Last summer, Strudel started losing his hair; I naturally suspected
adrenal cancer and took him to a well-known and -respected ferret vet in
my area.  My suspicions were confirmed and he underwent surgery, during
which the vet also found nodules on his pancreas, which he also excised.
Strudel returned to his normal active lifestyle, but suffered from two
bouts of insulinoma-induced drooling, spaciness and lethargy.  The first
of these episodes was only a few weeks after his surgery and we (the vet
and I) felt that perhaps his pancreas was still adjusting to the poking,
prodding and cutting it had suffered and that he needed no more than
observation.
 
The second episode happened less than a month ago; I couldn't bring him
out of it so I took him to the emergency vet overnight and then to my
regular vet.  He recommended another surgery, as this was over a year
since his first surgery.  Two days ago, he was scheduled for this
surgery.  I woke up early to take him in, and discovered him in bad
shape - he was not just "spacey," he appeared to have suffered a
seizure.  My fiancee and I took him in and instructed the to techs get
him stabilized (dextrose IV, heating pad, etc.).
 
I didn't hear anything the rest of the day, so I called and learned that
he had recovered from his episode and the vet had gone ahead with the
surgery.  When I talked to the vet later that evening, he told me that
everything had been fine and Strudel was recovering; I could pick him up
the next day.
 
The next afternoon, I drove down to the vet's office to pick him up.
When I told the tech working the reception desk who I was and what I was
there for, he looked confused and couldn't find his file.  Alarm bells
started going off in my head.  Finally, he asked if I wanted to come into
the back and see him.  Uh-oh.  Why do I need to go in the back?
Shouldn't he be brought to me?
 
I was then informed that "he had taken a turn for the worse." There he
was, unconscious, in his cage and on a heating pad (his temperature was
low).  His breathing was labored and his abdomen appeared distended.  In
addition, he now had a large bruise on his back that wasn't there when I
had brought him in.  The tech on duty informed me that she had come in at
3 p.m. (it was now about 6 p.m.) and he was like this at that time.  She
had force-fed him some wet food and water, but she had ceased doing so
because he did not appear to have a swallow reflex any more.
 
Naturally, I was very alarmed, as he did not respond to my touch, voice
or scent.  The tech related to me that she had tried to call the vet,
but he was out of town and unreachable.  There were two other vets in
the office, but they didn't know anything about ferrets.  I then asked
her to call another area vet.  She did so, but the vet was with a patient
and had to call us back.  In the meantime, I quizzed her, asking about
how long he'd been like this, what his blood glucose level was, etc.  She
had no answers for me and his chart didn't reveal much.
 
Eventually, the second vet called back and consulted with both the tech
and me.  Upon her advice, the tech had a chest x-ray done and gave him
some more pain medication; the second vet recommended that we take him to
the emergency clinic near our home (which is about half an hour away from
the vet's office) because he would need overnight monitoring, and neither
her office nor my vet's office offered that service.
 
We took him right away, speeding the whole time.  He stopped breathing
about 10 minutes into our trip and had passed away by the time we got him
to the emergency clinic.
 
Needless to say, I'm quite upset.  I understand the risks of surgery and
knew when I dropped him off that things could go bad.  Regardless, I have
a problem with the way my vet's office handled Strudel's care.  I don't
know how long he had been unconscious or how long his distended abdomen
and bruise had been visible, but the tech on duty when I got there
clearly knew something was wrong.  What's worse is that, even recognizing
a problem, they were content to do nothing because my vet was out of
town.  It was only my presence that spurred them to call the second vet
(which should have been obvious because the two vets have a working
relationship and cover for each other regularly).
 
To top it all off, the techs seemed very nonchalant about the whole
affair, as if Strudel's condition were routine and not critical at all.
Even to my untrained eye, I could see that he needed immediate care.  I
don't know whether to attribute this to their constant exposure to sick
and dying animals or that they didn't comprehend the serious nature of
his condition.  Either way, I feel like they violated my trust.
 
My question: am I overreacting or am I just blinded by my grief?  I
understand that vets are people, too, and deserve vacations and can't
work 24 hours a day.  But, in my opinion, the staff didn't do enough to
save my baby's life.  At the very least, I feel like they should have
called me, explained the situation and sent us to another vet long before
I arrived to pick him up.  My one comforting thought is that he passed
with us and not in a vet's office.
[Posted in FML issue 4645]