Hi all, I have been on the F.M.L. list since approx. 1992 and I do not post
very often since I do not have a P.C. at home.  Something is bothering me
big time and I just have to talk to someone and I would really appreciate
your opinions.  I have been owned by ferrets since 1987 and I have lost ten
of these beautiful animals to various diseases, but I have never lost any to
surgery and I have had quite a few go through some difficult operations.  My
two ferrets, Weezul and Coco have had six surgeries between them.  Weezul
underwent three surgeries for adrenal.  They did not find anything wrong the
first two surgeries and on the third they removed the right adrenal, which
was cancerous.  Her fourth surgery was to remove an impacted anal gland.
She was "descented" when she was probably only 3-4 weeks old.  I suspect she
came from the Fredonia farm, she is 5 years old.  I bought her and her
sister Teebone from a petstore (before I found out about ferret shelters)
and the employee said that they were from a breeder in some small town in
Kansas.  Both Weezul and Teebone had problems with a butchered anal gland
job.  I adopted Coco when she was 8 yrs. old and she had a major surgery a
few months later to remove a leiomyosarcoma which had engulfed her kidney
and adrenal.  A year ago she had a large mast cell tumor removed.  She is
going on 11 yrs.  old and has insulinoma but is hanging in there.  I adopted
her cage-mate Niki who I found out had cardiomyopathy, diagnosed by ECG and
sonogram.  She also had insulinoma which took her at the age of 9 years.
Towards the end of her life her diuretic was no longer effective and she
began to bloat up.  I took her twice a month to Vet Spec.  and in the last
few weeks of her life I took her every week to have the fluid in her abdomen
drained.  Vet Spec. gave her alittle isoflurane and drained her through her
side not the belly area because she would leak fluid constantly for a day if
the belly area was punctured.  She tolerated this procedure very well and
her heart disease was controlled by Vasotec for close to a year.  Now to the
point of my post.  All of my ferrets have had surgeries with isoflurane and
also with other procedures and I have never seen a ferret excessively
salivate.  I lost my beloved Teebone in October, she was Weezul's sister.
Teebone began losing hair on her tail which is usually nothing to worry
about, but since Weezul had an adrenal removed at age 2, I decided to have
the adrenal panel done.  I located a vet in my area who seemed very ferret
knowledgeable.  He agreed to do the adrenal panel and I also requested he do
an xray since I suspected an enlarged spleen.  He gave Teebone isoflurane to
draw blood and do the xray.  When he brought Teebone to me after the
procedure, she was drooling excessively.  I have never seen this in any of
my ferrets.  The vet said it was normal, that it was because of the bad
taste the iso left in her mouth.  This bothered me because the saliva just
poured out of her mouth and I thought of it as a possible overdose or
allergic reaction from the iso.  The adrenal test came back positive for
high levels of progesterone.  I asked for an referral to Vet. Spec. where
I have had the majority of the ferret surgeries and the vet acted surprised.
He said that he could do the surgery, he had done several ferret surgeries.
I agreed to have him do the surgery even though something told me to go to
Vet Spec.  That day after the surgery the vet said he removed a shriveled
adrenal gland, a biopsy of the liver and pancreas and an enlarged spleen.
He said he was taking Teebone home to keep an eye on her since she was not
recovering very well.  He called me at 8:00 am the next morning to say that
she "gave up the ghost." I will NEVER get over her death.  Teebone had a
very healthy appetite, she was very playful and I saw no sign of illness.
The vet stated she had liver disease, but I believe if there was liver
problems she would have had a loss of appetite.  One very important
observation that bothers me is that I found no I.V. marks on her body, no
shaved areas, no needle marks where an I.V. would have been inserted.  I
have always thought an I.V. would be used in a major surgery in case of
hypoglycemia.  If Teebone had a reaction to the iso or her glucose level
dropped and she became hypoglycemic how would this be controlled?  I have
not confronted the vet with my questions.  He made a statement when I picked
up Teebones' body that he would have not done anything different.  He told
me not to stop at the front desk because he would not charge me for the
surgery or the biopsies.  Two months later I get a bill from him with added
finance charge for the pathology.  I called to inquire about the bill and
the vet stated, " Well you know I didn't charge you for the surgery."
 
In my mind I thought...Oh yes you did.  You took my beloved Teebones' life
and her life was priceless.......I am sorry Tee-Tee, Weezul and I miss you
deeply.
 
BIG please feel free to break this post up if it is too long.  I would like
some opinions about the I.V. and the excessive salivation.
 
Missing Teebone, Hun-Hun, Cane, Delilah, Gracie, Boo Boo, Faucett, Fred,
Sable, and Niki...
Judith and Weezul and Coco
[Posted in FML issue 2200]