I never in my life thought I would be posting saying I had good news that
one of my ferrets is sick!!   But, in this case....
 
My silver mitt, Jack, just started with a very mild cough and when I picked
him and listened, he sounded like a 2 year child with a stopped up nose.
He shows no signs of distress, but does appear to have a cold.  And yes,
this is actually good news for Syd.
 
While we were taking odds that the problem was his heart, it now appears
that cause of the fluid is viral.  I spoke to the vet and we were both
happy that Jack was sick and laughing at ourselves for being happy that
Jack was sick!
 
We now expect that the virus is a typical cold virus, but with Syd's
compromised condition with the possible return of the cancer, surgery two
months ago and such, it is not abnormal for the virus to do such drastic
damage to his body.  Knowing that it is viral does not alleviate the
seriousness of his current condition, we still need to get the fluid out
of his chest, BUT we are not as worried about underlying conditions such
as heart disease or an enlarged heart.  He is still a little perkier
(technical term there), but not completely out of the woods.
 
He still has an ultrasound tomorrow for the cancer and if the chest is
still filled, we can also get a view of what is happening there with
organs.
 
Please say a little prayer for Syd that tomorrow the ultrasound remains
unchanged and our only fight for him is to get through the fluid on his
chest.
 
Hugs to everyone and special thank yous to the wonderful people who have
taken time out to check on us, you know who you are!
 
Jen and Gang
[Posted in FML issue 2966]