Dear FMLers........
 
I recently submitted that my ferret, Trixie, is obsessed with banana chips,
dried ........ well, we're no longer giving them to her.  We almost lost
her last night in our ignorance, and I'm so glad we didn't because I never
would have been able to forgive myself.
 
My husband had given Trixie the chip, and she was in her cage eating it
when she began rasping and wheezing..........she tried to hack the lodged
chip up, but it wouldn't budge.  We opened her mouth and could see the
banana chip lodged in her throat.  She also had eaten some papaya after the
chip, and it was stuck and couldn't go down because the chip was blocking
her airway so much.  She would hold her breath and get real still, and we
really thought she was going to die.  We forced water down her throat with
a syringe to soften the chip, lots and lots of water.  She was mad at us
for doing it, but it was the only think we could think of.
 
We'd pick her up and she'd whine, everything seemed to hurt her.  After
about 30 minutes we finally called the emergency vet in Ft. Collins and
told them ~ they said to bring her in.
 
Tom went and got his shoes on and got dressed, and suddenly Trixie stopped
rasping.  She stopped whining.  She started wardancing all over the place,
trying to take my keys out of my hand, and getting really mad because we
were holding her.  Tom thought the chip might have dislodge, and looked,
but thought he could still see it in her throat.  So we took her to the vet
anyway, spent $60 to find out that she'd already swallowed it.  (The water
had made the chip slimy enough to slide down.)
 
So to our relief, our little ferret is hyper and happy now.  She's fine ~
but she's not getting banana chips ever again.  Beware!
 
Love and Dooks to all,
Tom, Shea & Trixie
 
Trixie: "Momma, quit crying ~ it's in my belly!!!"
[Posted in FML issue 3022]