HELP, PLEASE!  This is the first time we have had ferrets with heart
disease, and now it seems that Meltdown also has a problem.  We have an
excellent vet, but no one can think of every tip that people who are living
with animals with such problems should know.  Could vets and owners who are
used to this situation help?
 
Earlier this week we had a very stressful day.  When I checked Meltdown at
7 in the morning she was completely out of  it.  Of course, I immediately
thought insulinoma even though she has had no such problems in the past, but
even with sugars rubbed into her gums she did not regain consciousness for
10 to 15 minutes.  I stood there, holding her, bawling my eyes out and
expecting her to pass away, while I waited for Steve to come home.  (I can't
drive because of upper body neurological damage which can make my hands
unreliable -- the same reason I never try even the gentlest of shakes when I
scruff them, since my hands aren't always reliable for degree of motion.)
 
The upshot of testing is that her pancreas is still fine, but she has a
heart arrhythmia with a non-enlarged heart, which will be examined further
with an EKG and sonogram on Friday (tomorrow).  We have not gotten much
sleep this week since we keep checking on her around the clock.  She's
isolated in the master bathroom now so that stresses can be kept to a
minimum.
 
Please, we really need the advice of those who have been there; this is a
type of medical problem we are not used to.
 
Ruffle is adjusting well; in fact, she is doing so well on her Enacard and
Lasix that she wants to be active so much of the time that she even gets
distracted from eating; therefore, we are now supplementing her caloric
intake.  Her problem is a very large (about twice normal size on x-ray)
heart, with normal walls, normal contraction, and fluid retention.  Poor
thing felt like a water balloon when she suddenly blew up with it.
 
Thanks for your assistance, and thanks to my Steve and to Andrea who further
calmed me down, and to the folks at Basking Ridge Animal Hospital for being
so good.  Hanan calmed me greatly when he mentioned that it appears to be a
pacemaker problem; you see, I know that this is painless.  We don't want to
lose any of our guys, but Meltdown has been so especially wonderful (even
though she never has been a kisser) that if we do have to lose her it would
be tragic if she couldn't have complete comfort through it.  I guess we've
just had too many who suffered through cancer.  As you well know, those of
us left behind hurt no matter what is wrong with a ferret; it would just be
better for them if they had the gift of enjoying life right to the end and
then moving on in a peaceful fashion.  (Yes, I'm still freaked and really
worried that we'll lose our two sterlings soon.  At least we don't appear to
be looking at cardiomyopathy so far.)
 
       Sukie, Steve, Meltdown, Ruffle, 'Chopper, Spot, Meeteetse, and War p
[Posted in FML issue 1515]