Sobriety is a very lovable male albino that I rescued from a shelter back in
May.  His former owner was an alcoholic who had tried to go sober and
failed.  He left the door open and Sobriety took a walk over to the
neighbor's house.  Thankfully, the neighbor took him to a ferret shelter. (I
also adopted his roomate from the shelter) The owner never bothered to claim
him.
 
Though I have had him only 5 months, I have become very attached to him.  He
has recently developed liver disease and also has an adrenal tumor. He went
through some terrible bouts with projectile diarrhea despite all the
antidiarrheal medication he was on.  He stopped eating his own food and now
is being handfed chicken babyfood, nutrical, and Special Care.  Right now,
he is not able to undergo adrenal surgery because of the liver problem.  My
vet feels that he is too weak.  He goes for another blood test in 2 weeks
and I will find out then if he has progressive liver disease.  If so, we
were told we will eventually have to put him to sleep.  If not, there is a
possibility of being able to remove the adrenal tumor (or gland, if
necessary)  I am trying to remain hopeful.
 
According to the shelter woman, Sobriety loves beer.  It is very likely that
his former owner gave him alcohol.  I don't know for a fact that this is the
cause of his liver troubles but my vet said that it is a possibility.  I am
begging all owners out there who think it is "cute" to feed alcohol to
animals not to do it.  It is not so cute when you are awake all night long
with your poor buddy sleeping next to you because you are afraid he will not
make it through the night.  It is also not cute when you are scrubbing
diarrhea out of your carpets. It breaks my heart to look at his little face
and I wonder how someone could not have thought about the effects that the
alcohol may have on him.  So, if you are thinking of giving your ferret a
nice treat --give him a raisin, not alcohol.
 
We will know more about what is to come when we get the blood tests in a
couple weeks.
 
Julie Paulauskas and The Fuzz Factory--Misty, Charity, and Sobriety.
[Posted in FML issue 1327]