I AM NO VET, but do keep up on my reading of ferret medical problems.  In
any case, I have been through almost every ferret disease in my household
except lympho (and am keeping my fingers crossed).
 
To both Sukie and Meltdown and Donette and Scooter:
 
Claudia was diagnosed with cardio last November.  For the last almost 4
months, her DAILY furosemide dosage has been 0.25 ml.  She is also on
Lanoxin, and for that same time period, her DAILY dosage has been 0.2 ml.
Her vet, Charlie Weiss, is more concerned about the Lanoxin than the
furosemide.  He doesn't want to increase the Lanoxin too much more.  Now
granted, both of you are dealing with a fluid in the lungs, which I am not,
thankfully, and hopefully will not for some time.
 
One of the keys to Claudia's good health over the last year has been monthly
visits to Dr. Weiss'.  He's been listening to her heart and periodically
doing Xrays every month for a year.  The minute she begins coughing more or
he senses her murmur's gone up half a grade, we increase her dosage.  By
keeping ahead of the curve she's been feeling so good she doesn't know she's
sick.
 
The last several times I went it was after six weeks.  Dr. Weiss felt she
was doing so well that he said he didn't have to see her every month.  She
is due to go in a couple of weeks, and sadly, I have noticed a few more
coughing spells recently.  Another thing Dr. Weiss does is blood work after
he's increased her medicine.  He wants to make sure we're not poisoning her
blood.  This has also helped ensure she's stable.  In fact, he's said she
could live another YEAR or two, which is not the diagnosis of 4-6 months he
gave her last November.
 
Now granted, we were lucky to catch her cardio before any fluid buildup.
I'm sure she would be at the Rainbow Bridge by now if she had been full of
fluid.  BUT always get a second opinion, especially in cases of terminal
illness, like this.  Claudia will die of cardio.  It's that simple.  But if
we can give her an extra year or two of QUALITY time then all those vet
bills we can barely afford are worth it.
 
Now to Donette and Scooter: You mentioned that Scooter probably has adrenal
problems.  When Claudia's cardio was diagnosed last year, she was going in
for adrenal surgery.  All Claudia's life she's had a heart murmur, so I
didn't think anything about it until Dr. Weiss said it was a 4/6 and
diagnosed the cardio.  We decided to go ahead with the surgery anyway, since
the adrenal problem would only put more pressure on all of Claudia's system,
including the heart.  It was a good decision.  However, you're in a
different situation.  If Scooter has fluid in the lungs he may not be a good
candidate for surgery at this point until you can get his lungs clear.  I
would wait to see if you can get him stable before the surgery, or you may
want to explore the options of additional medicine.  (Before you get
concerned about additional medicine, let me also enlighten you -- Claudia
has had a rare bladder stone problem since she was a kit, and has been on
two different medicines for that alone for over 4 years.  She's still on it,
and it doesn't interact with the cardio medicines.  But always check with
your vet.)
 
Our thoughts are with you this holiday season.  We were going through the
shock of all this last year at this time and know how hard it can be.
 
Please remember, I'm NOT a vet or medical person -- just someone who does
her reading :)
 
If you think THIS is long, ask me about insulinoma!
 
Amy & Dave (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian and Elektra
[Posted in FML issue 1767]