My poor little Baby Face, the abused albino I took in last year, didn't make
it through the illness which recently passed through my house recently.  It
wasn't ECE (the vet said probably the flu) but it was severe diarrhea and
fever.  Max, Baby Face and Gypsy caught it.  Pepper, Cal and Katie (all 1
year or younger) didn't get it at all.  Max and Baby Face had it first and
got over it, Gypsy got it and was over it quickly, then Baby Face seemed to
catch it again.
 
Baby Face never has been terribly strong.  He wasn't fed right as a baby and
didn't grow right.  His face was deformed (marked nose bridge, upturned
nose, upper fangs sticking out ...  making him look like a little imp) and
he had something wrong with his back, probably malformed from lack of food
and exercise.  But he was a sweet and gentle ferret, and before he got sick
his fur had come in lush, thick and pure white.  He was playing with the
others, joining in on the fun, dragging off the dog's pull-toy, pouncing on
anyone (even the big guys).  But he was always wobbly and tired before
everyone else.
 
The vet did an autopsy for me and said that it looked like bacteria had bred
in the liquid stool in his intestines and had gotten out into the rest of
his body.  I felt terribly guilty ...  I guess I should have taken him back
to the vet when he relapsed, but I still had the antibiotics (she'd given me
extra in case the other guys caught it), and he seemed to be doing okay.
Not great, but okay.  I was feeding him duck soup goop, ensure, holding and
petting him a lot, giving him the antibiotics, etc.  But then he seemed to
catch a cold on top of this and before I could get him to the vet, he'd
taken a severe downturn.
 
He was extremely weak.  He could hardly hold his head up.  I took him as
soon as I saw he'd taken a downturn, but by the time I got there his body
temp wouldn't register on the thermomter (it was below 92 degrees).  Again,
I felt guilty, thinking I should have noticed and at least put him on my
waterbed.  :(
 
Anyway, he died yesterday.  The vet gave him something for pain (he seemed
restless and uncomfortable) and he died peacefully on a warm towel at the
vet's.  I feel bad I didn't take pictures of him.  I don't know if I have
anything very good.  I was going to take him to one of those Pet Pictures
days at the local store (where it's $5 to get your pet's picture taken and
the proceeds are donated to a local shelter) but he didn't last that long.
 
He was a good boy and never nipped.  He ate anything within reach and loved
tidbits from your plate.  He enjoyed stealing dog food with the rest of the
guys (poor dog ...  sometimes I forgot to pick up her dish) and while he
wasn't terribly interested in people, he seemed to be happy.
 
*sigh*
 
--Barb--
 
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Barbara Carlson                   Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA
[log in to unmask]                                      (412) 481-5927
 http://www.gsia.cmu.edu/andrew/bcarlson/home.html (under construction)
Thought for the day:
    If "boring women have immaculate homes," I must be very interesting!
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[Posted in FML issue 1543]