Just looking for thoughts for a little girl that came in recently,
sorry it is long.

Her story..... I received an e-mail from a dog/cat shelter in Cedar
Rapids IA, (2 1/2 hours away) they had taken in 2 ferrets approx. 7 yrs
old that were in pretty bad condition. They did not know if they were
male or female, they HAD seen a vet...but the vet supposedly refused
to treat either of them until they were healthier and had put on more
weight. The shelter thought they may be adrenal, and I was told they
were eating ferret food from Thiesons, (no idea what this food is but
I do not think it is good)

What we found on pickup....2 tiny little girl ferrets, in an empty pet
taxi (they met us part way so we did not have to drive quite as far),
no food, bedding or water, fortunately we brought some....but this is
a shelter,,,I was surprised they did not have anything in the taxi. I
don't mean to put them in a bad light, the shelter had no idea what to
do with the ferrets, hence trying to find someone who could take better
care of them, but I was still shocked. They were immediately taken to
my vet ( we had made an appt just in case) due to the smaller ferret,
a light brown sable (Coco), who was fairly lethargic, plus she had a
hugely swollen vulva, dripping greenish yellow pus, her lower legs and
back end were crusted in it. Upon peeing there also were chunks of pus
in her urine, and she was found to have a UTI on top of the infection
in her vulva and she has earmites as well. WHY the vet who saw them
refused to treat her just blows my mind......how can you expect a sick
ferret with an infection to put on weight and be healthier without
antibiotics??????

By my vet she was given Lupron, fluids, antibiotics, mite meds and
lixotintic. Her sister (Bean) is obviously adrenal due to the pattern
of hair loss but was much more energetic and active. She was treated
with Lupron, mite meds and fluids . Both were given soup several times
daily and have been eating hard food very well. Coco is done with her
round off antibiotics and the infection seems to have cleared up.

Now for my dilemma...... Coco's vulva is VERY swollen still, mention
has been made by my vet that perhaps the spay was botched because it is
so very swollen and the swelling has not gone down with the Lupron. (I
am happy to email anyone who is a interested picture if you want to
see) Any thoughts of what is best here, try another Lupron, exploratory
surgery (she is still very fragile), melatonin implants, anything????
It has unfortunately been fairly expensive already, so I want to use
money wisely, hence why I am asking for thoughts on the best way to
progress. I will somehow find the money to get her taken care of, but
do not want to jump into surgery and waste money and risk losing her
during surgery if others have had experience with a better plan of
action.

On the positive side, Bean has been playful and active since day one,
but Coco walks around a little, explores then curls up and takes a nap.
BUT today she decided to chase some of the other ferrets through the
tubes. She just got introduced to 3 new friends today, I actually have
taken in 7 ferrets in the last couple of weeks so they have all been
separated for the most part. But today they got to play and she was
having a blast chasing and being chased.... It was such a wonderful
moment, I teared up just to see how happy she was, watching her finally
play is amazing!

Daphne
Forget-Me-Not-Ferrets

[Posted in FML 7837]