic duo
Zephyr and Chin Soon, both 8 years old
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