When it rains, it pours.  Moose, my sweet little 6 year old silver mitt,
who has never ill a day of his life, has suddenly become quite ill.  I
noticed him somewhat sluggish Saturday, but the rush of Gloria's wedding
kept me preoccupied.  On Sunday, I looked him over and noticed a mass in
his abdomen that I had never felt before.  Monday was a trip to the vet for
xrays, then again today for more.  Moose has a thumb sized tumor in his
abdomen, pressing next to his spine and pushing down on his bladder.  We
have started him on antibiotics and Thursday morning he will have surgery
for removal of the mass.
 
Moose's chances are not good, maybe one change in four.  If you have some
time, send good thoughts his way.
 
For those of you that have seen it, Moose is the ferret who's head was
thrusting through the brick on my long-time-never-updated web page.  I
admit I feel a bit guilty because I have been putting in 20 hour days to
pay for Gloria's wedding as well as continue research.  Also, I spent a lot
of time with Apollo and Crystal before they died, so I didn't spend as much
time as normal with the other ferrets.  Normally, at the end of each month
I do a complete physical on each fert, but this month I skipped it because
I was so busy.  I'm not sure I would have caught the tumor, but maybe I
might have seen some of the symptoms earlier.
 
In any case, Moose is in the hospital cage, being hand fed every two hours
and will remain there until Thursday am.  With luck, it will be benign,
easily removed and Moose will be dancing underfeet once again.
 
Bob C and 17 Mo' Ferts (Missing Apollo and Crystal and Cheering Moose on)
[Posted in FML issue 2719]