Hello all!  I thought that I would send a quickie update on Phoenix, the
ferret who died during adrenal surgery but then came back.It's been a week
since the surgery.  He's been doing great, recovering fully from the anemia
of massive blood loss and moving around the play room, albeit somewhat
gingerly.  We made arrangements for a return trip to see the vet on
Wednesday to check his blood values.  Because we know the right gland came
out in its entirety, as did the left, unless there is ectopic tissue, he
will need some kind of supplementation, most likely pred and/or florinef.
 
To my dismay, Phoenix showed signs of crashing on Tuesday so he was started
on prednisone and I gave him a good dose of ringers sub-q.  It worked and
he was eating his kibble by himself that very night (I was hand feeding
baby food before).  At the vet, his staples were removed and it took 3
people to hold him for a blood draw.  Normally the vet and a tech can do
it without problem.  I have a scrip for Florinef and will be taking it to
a compounding pharmacy so he can at least enjoy his medicine should he
need it .
 
This morning, as I quick cleaned his cage, Phoenix took off across the
play room .  He raced around and then he began to wardance!  He danced and
danced, bouncing and leaping and twisting about, tripping over things and
bouncing back up!  Again, you'd never know anything was wrong, other than
the hairloss.  I really think that it was the staples that were holding him
back.  You can tell he's so much more comfortable without them.  I'm giving
him another day in the sick cage and then I'll see about getting him back
together with his buddy, Flash (who was Squeak but she's a 50mph ferret and
earned her new name!).
 
So that's the update.  He's our miracle ferret, our white wonder.  You
can't imagine how much my heart sang to see him dancing through the room!
 
My best to everyone!
 
Anastasia Kidd
[Posted in FML issue 3526]