Hi All -
Well Vixen is still hanging in there and the anal gland tumor became
infected so she went on another dose of Clavamox (I think thats what it
was) which she hates but which also cleared up the infection in 2 days,
but now she has a reverse mohawk - lost all hair up and down her spine
but hair everywhere else.  Our problem is she is a bad surgery risk so
we'll keeping plugging along and I'll try to keep her as comfortable as
possible.
 
We have 2 others with tummy problems.  Bonnie, one of the 8 kits that
were turned in back in July, has a lump in her tummy which I suspect
to be an enlarged spleen, at least it is in the right place and feels
much the same as my 8 yr old Prissy's enlarged spleen.  I'm quite
worried for Bonnie because she is very lethargic, and she has never
been "normal" as far as energy level.  Her owner is boarding her with
me till later this month so I'll be taking her and Poto (who has a
hard tummy - not lumpy hard) to the vet this week to find out what
we need to do.  Our problem is the vets in this area know very little
about ferrets and even though they are willing to try to find what is
wrong, they take the long way about it and run up extra expenses for
tests.  So Dr. Williams or Dr. Brown do you have any suggestions of
what type of tests we should start with?  I'm really not worried about
the expense as I am the stress placed on the ferrets when all those
"other" tests are run.  If you could e-mail me with instructions I'd
be happy to print them off and take them to the vet with me later
this week.  Yes, veterinary care is expensive and especially for
first-time surgerys, but when it comes to these babies I refuse to
cut corners (I guess that's why I work 7 days a week at 2 jobs and
have several credit cards!)
 
Now a request for ferret articles.  I'm starting another book and this
one will contain all the ferret articles I can locate.  Please send
clean copies of any articles you may have to:  Ferret Family Services,
PO Box 186, Manhattan, KS  66502-0002.  I believe a booklet of this
type may help to persuade "officials" on the domestic aspect and
provide valuable information.
 
Hugs to all!  tle
[Posted in FML issue 1032]