Hi everyone,
 
Most of you probably don't know me...I've been on the list for about a year
and a half, mostly as a lurker.  But, and I know this sounds selfish, I need
help and good thoughts now.
 
I can't believe I'm sitting here writing this...I didn't expect to have to
for another couple of years; and it hurts so much...I just got off the phone
with my vet, and I feel like I'm in shock.
 
My baby, a 1 1/2 year old male ferret, is very sick.  About two weeks ago,
he went to the vet for his annual distemper and rabies shots.  A couple of
days later, he started doing something strange that he's never done before -
the best way I could describe it is dry-heaving.  He would wake up from a
nap, go into the corner of his cage, and his sides would start convulsing,
puffing out, as if he were about to throw up; but nothing would come out.
Other than that, he was acting the same as he always has {I mean, as
recently as a few days ago, he was running around the room, taunting our dog
by pulling her favorite squeaky toy under the couch where she can't reach
it.}.  A day or so later, I noticed he wasn't eating or drinking as much as
he normally does.  I took him to the vet's again, and they did some blood
work.  Now that the results are in, he's back at vet, very sick.  Something
is definitely wrong with his liver, though we're not sure what yet.  My vet
says the most common cause of liver problems in ferrets is cancer :< But
right now, my baby is not stable enough for a biopsy.  They're force-feeding
him, and giving him liquids and..this part of it is so hard for me to say..
*hoping* that they'll get him back on his feet enough so that they'll be
able to do a biopsy.  The vet gave me a list of things it could be other
than liver cancer, and they are
 
1)chronic active hepatitis
2)hepatic lipidosis
3)copper toxicosis
4)chronic GI disease
5)heartworm migration into the liver
 
What's making this even harder to accept is that there has been an
incredible run of animal bad luck around me in the last month.  My SO had
two cats, siamese..  One was 11, one was 13... They've both died in the last
month; the diagnosis for the 11 year old was kidney failure, the 13 year old
was feline leukemia virus.  We were away for a few days during the holidays,
and though we tried, we couldn't find a hotel/motel that would allow my SO's
2 year old black lab to stay with us.  She ended up going to a kennel, and
came out with what was basically kennel cough.  Just to add another factor
into the equation, we moved to a new house in October {all of the above
problems happened in the last 4 weeks}.  One event was unfortunate, the
second made everything suspicious; now with this third {my ferret}, it's
getting absolutely ridiculous.  We're feeling it's GOT to be more than just
coincidence.  If anyone out there know of ANYTHING that could possibly be
causing all of this, *please* let me know.  Even if there's nothing, could
you please give me an idea about liver disease in ferrets; how common it is,
what are the symptoms, what can be done, etc.  Any help would be greatly
appreciated, even if it's just thoughts or hopes for my little guy.  :~<
 
Thank you,
Jennifer
{C'mon, Dare.. I know you can make it!!}
[Posted in FML issue 2200]