Have to break this into two posts, I guess!
[Combined them into one. BIG]
 
Razzle's mom here...
 
I'd emailed the FML on Saturday night asking for advice for my boy Razzle
who was obviously becoming ill with something...in the interest of
ferret-health and science I've decided to post what has happened since
then (actually, yesterday morning when I was finally able to get him to
the vet).  These are cobbled-together bits and pieces of posts that I
sent to the people who emailed me with advice, so they may be 'repeats'
for some of you, and thank you all again so much for your advice and
support!
 
I will update with new info as it comes along.
 
  Monday 11/29 8am
 
I just got back from the vet.  I'm having to leave Razzle there for
awhile for a blood panel and urine analysis.  It doesn't look good.  It
seems he's got uremia, and may be in full-blown renal failure, in which
case he's a goner.  This came out of nowhere, and it's just awful.  I'm
just sitting here at home waiting for a call.
 
  11/29 10:30am
 
I *just* got the call from the vet...*tentative* good news!  It looks
like he's got pyelonephritis, not full-blown renal failure, but a really
bad kidney/bladder infection going on, and indeed, it can come almost out
of nowhere, the vet said.  Not too common in ferrets, more often seen in
dogs and cats.  His kidneys did sustain *some* damage, but at least
they're not totally trashed.  His BUN is seriously elevated at 122
(normal is like 10-30), and his creatinine is high but not astronomically
at 1.1 (normal being .02-.08).  He'll be in hospital for a couple more
days, on heavy duty antibiotics, and he's on a sort-of dialysis, getting
IV fluids (Lactated Ringers) and then some more bloodwork will be done in
a couple days to make sure the levels are going back down to normal, but
unless something awful happens (knock wood), he *should* be fine.  They
say he's been fairly alert and eating and drinking and slurping Ensure,
so that's good; he's got a will to stay nourished.
 
  11/29 2pm
 
I stopped in to see Razzle on my way to work (took his favorite toy to
sleep with and a 'get well card' from the other 2 ferrets) and and he was
half-sleeping but woke up and seemed *much* perkier when he saw me; the
'haunted' look was gone from his face and he just looked kinda drowsy,
but definitely a better demeanor than earlier this morning.  Like he's
relieved that we've figured out he's sick and we're working on making
him better.
 
  11/29 5:30pm
 
I called from work later this evening they said he'd been eating and
drinking again, and digging in his food dish and acting (in the words
of the vet tech ) 'pretty spry', so I'm very hopeful he'll come out of
this okay.  It took two of them to cap off his IV and get the meds in
him, so he's definitely got spirit!
 
  ...to be continued...
 
Part two....
 
11/30 8am
 
Called the vet's, he's alert and active, eating and drinking, pooping
and peeing, just like a good ferret ;)  I'll go in to see him in a
few hours.
 
11/30 1pm
 
Got some med info when I went to see him, he's on Clavamox 0.33cc BID,
and he's off the IV for today, they said he's pretty well rehydrated.
He's a little awkward, but getting around okay with the buffalo cap and
catheter on his arm, surprisingly, he's not messing or fussing with it
too badly, it's all covered in VetRap and he's pretty much ignoring it,
bless his heart, like he knows it's in there to help him!  He's eating
and drinking, and snarfing Ensure, and pooping and peeing, but he still
seems to not be able to pee everytime he gets in the box, but the vet
pointed out since his bladder is infected too, and just like when a human
has a UTI, they feel the urge, but nothing comes out .  He was up and
around and seemed glad to see me, crawled right into my arms and gave a
big sigh and curled up and rested his head on my arm and just was happy
to be there.  Looking still relieved and healthier, but definitely not
my non-stop bouncing, dooking boy.  I so want to see him do that again.
 
Tomorrow they're doing some more blood tests, and we're hoping the BUN
and creatinine are back to healthier levels.  If they've dropped
significantly he may be able to come home and be on meds here...I just
don't want him to relapse, I want to make sure he's well on the road to
recovery and only needing meds here at home...we've not talked about me
sub-q-ing fluids or anything like that, but I don't know that he's in
that bad of shape that he'd need it.  It's a day by day thing...
 
So, here we are at midnight, turning into December 1st.  I'll be calling
in the morning and dropping by again on my way to work, and I'll post
anything significant (or not!) just to keep everyone up-to-date.  If
*anyone* has any experience with this illness, vets or lay-people, please
let me know, either on-or-off-list.  I've found very little mention
online regarding it in ferrets.
 
Regarding cost of all this, I still don't know.  It's not going to be
cheap, that's for sure, probably around $500.  There goes Christmas.
But I guess that's the price one pays for being surrounded by fuzzy-love!
I think it's a fair trade.
 
Until tomorrow,
 
~Sherrie, aka daoine o', the ferret queen
 
Monty-boo and Jezebel ('Where's Razzle?  There's too much room in the
hammies and sleepsacks!')
 
Razzle ('Wow I never get this kind of star treatment at home!  They're
waiting on me hand and paw around here!')
 
~still missing Dweezil, my one small star~
[Posted in FML issue 4713]