I've been a lurker for a while and haven't really wanted to intrude
before now... but the vets in my area rarely see unaltered ferrets and
don't have a very good idea of what's within the realm of 'normal' after
the surgery and I hope that someone here might have comments on our
situation.
 
We have an 8-month old ferret who was altered a week ago Monday.  He was
in rut at the time; we were trying to avoid neutering him mid- rut, but
he was starting to get a bit aggressive - worrisome enough that we opted
to do the surgery sooner rather than later.
 
He came out of the procedure with flying colors, insisting on resuming
nearly normal activity within the day.  Since then he's been his normal
self.  No problems with swelling or redness at the site of the
incision... no real signs of tenderness or stress.
 
On the Sunday following the surgery, he seemed disinclined to be his
normal, playful self.  He was content to lay in bed and doze with my
husband.  When offered food, he'd eat it, especially cooked chicken and
ferretone, but didn't really touch his kibble without coaxing.  He did
have water.  The next day he was ravenous and ate and ate and ate.  He
continued to act normal until today... when he doesn't want to get up
again.  The first time it happened, we took a wait-and-see attitude and
saw improvement, but having it happen again is worrisome to us.
 
He's not tender anywhere on his tummy that we've noticed.  Checking over
his play area, he hasn't chewed on anything.  Stools... well, they're
normal when he's eating.
 
I know that his hormones are probably in a state of fluctuation right
now, but don't want him to get ill from not eating enough.  We'll
definitely take him to the vet if his symptoms don't improve (tomorrow)
and hope that they can do something more than just run the typical
battery of tests they run when they don't have an answer.  Right now,
though, we're in that scary time when we're waiting for something to
change and for the vet's offices to open.
 
Anyone out there with some experience or knowledge of what's common to
see post-altering?
 
Thanks...
 
Rachel
[Posted in FML issue 5149]