We brought Cujo home Wednesday afternoon.  He looks horrible.  He has a
three inch incision for the adrenal operation and a tiny incision near the
anus for his new urinary opening.  The vet calls the operation a
urethrostomy.  I asked him a bout it growing shut, but he said it was
sutured to the skin around it and should not close up.  His little tummy is
all purple and the incision is almost as big as he is.  They also put an
"Elizabethan collar" on him to keep him from licking or otherwise getting to
the incisions.  he hates that.  It looks like he is wearing a miniature lamp
shade around his neck.  We are hand feeding him Science Diet AD
Canine/Feline, and they also send a 4 lb bag of SD feline solid food.  He is
also on Clavamox antibiotics.  He is sleeping most of the time, but is using
his litter box and wakes up for feedings.  He also wants OUT to run around.
How can they be so rambunctious when they look so bad?  We are, of course,
worried about the next few days.  But we were proven wrong in worrying about
him the last time.  I told the vet, "He must be one tough little SOB of a
ferret!" He is by my computer and just went to the litter box again.
Thought I would share that with those of you who are interested in ferret
bodily functions.  Aren't we all!?  !?!
 
I took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as vacation days to stay home and
watch him.
 
His vet is Jeff Shaefer.  He operates the East Orange Veterinary Hospital in
Orlando.  It is forty miles of rotten Orlando traffic from get there, but HE
KNOWS FERRETS.  He explained everything to us.  Even used a chart of a dog's
anatomy to explained the urethrostmy operation.  He said that when they did
that operation, they found a "plug" of material in there, and urine "shot
out" when they removed it.  They flushed until he was clear and then made
his new urinary opening.  This great vet DID NOT charge for the second
operation.  The total came to $493, but that included taking him home Monday
and Tuesday night with the vet, the cystotomy and adrenalectomy and
urethrostomy and various tests and the 4 lbs.  of SD and two cans of CD
food.
 
For those of you in the Orlando area, the vet's office is at 11937
East Colonial Drive in Orlando.  Phone number is 407-275-3856.
 
     Charlie, Agatha, Donna, Cujo, Bandit, Snowball
     We think about Kodo every day.
[Posted in FML issue 1985]