Monday, August 27, 2007 about 10:30 am Macie got her wings and was
helped to the Rainbow Bridge. Macie was a sweet sweet lil girl who
stole my heart!

I got Macie and Tommie in April 2005. Macie's age was unknown but
estimated to be about 2 or 3 years. May or June 2005 Macie was
diagnosed with cardiomyopathy with poor prognosis.

About a week or two after Treeroo passed, I noticed Macie's neck seemed
swollen. One day it was visible and the next it wasn't. She seemed to
be acting normal so I thought it possible I was just paranoid over
losing Treeroo. At the end of July I saw Macie vomit so I took her to
the vet and she was put on antibiotics. Her lymph nodes WERE swollen
and her blood ALT reading was through the roof ~ over 600!!

A few days later she got severe diarrhea and began losing alot of
weight in a short period of time and became severely dehydrated. Macie
always weighed 1 lb 13 oz but in less than a week was down to 1 lb 8
oz! She was hospitalized a few days hooked up to IV fluids for
supportive care.

Macie began to improve! She gained most of her weight back getting up
to 1 lb 11 oz. She began to dook and dance again. Her ALT recheck was
normal!

However, Saturday, August 25, Macie became very lethargic and her
diarrhea returned. By Sunday night she was going to the bathroom VERY
often and she would collapse outside her litter box. She even cried out
in pain a few times while going potty. She felt like she was burning up
with fever. She could barely even walk!

Needless to say, I took Macie to the vet Monday morning. The vet said
Macie had a myriad of things wrong although her heart sounded great.
Virtually ALL her lymph nodes were swollen again which leads the vet to
think she had full blown lymphoma. Within the last two weeks Macie
started losing hair on her tail which means possible adrenal. At the
beginning of August, lymphatic tissue was biopsied from her neck but
not enough tissue was taken. For a more accurate lymphoma confirmation,
a biopsy of her lymphatic tissue in her legs would need to be done. I
opted NOT to have that done because it would have called for her to be
put under which could have caused stress on her weakened heart.
LYMPHOMA WAS NEVER RULED OUT!

The vet strongly felt Macie was dying and there was nothing that would
CURE her. If anything it would only give her maybe anywhere from ONE
DAY to a month of additional time. But how fair would that have been to
Macie? And I would have worried each day ~ 'is today the day Macie will
die?' Plus there was a strong possibility that Macie could have died
during the testing procedures.

It was obvious that Macie WAS IN PAIN! She was squinting her eyes and
breathing very heavy!

So with a VERY heavy heart, I decided it was best for Macie to be
helped to the Bridge. I held her as that pink stuff was injected into
her frail little body via an IV into her tiny paw. She died peacefully
in my arms. I noticed afterwards that she did have a bottle brush tail
for which I felt horrible! But Macie is finally at peace!

I can NOT take any more loss! I just cant!!

Peanut searched frantically for Macie as she did for Treeroo after he
passed in June. I can't believe I am down to two ferrets within TWO
MONTHS!

::sigh:: I am sooo heartbroken over losing Macie! I feel I am failing
my kids! I truly do! I am paranoid they are all going to die and THAT
WOULD KILL ME!

**SIDE NOTE: a VERY special thank you to ALL who have responded to my
plea for help over Macie's condition when I posted to the FML around
Aug 5. I have responded to most if not all of you. Some have since
replied back to me which I have yet to answer. I have been having a
very difficult time dealing with Macie's illness so soon after losing
Treeroo plus I have some own health and personal issues of my own.
Please know that I sincerely appreciated EACH and EVERYONE of your
replies and do intend to answer you all back at some point as soon as
I am able. I just do not want anyone to think I didn't care about your
response to me.

I have pictures of Treeroo and Macie and my other babies if you are
interested, you may visit them @ My MySpace URL:
myspace.com/melanie1966
If you stop by, please send me a message letting me know you are
from the FML.

[Posted in FML 5720]