What would a ferret want most for his Birthday?  Raisins?  Ferretone?
Nutrical?  Nope.  REAL food in his mouth that he can actually taste!  And
he did even if it was soupy.  :)
 
I wish you could have all been with me yesterday to share in the joy and
excitement of seeing Ben having food in his mouth for the first time in 7
weeks!  Words can't express how excited and happy I am!!!! :)
 
Ben saw Dr. Bennett and Dr. Pye (both made a point of being there as
neither were on clinics this week), he has a very tiny hole about the size
of a pencil point and a small bubble that he's getting some air through
into his nasal cavity but the graft is mostly healed, he's doing
wonderfully.  He won't have to go back to the hospital unless there's a
problem but we don't expect any.  He can only have softened food for the
next two to three weeks then we'll see how he can do with something harder
but may always have to have his food soft since he doesn't have any top
molars any longer.  At least he can eat again!!
 
It was past time for Ben to eat by the time he woke up so fed him at the
vet school.  He was so cute and didn't quite know what to do.  Water only
made him shake his head but once he started eating ground and softened
Shepard & Green (his previous diet) from my finger, he didn't want to stop.
He's still not sure about water and wasn't at all interested in Ferretone.
Yet..  He'll only eat from my finger right now or a spoon.  I think he
doesn't want to get his whiskers wet.  If I have to wake him to feed him,
he still curls into a tight ball, expecting me to do the feeding.  He's
having to learn how to eat all over again.
 
Ben had been so bad the last few days during his feedings.  He knew it was
time for him to eat again and when I'd feed him, he'd keep looking around
at the syringe then start backing out of my lap so he could see it better.
Of course, we've been counting the days till his tube would come out and I
really felt it would be this week.  He still "chews" a lot but it could be
the skin inside his mouth is pretty tight from all the missing tissue.  If
he lost his "plug" to the feeding tube once in the last few days, he lost
it half a dozen times.  I had 3 spares in my pocket when we left home
yesterday and by the time we got to Gainesville, about 1.5 hour trip (had
to stop and rent a car since my a/c is out), the spares were lost and he
was "unplugged". :)  He had also opened the hole for the tube last night
so it was a matter of time before he pulled it out anyhow. :)
 
I can't say enough about the skills of Dr. Bennett and Dr. Pye.  Another
vet had stopped in to see Ben and was asking Dr. Bennett if this was a
standard procedure he'd performed on Ben.  Dr. Bennett said each case is
different and Ben is unique because of the small size of his mouth.  He
"improvised" as he went along. :)  I wish Ben hadn't lost more teeth but
by making a double flap, it gave Ben a much better chance for the graft to
hold.  Ben made headlines in the school's newsletter and a comment was made
about Ben having a "dime size" hole.  Dr. Bennett said it was much larger
than dime size and it was.  Dr. Bennett is world famous for his skills with
exotic animals and has published many papers on all kinds of animals.  My
heartfelt thanks go out to Dr. Bennett, Dr. Pye and everyone I've
encountered at University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine!
http://vetmed.ufl.edu/sacs/index.htm
 
We've had a few donations come in that have really helped plus an adorable
afghan and day before yesterday I found a box UPS had left at my door that
made me laugh.  It was a food bowl, a box of FerretBites and a bottle of
Ferretone.  What timing!!  I think I've acknowledged everyone personally
but if I haven't, please let me know.  Have to admit, I've been rather
tired and have had tendinitis flare up in my elbow so haven't been on the
computer much.
 
Thank you all so much for caring about this sweet little guy!
 
Jackie
[Posted in FML issue 2993]