You know....it's only the third full week of January, and we've been to the
vet three times on three emergencies with three different ferrets.  UG!  I
should just get a job there, it would be cheaper!
 
Sturmie is doing great!  He was my boy that had the flu, un-diagnosed
Insulinoma and kidney malfunctions.  His stitches came out yesterday and I
think he knows it.  He's much more playful now, willing to climb.
 
Boo, who we rushed in because she had lost 135 grams in body weight since
her last visit in September, is now eating like a horse but is not gaining
any weight back.  We still have about four days of medicine to give her
yet, and then will take her back in a month to re-weigh.
 
Now onto Bailey.  She's my sweet, beautiful old grandma ferret.  She has
had Adrenal Cancer and has Insulinoma.  She and a new baby Maiya got into a
terrible fight the other day, in which Maiya must have kicked her pretty
hard.  When I came home yesterday from work early, I noticed her heaving
and pawing at her mouth, so I let her out and tried to give her some water.
She promptly fell over and didn't move, and when she started gagging again,
she did not stand up to do it.  I picked her up to run for the Nutri-Cal
and I saw her eye.  It had swollen shut, and was producing green discharge.
I ran her into the bathroom, soaking a cotton ball and gently wiped what I
could.  She seemed much more in trouble because of her heaving than
anything.  I called our vet, who I was to see that day anyway to re-weigh
Boo and get Sturmie's stitches out.  I told him of her eye, how that side
of her face looked swollen, and of this severe reaction which she has never
ever had before.  He asked how soon I could get there, instructed me to
make sure she had some of the Nutri-Cal before we came and to haul butt
down there.
 
 I need a much faster car. My Escort just doesn't cut it.
 
We rushed in, and it was apparent that the clinic hadn't opened for the
day.  He was there by himself, and held out his hands for her.  He looked
at her closely and expressed surprise when he saw that her eye was
completely dry.  There was no apparent injury outside the eye, no scratch
mark or bite mark.  He got a strip of orange dye and swabbed her eye to see
if the eye was producing the discharge or the film what we were seeing was
on her eye.  He swabbed her and it looked just like a iridescent rainbow.
He swabbed gently at it and confirmed it was on her eye, not in it.  She
has to take oral anti-biotics twice a day, have her eye swabbed with
another anti-biotic cream three times a day, and a cream pain-killer once a
day.  She will go back in Monday for a recheck.  He explained to us (my
bf, whom has a much faster car, I am so jealous) that when she had gotten
kicked, it had taken some of the layers of her cornea away, and that the
body was trying to combat that and an ulcer had formed.  He expects her to
make a full recovery.  He said if she was not feeling well, she probably
hadn't eaten in awhile which caused her reaction.
 
My poor baby!!!!  *sigh* So far for January, we're already over the $1000
mark and I have five more ferrets!  When we left, I jokingly told him we
would see him next week with some emergency involving another ferret.  He
snickered and told us that there was a period of time where his daughter
was in the emergency room every six months for three years.  He said he was
positive the police were going to show up.  The most memorable incident was
when they were having their kitchen redone, and their huge, heavy stainless
steel refrigerator was up on 2 x 4's.  She opened the door, it off-balanced
it and fell on her.  Now, she had been in Tai Kwan Do (sp?) for about a
year and knew just what to do.  While she was falling, she spun herself
around and landed on her forearms and her shins instead of flat on her
back.  She walked off without a bruise.
 
"However, if that had been me, I would have gone, `Aaaaaaaa!!!!!' and been
squashed like a bug!" he said.  Phil and I, both jacked up from the
emergency, just burst into laughter.
 
Ah yes, nothing like an emergency to bring out the humor in your vet.
 
So, check your babies littles footsies!  Everyone at home had their nails
shortened last night whether they wanted it or not!
[Posted in FML issue 2565]