On Saturday I took Casey to the after hours emergence vet clinic.  We have
just moved into our new house and she has not done well since the move.
Het tummy was very tanked up and when the vet aspirated it all sh egot
was gas.  Putrid smelling gas.  Dr Maddox from Aurora came in at that time
and offered some assistance.  After several minutes of consultation, they
felt that the options were either to put her down or to explore.  So we
explored.  They felt strongly that she either had a bockage in the
intestine or a twisted intestine.  They found a hairball in the intestine
about and inch long and about the diameter of a pencil.  They removed it
bit she was still fillling with gas.  It was like watching a self inflating
life vest.  They aspirated the stimach again and removed the air.  Then
they made a small slit and used a catheter end to remove the fluid in the
stomach.  Then the end plugger.  What they pulled out was amazing.  They
found a hair ball that was bigger around than a cotton ball..  It was huge.
Unfortunately, the bloating had put pressure against the blood vessels in
the stomach lining.  Instead of a healthy light pink it was purplish and
marbled.  They tucked and sewed in the worst of it and hoped that
circulation would increase.
 
Dr. Rogers wanted to keep her over night but about 30 minutes after I left
Casey went quietly in her sleep.  When I taked to her the next day she told
me that I can give my guys fresh pineapple juice and that is supposed to
help to dissolve hair balls.  Thses were to big to pass and had been
building for some time.  Casey was one of the original.  I will miss very
much her own brand of the war dance and the nipping at my toes that she so
loved and that I could never break her of.  She joins her cagemates Maggie,
Roxie and Molly, and Cocoa.
 
Diana and The Ferret Farm
[Posted in FML issue 3140]