Many of you remember Rufus.  He nearly bankrupt our shelter 4 days before
Christmas :)  He came to us with a blocked prostate, near death.  He was
kept alive, on fluids and a urinary catheter until he was strong enough
to undergo a vena cava ligation to remove his remaining adrenal gland.
 
For two weeks after surgery, Rufus did very well.  He seemed like he was
out of hot water and on the road to recovery.  He was peeing on his own
and doing ferrety things.
 
Then he went down hill.  Slowly but surely, he stopped eating, lost
weight, became dehydrated.  No one could figure it out.  His kidney
levels kept going down hill, blood work kept showing unstable kidneys and
nothing else.  His foster mommie, Olympia, kept sub-q fluids up, force
feedings.  We all felt quite helpless.
 
Then it dawned on me one day that Rufus had no adrenals and it was quite
possible he was Addison.  I called Dr. Purcell and found out the
protocol.  Sadly, one of the medications to treat the disease, we don't
have in Canada.  A quick blood test confirmed my fears and we got Rufus
on similar meds.
 
He seemed to start to come around.  Finally began to war dance, gain
weight and just started eating on his own.
 
Tonight, after months of an uphill battle, Rufus is blocked AGAIN.
Troy-Lynn gave me some suggestions a while back to help and I've been
massaging him and giving him some warm baths.  He's going in to the vets
again tomorrow.
 
PLEASE, keep Rufus in your thoughts and prayers.  He's been a true
fighter through all of this, never complaining, never a bite or scratch.
He's always been full of kisses no matter what.  Even after the yuckiest
tasting medicines, he'll look at you, give you a kiss and you can see in
his eyes that he is telling you that he loves you.
 
Miss Randy Melanie Belair
President
The Ferret Aid Society
<http://www.ferretaid.org/>
 
Join us for the IFC Ferret Aid 2006 Conference!
Book early, almost sold out!!
http://www.ferretaid.org/events/ferret_aid_2006.html
[Posted in FML issue 5168]