Jerry, our kidney failure patient, has required special care for several
months now.  Hand-feeding her four times a day, and mixing an increasing
number of medicines with her food, had become a familiar routine and did not
seem too difficult to handle.  When Bridgett had her adrenal surgery two
weeks ago, she recovered so quickly that the only thing added to our routine
was her Amoxicillin mixed with Nutri-Cal.  But now that Ben is recovering
from surgery that was more extensive than expected, we are feeling
overwhelmed.  Ben also needs to be hand-fed, but she seems to have different
preferences than Jerry.  Now we have to mix up two types of food and follow
two feeding routines.  Very little was accomplished today besides caring for
animals.  We love Ben and Jerry very much, and I'm not suggesting that time
spent on them is wasted, but I'm feeling overwhelmed with the many
responsibilities involved in caring for two very sick ferrets.  I know many
of you have cared for a house full of sick ferrets.  How do you cope
emotionally, especially when caring for a dying ferret?  How do you find
enough time to take care of the ferrets, keep up with other
responsibilities, and do things you enjoy?  Do you have any suggestions for
improving the efficiency of the daily food and medicine routines?  I'd
really appreciate some advice from the veterans.
 
Clare Sebok
 
P.S.  Please don't suggest anything expensive: after three surgeries, the
wallet is pretty thin.
[Posted in FML issue 1839]