Hi Julie G. here with a question for those more knowledgeable ferrethealth
wise than I am.  At our University we have Crimson, the sweetest little OLE
girl you'd ever want to meet.  She is 5-plus years old and is being treated
with Pediapred for Insulinomia.  She is putting on weight, her energy level
is up and she really is looking good for a grey haired old lady!  She gets
duck soup once a day to help with the weight and overall I am pleased with
the progress she is making.  Recently I've noticed that she seems to be
swollen around her neck.  It's even on both sides and doesn't cause her any
pain when we mess with it.  I took her to the vet yesterday for her annual
exam and shots and the vet tried to aspirate some fluid from the swollen
area.  I was thinking Lymphoma.  The smears that the vet did didn't show
any suspicious cells of anykind.  So we are keeping an eye on it and hoping
that maybe she is just getting fat around the neck.  But something tells me
that there may be something else going on.  Does anyone have experience
with this kind of swelling?  I know that Insulinomia can run concurrent to
other disease processes.  Any advice would be appreciated.
 
On another note, one of my boys has been battling Adrenal problems for
about 6-8 months now.  He is inoperable because of a bad heart.  We thought
we were going to lose him from all of the fluid building up in his system.
He was so swollen and was having difficulty breathing.  The doctor ordered
some kind of heart medicine that made him so sick that I was afraid that it
would kill him before the heart problem did.  Anyway I thought lasix would
be helpful instead.  The Doctor agreed and gave me some pills that I was
supposed to break up into 8 even pieces and crush and than mix in with some
soup for him.  Well, this was not going to work.  I couldn't find a vet
that had liquid lasix to give him.  So I got my cat's vet to call the
regular pharmacy for a prescription of liquid lasix.  They had it and the
bottle only cost me $10.00 dollars.  There was enough in there for three
months.  He gets .03 of a cc 3 times a day.  That was 3 months ago.  He was
so sick when I started him on it that I thought that he would die before we
finished the bottle.  Thankfully it worked and he is still with us, but he
is one sick little guy.  It breaks my heart to have to scruff him to give
him the medicine, but without it the fluid builds up in his chest and he
can't breathe.  I always give him a treat afterwards, a raisin or some
soup, but he starts to gag whenever he sees the bottle!  Anyway...I fear we
are nearing the end.  I'm feeding him soup from a pet bottle several times
a day and thankfully he loves it and takes it just fine.  But he looks
terrible.  He's thin, bald, and has constant diarrhea.  I can't tell if
he's suffering, so I don't think he is.  He still loves to poke around in
new things and curl up in the cornstarch packing peanuts.  His cagemate,
Princess Boo Button sleeps with him and keeps him company.  Should I just
let nature take it's course?  He obviously has a strong will to live and I
don't want to take anytime away from him as long as he wants to live.  I
should tell you that he has never bitten anyone or thing in his life, was a
strong beautiful sable ferret when I got him a few years ago.  He loves to
cuddle and I have always referred to him as my boyfriend.  I love him
dearly.  He is only 51/2 years old.  Thanks in advance for any advice, I
agree with Lisette, people on the fml are the best.
 
Kiss your fuzzbutts for me
Julie and Mickey, Razz, Poncho, and The Princess Boo Button
[Posted in FML issue 2864]