We'd like to thank everybody who responded to our plea for help with regards
to Cleo's illness.  All your help and suggestions were greatly appreciated.
We're feeling a little bit better as we decided to take her to another vet
for a 2nd opinion.  Our local vet was no good and couldn't even tell us what
was wrong with her in the 1st place.  He said it was one of 3 things,
heartworm, tumor or fluid around the lungs, but he wasn't sure and could
give us no definate answers.  Then last Thurs. night, Cleo wasn't looking
very good at all, so we rushed her to the vet again only to be told that she
now has diabetes.  We were distraught with grief and didn't have much hope
as the vet said that he could put her on insulin and that would prolong her
life for about 3 months max.  My husband suggested that I phone another vet,
which I did, and upon taking Cleo to this other veterinarian, we learnt that
Cleo wasn't diabetic (Big relief for us) and that our local vet had actually
misdiagnosed her.  Just think, if we had opted for the insulin injections,
she would've gone straight into a coma and died within a couple of hours!!!
 
In fact the veterinarian that we took Cleo to yesterday confirmed that it is
fluid surrounding the lungs and was able to drain some of it, and is now
going to give her Chemotherapy, of which she has a 50/50 change of going
into remission.  We feel as if a weight has been lifted from our shoulder's
now that we know what's wrong with her.  At least if the Chemo doesn't work
out, we know that we've done everything possible for her.  The only downfall
is that she'll be away from home for 2 weeks while she's receiving the
Chemo, but hopefully once we fetch her, she be healthy again.
 
We were wondering if anybody down in the South Florida area, particularly
the Ft.  Lauderdale/Miami area, can recommend a good veterinarian as I don't
think that we'll be taking our ferrets back to our old vet.  We're planning
on giving him a call 1st thing on Monday morning just to inform him that
Cleo isn't suffering from Diabetes!!!
 
Once again, thanks to everyone that E-mailed us.  We'll keep you posted on
her condition.
 
Regards
Lauren, Carl, Zoey & Cleo
 
P.S.  Paula Bryder, if you're still subscribe to the FML, please contact us.
I had stored your E-mail address along with your tel.  no., on disk prior to
my vacation last year, and upon returning back couldn't access the disk, as
my husband had gone out and bought a new PC which had a different programe
from our old PC.  Love to chat to you again.
[Posted in FML issue 1874]