I'm curious...who among you uses some sort of mechanical assistance to
aid your ferrets with HEW in getting around? Do you recommend these
devices? Or do you think your furkid(s) is/are better off locomoting
on ferret power alone?

Our guy, Indy, has had such a bad year. First, he nearly choked to
death Mother's Day weekend. Since then, he's been unable to properly
use his rear legs. Then, a few months later, he and his little sister
Kitty both were diagnosed with insulinoma. This was quickly followed
by the loss of his favorite-to-pick-on feline, our fluffy Foo-kitty in
July. Indy started getting incontinent roughly around the same time,
and no longer can use a litterbox at all (I keep telling him that
this is why God created washing machines and newspapers!). In early
September, his beloved little sister, Kitty, suddenly succumbed to
her insulinoma, followed all too soon by the sudden loss of our eldest
ferret, Tucker, from a massive lymphoma around his kidney. Indy stopped
snuggling and sleeping with our only remaining ferret, his little
sister Pixie, who is the same age as he. While perhaps not actually
depressed, he certainly lost some of his remaining spark, and I started
to worry about him even more than I already was.

Things have gradually started to look up. For my November birthday, we
adopted a lovely little blaze girl, who is less than a year old. We
named her Siri. She has worked near-miracles with all of us. Pixie has
someone to actively play with again. My husband and I have started to
perk up again, because Siri is such a lively, sweet little bundle. And
Indy, the biggest reason we adopted her, seems to have a new lease on
life overall: Instead of sitting around for a few minutes and then
finding a place to sleep after being let out in the morning, Indy now
stays out for an hour or longer at a time. He has started partially
using his formerly-favorite tubes again, and he sometimes uses one of
the dig boxes. He lets both his sisters wrestle with him. And, perhaps
more importantly, he snuggles and sleeps with both. His blood sugars
have been good, and the vet says the little guy is pretty healthy
overall. While we know that he'll never walk normally again, his hind
legs work better than they previously did: Instead of flip-flopping
from side to side as he pushes himself forward, he moves much
straighter, and seems much less frustrated (not to mention tired)
from the effort.

So my question is related to my little guy. I'm wondering if getting
him some sort of wheelchair might make him a little happier, perhaps
if he is able to actually keep up with his sisters? I'm interested in
your experiences.

Thanks!

Eri, Indy, Pixie, and Siri

-- 
/\_/\
(>"<)
(")_(").:*¬¬*:.ERI.:*¬¬*:.

[Posted in FML 6544]