We have just spent the most horrifying Sunday afternoon.  At approx. 4:00
p.m. this afternoon Bill found Ferris, limp, in his own fecses and urine.
When I took him from Bill's arms I thought he was dead.  He was limp and
non-responsive.  We went immediately to the kitchen and got out some maple
syrup and rubbed a little bit on his clenched jaws.  It took about an
eternity (maybe 5 minutes) and he began to revive.  He was exhausted.  Bill
held him until he seemed a bit better.  I got him to eat and he consumed a
hearty portion of his special woozle goo with the Timmys.
 
He seemed to be recovering and he wanted to walk around.  He urinated and
pooped (just a tiny bit) but he was still walking around like a drunk.  I
left him with Bill and then a few minutes later Bill called me back
downstairs to observe.  Ferris was making the appearance of straining to go
the bathroom (even though he had just gone) and had weakness in his back
legs, he was also making a crying noise we have never heard.  We wrapped him
up and got him up to the emerg vet clinic in Aurora.  The doctor asked us to
tell him what we had observed and then he examined Ferris.  Ferris appears
to have a mass in his gut area.  During the course of the exam he began to
improve and by the end of our 45 minutes he was walking around being
himself.
 
The vet thinks he was having a weakness in the hind area and his brain was
signalling to go the bathroom but of course there was nothing there.  He
was crying because the feelings were so disturbing to him.
 
Ferris has been on a nutrional intervention to hold off the insulnoma.  The
vet agreed it had bought us time but it is not a battle we can win.  We
will be going to see a specialist this week ( I will consult with Randy of
F.A.S.T. and my fellow-ferret owners on the TIFG to see who would be the
best vet to consult on this insulnoma problem) - do we use drugs or surgery -
where do we go from here?
 
What an afternoon.  I can't believe it happened and Ferris is downstairs
eating crunchies and to all appearances completely unaffected meanwhile I
am about to have a nervous breakdown.
 
Lynn
[Posted in FML issue 2241]