Re:  the ferret with cardiomyopathy:
 
I had a ferret like that myself ... Frederick.  When Fred was 4 1/2 years
old, in September 1994, I noticed that he was making a funny involuntary
noise in his throat, like hissing, and that he was very lethargic.  I took
him to the vets' three times in one weekend, and he was diagnosed with
allergies, asthma and an upper respiratory infection.  They gave him
antihistamine shots and had me give him children's Benadryl as needed.
 
This perked him up for a while.  The following weekend, though, I caught him
having dry heaves and acting very panicky.  I rushed him back to the vet,
where they did an xray.  The xray showed fluid in the lungs and a possibly
enlarged spleen.  The vet also noticed that he had some swelling around his
neck and butt area, and thought that this might be swollen lymph nodes
(i.e. ... an indication of cancer).
 
They operated on the "lymph nodes" and found that they were actually fat
deposits instead ... no cancer.  They also determined from listening to his
heart and from the fluid in his lungs that he had cardiomyopathy.  We
started him up on Furosemide twice per day (it's a liquid diuretic) with
children's Benadryl as needed for upper respiratory infection (his favorite
flavor was the orange one), and I took him back home.  He was still quite
lethargic, but the vet said that he was in no pain.  (She also decided that
his spleen was not really enlarged).  I also had to spray nasal spray in his
nostrils when he got too congested (this was NOT easy!)
 
Fred hung in there until April of 1995.  He continued to be very lethargic,
and had trouble even making it all the way to his litterbox all the time.  I
bought him a cozy ferret bed which was low to the ground (so he wouldn't
have to climb much), and he spent most of his time sleeping.  When I was
home, he lay next to me or slept on my chest/lap.  Eventually, he just got
more and more lethargic, and one day I woke up to find that he couldn't
really move at all.  I took him to the vet, and wished him goodbye before
she put him to sleep.
 
Sorry about the length of this post, but I hope this info. helps anyone else
whose ferret gets this diagnosis ....
[Posted in FML issue 1610]