Jerry (age 6 3/4 years) is one of our two original ferrets: Ben & Jerry.
She has been ailing lately, with signs of adrenal disease, insulinoma, and
impaired kidney function.  We have been force-feeding her since Wednesday
Oct 2.  She had been refusing to eat and was beginning to get very weak.
She had been scheduled for adrenal surgery Friday Oct 4 but I decided to
instead have her kidney function re-tested.  If the results showed that she
was undergoing kidney failure then we would not subject her to surgery and
would try to make her comfortable for as long as she had.
 
We went to bed Friday night nervously awaiting the call next morning from
Dr. Weiss with the results.  The results were that her kidneys were OK!  or
at least had not deteriorated from the previous test.  However she was now
anemic, either from starvation or from bone marrow suppression due the
adrenal problem.  We now have scheduled surgery again for about a week and a
half.  We have that time to try to build her back up, both with the force
feeding and with iron supplements (Pet-Tinic).  She has already started to
perk up some, giving us hope that the anemia was from starvation rather than
bone-marrow suppression.  I have now learned to give hydration injections.
With her kidneys not quite right she may need them the rest of her life to
help flush out the poisons.  I will bring our youngest two ferrets, Bridgett
and Jasmine (who also happen to be our biggest two ferrets) along to the
surgery in case a blood donation is needed.
 
Now it looks like there may be hope for little Jerry.  This has been our
first major ferret illness.  Her sister and litter-mate Ben is showing her
age some, but there are nights that she bounces around like one of the
younger ferrets.  Ben is still the alpha ferret of the pack.
 
--- Bill Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 1715]