Hello all!  It is nice to finally speak up, but I have had a great time
reading all the posts.  They are very helpful, informative, and sometimes
very funny!  My boyfriend and I have owned a sable since 1991.  He is now
over 4 yrs old, and his name is Rocky.  We adopted another a few yrs back
from a friend, and I believe she is a bit younger than 4.  her name is
Chelsea.  I have to say that I admire everyone for the genuine love and care
that they give to their fuzzies.  BTW, I never thought of calling their
noises dooking, but it makes sense now.  We always called it burping (burp,
burp, burp).
 
The sad thing about our ferrets is that they have both gone way downhill.
Rocky has insulinoma, and is doing ok so far.  The prednisone is working,
but he is still fairly inactive when he gets out to play.  He doesnt seem to
have any fun anymore like he used to.  I dont know what to do.  And chelsea,
I believe, has the adrenal problem.  She had problems with her back legs
being paralyzed, and we took her to the vet.  With some meds, this cleared
up.  Now she has lost all hair except for head and legs.  We thought that
maybe it was fleas or something, because we have a cat, but when researching
ferret medical info, I noticed the symptoms of the adrenal tumor, and it
seemed to match.  We are college students, and cant afford a $300 surgery
that might not even work.  Again, I dont know what to do.  And to top it all
off, Rocky has been being mean to Chelsea lately to the point where we have
to separate them because she cries out.  He bites her neck.  I am going
crazy because I feel so awful about not doing whatever I can for them.  I
feel so guilty after hearing all of the wonderful stories out there.  Can
anyone out there give me some suggestions for improving my ferrets lives?
We have really never tried many treats with Rocky.  He gets Iams cat food,
but he turns his head at things like Bananas.  Of course he likes things he
cant have, like chocolate and candy canes.  I really want to help them in
the time they have left.
 
One more question--is insulinoma always fatal?  How long is the avg life
after diagnosis?
 
Thanks a bunch.  Hope to get some better insight.  You guys really have a
wonderful mailing list.
Sheri
[Posted in FML issue 1419]