I adopted an energetic older ferret named Peppy over a year ago.
(Easter) sunday morning he was straining.  He was not
lethargic so I gave him some laxative and put him in the
cage so I could monitor him.  That afternoon, he hadn't
urinated and had lost energy.  I took him to the emergency
hospital (only place in town open on a holiday.)  They made
three attempts to do catherization but on monday, Peppy
didn't make through surgery.  The doctor said he was
filled with "sand" and the urine had backed up in his body
and he had become "septic."  The poor little dude had
almost made it all the way through surgery but he had just
gotten too sick.  The condition of his bladder suggested he had
been ill for a while.
 
Now my two younger ferrets are moping around the house
wondering "where's Peppy?"
 
He's been fed Science Diet in my home, I wonder
what his previous owners fed him.  Has anyone else had a
ferret that was energetic one day and gone the next?
 
Feeling like a negligent mother,
robin.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0791]