We rescued Sparky in '03 and Cocoa in '04.  We estimate both to be
about 4 now.  Fortunately, I was able to pick up some part-time jobs
this spring which brought in enough money to cover the cost of two
ferret adrenals, so I took them both to the vet in April.
 
Cocoa had gone in last fall to see about adrenal surgery, but the vet
didn't feel he was ready for the surgery then.  This time the vet refused
to do surgery because Cocoa's heart was weak and enlarged and she didn't
think that he would survive the surgery.
 
Sparky got his left adrenal removed and is now doing fine.  He in getting
in his new coat of hair, and my daughter calls him our Mexican jumping
bean.  Cocoa wouldn't leave Sparky's stitches alone after surgery, so I
moved him to another cage which I rearranged for hospice care.
 
The day of Sparky's surgery, we discovered that Cocoa has a tumor that
fills most of his abdomen.  I don't know if it is because of the tumor
or what, but Cocoa is getting worse about using his litter box.  He
seems to go anywhere but his litter box anymore.  I am so tired of going
outdoors to wash his whole cage every day.  I have gradually removed
shelves and today I finally removed the last shelf and the ladder.  All
Cocoa has left is the lower layer with his large litter box, food, water,
and sleeping box.  Because he only used the litter box today, I decided
to be nice and clean it tonight before I went to bed.  While I was at
it, I decided that he deserved a treat.  I took him outdoors and let him
roam free without his leash.  It was a beautiful, cool Kansas evening.
I followed him with a flashlight.  As I watched him poking around I
thought about ferrets in the wild and how different his life would have
been in the wild.  When he was tired, I brought him in and gave him his
treats--ferrettone, laxatone, a piece of chocolate, and a couple of other
treats which he hid for Sparky before I put him to bed.  It was good.
 
Nancy
[Posted in FML issue 5258]