I've never posted a personal story on the fml, but feel that I still need
some answers, so here it goes (I'll try to get to the facts, promise).
Our ferret Cody was almost 2 when he all of the sudden became lathargic.
We thought maybe he was just maturing or he didn't have to be as energetic
as he had been before. Blood test showed nothing wrong. A couple weeks
later, still laying around perfectly content to lay on my chest and just
visit, we opted for an ultrasound. By this time we had noticed very
minimal hair thinning at the base of his tail. I knew this was a tell tell
sign of adreanal disease because of first ferret Jake had the disease at 3
years of age. He lived to the ripe old age of 8, after surgery of course.
The ultrasound was conclusive, he had an adreanal tumor on his left side.
Without hesitation, I took him in for surgery 2 days later, this is
wednesday. I picked Cody up late wednesday and took him home. The vet
removed a huge adrenal tumor and while in checked things out and said
things looked fine. Of course his right adrenal gland was much smaller.
I've been told this is normal when one is so diseased. Wednesday evening
he had pain medication so he seemed to be sleeping it off. I stayed home
from work thurs to care for him, he still wasn't eating or drinking like he
should have. Thurs evening was rough, up all night trying to entice him
into at least drinking. There was some whining, but no more than to say
"mom, just leave me be." Took him back to the vet fri am. He just wasn't
recovering like he should be. Bloodwork showed nothing unusual, a little
dehydration though, and an xray showed nothing unusual. Picked him up
fri late, and again a rough night ahead. The vet had managed to get him to
eat and drink some fri but nothing to write home about. I had no luck fri
evening with food or water. By early morning sat, Cody was so weak he
would go to his litter box and then lay in his own waste. He didn't even
have enough energy to get back to his blankets. Back to the vet we went at
7:30 sat morning. They ran more blood work and this time his liver enzymes
were elevated and then his kidney enzymes were over 4 times what they
should have been. We then were concerned that there was some kidney
damage. The vet wanted to keep him and put him on an iv in hopes we could
re-hydrate him and give him a jump start. At 2 pm that afternoon the vet
called and said he had taken a turn for the worse and if we wanted to come
by and visit they would be there. They wanted to keep him on ivs all night
as to not stop treatment. My husband was out of town but at 5 pm we got
there. I walked in to find my poor baby on an iv just laying there. His
eyes were open but he was not really responding. I got him out and held
him, talked to him, and just let him know his mom and dad were there and
that we loved him so very much. After 45 minutes, my baby crossed over to
the rainbow bridge while I was holding him and loving him. There were 2
very weak wimpers as such and then he stopped breathing. Very peaceful.
I have to think that he knew we would be there that afternoon, as we had
every day to pick him up from his care at the vet. I think he waited for
us to say goodbye. Here are the necropsy results:
- All organs showed normal.
- Tumor that was removed was cancerous.
- His right adrenal gland had a microcopic cancerous tumor.
Was his little body just not able to recover due to the problem with the
other adrenal gland that was also diseased and not functioning correctly?
The other gland was smaller but after visible inspection during surgery
appeared to be "healthy."
Any insight would be so much appreciated. Its been 2 months and we are
still a no-ferret household. It is very quiet and lonely. All of you know
how much it hurts to lose these babies, they just have a way of getting
into you and your heart. I just need some answers so we can move on.
Thanks,
Shelley
Many prayers that our first ferret Jake met Cody at the rainbow bridge and
there they play together until the day when we'll meet again.
[Posted in FML issue 3296]
|
