Maybe it is time to once again discuss the post-surgical measures that allow for optimal results because one thing that greatly affects the success of surgery is the home situaiton. 1. Never, never, never allow a post-surgical ferret to climb during the first 10 days to 2 weeks (except one who has had minor surgery like for a skin tumor). Climbing (stairs, ramps, etc.) is very common among ones who die after surgery due to injuries it can cause. Even using papers instead of litter pots makes sense. 2. Closely monitor the food and water intake. A ferret who gets dehydrated or loses a lot of weight after a surgery will not repair well and could even take kidney damage from dehydration. 3. Adjust the home temperature and frequently provide a lot of fresh and warm bedding because a post-surgical ferret will both chill and overheat more easily. 4. Supervise any interactions with other ferrets during the first 10 days to 2 weeks. They need to be gentle. 5. Do not let the ferret become too active too soon or healing tissues may be injured. 6. Give the medications the vet wants used and use them exactly according to instructions. If the vet does not write those down then you write them down and double check with the vet before leaving to make sure that what you wrote is accurate. 7. Monitor the incision site and anything else the vet wants monitored. 8. Change the waste papers regularly. 9. Know that some types of medical problems can be prevented from worsening faster with surgery but not cured by surgery. Double check with your vet to be sure that your expectations are accurate. Miscommunication is a common problem in both animal and human medical care. We recently had one older relative wind up in a brace after hip surgery because she did not understand the descriptions of how she should limit her motions; pictures or illustrations would have helped her a lot. 10. If a huge blister develops near the incision site get in to have the tissues stapled and glued. That is a seroma and it can cause the skin to tear and the incision to open. 11. Know that the condition of the animal going into surgery will affect outcome. Obese animals like obese people will have a far harder time with surgery; the risk of post surgical tears is higher for them, too. Also, an animal in poor condition in other ways will be less likely to do well. 12. Some conditions themselves can worsen to the point where waiting invites failure. Perhaps the most obvious of these is a complete abdominal blockage. There are good reasons why ferrets have such rapid transit time from food to poop. One of them is that diets high in animal protein produce high levels of both urea and ammonia (and some other compounds) and too much of those in the blood becomes toxic. Passing the waste rapidly prevents that, but when a blockage occurs the faster the surgery can be done, the better the chances of survival. For example, one who has surgery within about 24 hours of a total blockage happening will have a far higher rate of surviving than one whose person waited for 48 hours simply because the blood is so poisoned by then due to the blockage. The surgery itself can be picture perfect, but the toxins in the blood stream might still prevent survival unless the ferret is strong and lucky. Also, know that waiting too long with some problems can take them from benign to malignant, or make them too large to completely address, or even set the stage for simmering infection which may flare. 13. Check the blood work before surgery. That will help sort out some who should not have surgery. 14. Image the heart before surgery if the ferret is 6 years or older, or if there are other reasons to image the heart beforehand. 15. Do a urine concentration test before surgery. That will sort out hidden kidney damage. 16. See if the type of problem being addressed is one where a pre- surgical ultrasound makes sense. In some it does not but for others it does. 17. Never give anything without your vet's prior okay, and after a surgery double check with the treating vet to see if those things can be given and in what amounts. That includes supplements and "natural" cures. (Remember with natural approaches that they can be as dangerous as conventional ones when the wrong ones are used or in the wrong amounts. In fact, close around week to a week and a half ago) one recall was of a natural approach for humans teething because it turns out to contain belladonna in poorly controlled amounts. (The manufacturer referred to that as an "abundance of caution".) There are certainly herbs which never should be taken by ferrets such as natural licorice which can damage the heart and cause clots to be thrown, and some others. 18. Know that some previously given meds need their amounts changed after surgery. Fludrocort, for example, often needs to be increased during times of physical stress. 19. Also check with the vet before going home about what you can feed and how much the ferret should drink, also learn sub cu hands on at the veterinary hospital or go in regularly (once or twice a day for it) if the vet says that the kidneys' needs warrant it. Some foods are not balanced enough for good recovery, some are too fatty for after certain problems, and raw diets need to be cooked until the ferret is past being more vulnerable to infections. 20. Limiting interactions with germ factories (for example, very young children and sick animals or animals who go outside the home, sick people) is also a very good idea during this vulnerable time. 21. Know which medications can be given with other medications. For example, Carafate should never be give at the same time as other medications because it can coat them and make them inaccessible so always have a half hour or more between other meds and Carafate. 22. Know that some medications will have interactions with some supplements, herbs, or foods so again check beforehand with the treating vet. 23. Know that some meds should be given with foods (for example, Pred) but others should not, and which ones should or should not be given with supplements, with oil, or with water. Medications vary on those scores. 24. Find out which meds should or should not go into the refrigerator. (Some meds are damaged by cooling but some need it.) 25. Find out which meds need to be stored away from light. 26. Find out which meds can not be near steam or heat. 27. Learn how to give medications safely hands on at the vet hospital. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6868]