I am new to the FML and have been watching for about three weeks.  I've
learned A LOT from the FML, but we have much to learn!  I have laughed and
cried over some of the posts.  Please bear with me as I share the story of
how we lost our first ferret.  I have a lot of questions so we can take the
best possible care of our current little guy, Brae, but they'll have to wait
for a couple of days.  I'm sharing our story in hopes that it will help
another ferret, and also to get your opinion of our vet's treatment and so
forth.
 
Our first ferret was last May - Jamie, a sable female.  We got her from
the local pet store when she was only six weeks old, already spayed and
descented.  She was from Path Valley Farm.  Jamie died tragically in
September --she was only 20 weeks old.  We returned home after being away
overnight to find that Jamie had eaten hardly any food and was quieter than
usual.  (she seemed fine when we left).  By the next morning we noticed she
was still pretty quiet and all she seemed to want to do is sleep.  For the
next two and a half weeks she was taken to the vet four times to try to
figure out why she wouldn't eat, etc.  At her first trip to the vet he
treated her for a possible respiratory virus from our cats (our cats were
fine), and prescribed Amoxicillin.  Six days later she wasn't any better;
vet checked her abdomen and felt a lump.  Thought it might be an enlarged
spleen or possibly a tumor.  Nothing unusual showed on the x-ray, but it
showed she had an unusual gas problem, and irritated intestinal/stomach
linings.  He prescribed a stronger penicillin (Cefa something?), a few drops
of Milk of Magnesia to soothe and coat her linings, and to feed her a few
drops of Geritol to make sure she's getting her needed vitamins and iron.
Nine days later I took her when I renewed the Rx so they could see how she
was doing (she wasn't doing well at all - and had lost a lot of weight).
This was on Friday of Labor Day weekend.  The desk clerk (& vet's
assistant?) said it appeared as though she was dehydrating and advised us to
put Jamie on Pedialyte and chicken broth every hour and to call Monday if
she wasn't any better (the vet was away).  Jamie died Sunday afternoon.  I
cried like a baby, and for weeks afterward.  I had to know why she died, so
I refrigerated her until the vet's office opened on Monday and had him do a
post-mortem exam.  Later the vet told me the cause of death was an
intestinal obstruction caused by a foam rubber pellet.  We felt terrible,
of course, and blamed ourselves.  My daughter recognized the object as
something from the pocket of her backpack.  Jamie was the sweetest little
thing, and it seemed so unfair.  I can only imagine how she suffered.  I
asked the vet if we had done exploratory surgery when he first felt the lump
would she have survived?  He thinks not, that she was probably too weak even
then.  He also said that the pellet may have been blocked from the x-ray due
to another of her organs hiding it (it was pretty hard to hold her still for
the x-ray), or it may not have shown up in the x-ray anyway.  He said some
things don't, like pantyhose or plastic wrap.  This vet, Dr. Nielsen, has
(or has had) ferrets of his own, and was recommended to me at the pet store,
but I need to know: does this vet sound knowledgeable?  Does anyone think
Jamie had a chance if she had gone to a specialist?  I live in Chenango
County, New York.  Does anyone know of a good ferret vet/specialist in my
area?  Anyone heard of Dr. Nielsen?  I'm afraid resources may be rather
limited in my area, but would appreciate any info.
 
Wish I had the FML when we had Jamie - it would've helped me through a very
difficult, sad time.  I could have shared what was happening, and maybe we
would have been told by someone about the possibility of an intestinal
obstruction before it was too late.  But we didn't have a computer or access
to internet until three months ago.
 
Sorry for this long post!  Hope our story helps someone, and would
appreciate any responses.  I'll be watching the post, and will post again
in 2 or 3 days with info about our current fuzzy and several questions.
We're still pretty much in the dark about basic ferret care.  Thanks so
much for listening and for your advice!
 
Debbie
[Posted in FML issue 2272]