I posted on Thursday about how good Lily's blood work looked on Wednesday.
Lily is an albino, MF, 3 1/2, and has liver disease.  We go in for blood
work every two months.
 
Well, maybe I'm superstitious but I think I spoke too soon.  On Friday when
I got home, she was the most pitiful little thing you had ever seen.  She
would go about three steps at the time and lie down.  The clincher was when
I picked her up, wrapped her in my T-shirt and sat with her in the rocking
chair.  She snuggled up and went to sleep.  THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!!  She
usually is squirming to get down.
 
At this point, I went tearing back into town to the vet.  He said that she
was dehydrated and he wanted to keep her over night.  Even though we had
just run blood work on Wednesday, he wanted to run it again to eliminate a
liver problem.  We talked about intestinal blockage which we both highly
suspected.  With tears in my eyes, I left her there all by herself.  I
called first thing Saturday morning and they said she was ready to be picked
up.  Well, lo and behold, it was an intestinal blockage, a tiny piece of
what looked like black foam rubber.  It was no larger than about 1/4 the
size of a dime.  She had been sick during the night so the vet wasn't sure
which end it came out but there it was.  I have to give her Laxatone every
day for a week to get any remaining bits out.
 
On Friday night while she was gone, I decided to vaccuum my house thinking
that would be a good way to find little bits of stuff.  I was convinced that
it was a blockage.  I also didn't want to disturb her with the vaccuum if
she was still feeling bad on Saturday.  I didn't see a thing.  After
thinking and thinking about it, I now think that she got it out of one of my
shoes.  She plays with them all the time and most shoes have some sort of
foam padding inside of them.
 
When I picked her up it was like night and day.  She was squirming and back
to her normal self.  She slowed down a little bit a time or two on Saturday
and Sunday but then perked back up.  Luckily, we have a vet emergency clinic
(in which my vets participate) so I knew I could call them if necessary.
 
After having ferrets for four years, I guess I've been fortunate this hasn't
happened before.  I was amazed at how small a piece of something can block
them up.
 
Haven't I read on the FML that some of you routinely give your ferrets
Laxatone??  How often?  I thought maybe 1/2" once a week might be good.
Also, when I give it (or Nutri-cal) to them, I squeeze out what I need, add
a tiny bit of water, and put it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to
dissolve it.  I then give it to them with a small syringe after it cools.
This seems to work best.  Any other suggestions??  I've yet to find an
"easy" way to administer medications, vitamins, etc.  It's easy for a day or
two but then they figure it out and start fighting it.
 
Thanks for all your help.
 
  Katharine (mom)
  Lily (Boy, that little thing sure did hurt but I feel a lot better now)
  Lany (I sure did miss Lily when she spent the night away from home)
[Posted in FML issue 1895]