I just lost one of the best "ferret goodwill ambassadors" I have
ever owned to congenitial cardiomyopathy.  He was 13 months old and his
name was Baretta.  Even though I currently have 11 ferrets and feel
fairly knowledgable about them, I had no idea Baretta was even sick!
        My only clue was that he began coughing about a week ago and was
diagnosed as having bronchitis and put on antibiotics.  He stayed the
same until Saturday night when he started coughing a lot.  Unfortunately,
on Sunday morning before I could make an emergency run to the vet, my mom
called to say that my father had passed away (sudden; he was very old).
We made the 8 hour trip to northern Idaho taking Baretta and 4 others who
are in need of special attention, leaving the younger ones in the care of
a friend.  From Idaho I called my vet on Monday morning and he told me
that Washington State University has a lot of experience with ferrets.  I
made an emergency appointment with Dr. Stuber, who turned out to be
wonderful!
        By this time Baretta was not coughing (he had been coughing all
night and I stayed awake all night to comfort him) but looked really
sick. Dr. Stuber took X-rays and found that his heart almost filled the
chest and was beating very fast.  He made the tentative diagnosis of
cardiomyopathy and after discussing the condition with us, decided it was
probably congential (since he probably did not have heartworm or a
virus). He said he wanted to have a specialist review the X-ray and that
would take an hour or so.  He reviewed the options with us (not many) and
said that we could leave Baretta with them and return in about an hour.
Sensing that the end was near, I refused and we left so my husband could
get breakfast.  While he was eating breakfast, I called my vet in
Portland to tell him what they found.  During the conversation, Baretta
turned blue around his face and died before we could even make it back to
WSU. Since WSU is a teaching university (there we 2 students with Dr.
Stuber) we left Baretta so students could learn from him.  (Please, no
flames here since I believe that anything that can be learned from death
is valuable to those still living.)
        Baretta led a good life and he appeared at many local events as a
"ferret goodwill ambassador".  During the past year, he attended a Pet
Fair, High School science class, and at "Kids Camp" for the humane
society, all in the interest of promoting ferret awareness. His most
recent activity was on August 3rd.
        We had not noticed a decrease in his energy level and he was
always as rowdy as all the others of his age.  I had noticed that he
breathed heavier than the others but our vet was not concerned.  What
other symptoms should I have noticed? It turned out that the coughing was
caused by the enlarged heart pressing on the trachea.  Any help in
understanding this condition would be appreciated!
 
        -Carla + 11 (healthy) critters
 
P.S. To those who sent the messages for Deborah Jeans: I will get the
card out in the next couple days.  I've had a bummer of a week!
 
[Posted in FML issue 0931]