Hi there.  To those who have kindly written and shared their time and wisdom
to try and help Tarzee, thank you very, very much.  I will write back.  I
haven't had the heart for much but trying to help my Tarzee, while taking
care of the other six fur slinks, one insulinomic, one newly adrenal, plus
a very, very old cat.
 
My Tarzee baby is going in for surgery tomorrow.  He is an incredibly
special ferret to me and I would appreciate any healing or prayerful
thoughts anyone might send out to the universe for him.  He is our comedian
and our healing fur kid.  When a fuzzy is sick he drapes himself over him or
her to tell me everything isn't ok.  He has waved at me with a bright yellow
glove on his head, donned a wrist "fanny" pack like a Saint Bernard in the
Alps and shown up for duty, and, at Percy's funeral, managed to get a branch
that looked like a wild pair of glasses stuck around his eyes, leading to
the wildest weasel dance I've ever seen.
 
Tarzan earned his name by finding and doing nearly everything a couple days
that all our other fuzzies combined had learned and done in the course of
months (he's whales smarter than the real Tarzan, but just as athletic).
He has a very impressive ;) full name: Tarzan Rapscalian Ramakrishnaiah
Stallione (his dad's two leggeds were Sly fans so daddy was named Rambo -
oookkkk!  So, I've honored his heritage with a French twist while
skeedaddling away from the real clan).  As for the Rama, when 16 doctors
went through an HIV/AIDS training I coordinated, I loved their names so
much that I gave them to my fuzzies - the docs thought it was a hoot!
Rama fit Tarzee.
 
Tarzee would be a fighter pilot if her were a man guy and is a ferret
rendition of Rhett Butler... Aw, come on, you all must know animals that
look like hoomans!
 
Anyway, he just a ferret's ferret - when he plays he plays all day (hope
that'll come back after surgery!); when he sleeps, it's the sleep of the
truly limp.  He LOVES to pop balloons, and he does a mean fetch with his
beloved squeeky balls, and also does a great wheelbarrow walk.  He's
incredibly handsome and my best kisser, though he wisely metes them out to
keep me coming back...
 
That's our Tarzee.  He's been slowly wasting away, and we've been running
tests and treating symptoms (found giardia), running tests and treating
symptoms (thought ulcers), drained impacted scent glands, which we thought
were surely the problem... but no go.  Barium x-rays came up empty, but can
miss things.  We're hoping we find an obstruction, pull it out, and sew him
up good as new (I know a tumor is a possibility, and we recently have
palpated something in a strange place for an obstruction).  He also happens
to love socks, but if we find any socks, my Kahuna Gahuna will be sockless
in Seattle.  Actually, he already is; has been recently caught chewing them.
He's also been chewing on balls seemingly to deal with his pain, so I bought
a huge supply of his favorite ones and check them daily for wear, changing
them as is safe... he was never before a chewer, that I knew of, but pain
seems to be taking its toll, and he needs to deal with it.  We have used
Turbutol (injectable narcotic from the vet) on and off for the pain, and
tried ulcer treatment for two weeks, but he hasn't improved at all.  Hoping
for an obstruction is a weird fate, but may be our best case scenario!
 
So, please hope and pray for Tarzee, that surgery solves his problem and
leaves him a healthy boy!!!!
 
I'm so grateful to have an internet family of fuzzy lovers like you all.
 
Lynn
[Posted in FML issue 2350]