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Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:52:35 -0700
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Years ago we had an adorable female silver ferret named Tinder.  She was
always slight in build and very quiet when she slept.  One day, we heard
these high pitched sounds coming from behind the couch that sounded like
snoring.  When we checked out the source, we found it was Tinder and she
was deep in sleep.  We thought her snores were quite adorable.  When you
heard them, it made you go "awwwwwww".  They certainly made it easy for
us to know where she was.
 
One day, we were playing with her and noticed a hard lump at the side of
her neck.  It had been about a month since the snoring started.  An x-ray
was done revealing a large mass that was pushing her trachea up and over
to the left.  Surgery was scheduled and the mass was removed.  It was
described as a grape like cluster of hard globs that had soft centers.
It was suspected that it could have come from an old injury, but no one
could be certain.  Unfortunately, my vet at the time threw the mass out
and I did not get to see it.  (Damn!) Tinder's throat was stuffed with
surgical dissolving sponges and sewed back up.  (Otherwise the space left
would have been massive and would have collapsed.  I was told the spongy
material gave time for the internal tissue to realign itself properly.)
 
Over the course of the next few months, she recovered well and became
snore free.  She was expected to put on more weight, and more weight came
on fast.  By the following year we had to euthanize her because she got
so big.  Her vet misdiagnosed it as kidney failure.  A necropsy revealed
a body filled with nothing but fat instead, from head to toe.  No cause
could ever be determined.
 
I put up a website to show people what she looked like.  Many people had
contacted me about her with similar cases.  Some people found ways to
deal with their situations successfully and I am extremely grateful for
being able to share in their successes.  Euthanizing Tinder is one of my
greatest regrets to date, but I also know that had I dealt with a vet who
was more ferret knowledgeable that I may have still had her today.  One
of the biggest unanswered questions I still carry with me is whether or
not there was a direct correlation between the mass in her throat to the
fat building up in her body.  I'll never know, and I will have to live
with that.  Every situation is a learning experience and I keep having
to tell myself that times were different back then.  Today I have a vet
I can trust and who works well with me.
 
I do not want Tinder to have died in vain... My best advice is to get
those snoring ferrets properly checked out.  Some snoring is not a good
sign.  Do body checks on a regular basis and if you suspect something,
don't hesitate to see a vet.  If you don't feel comfortable with the vet
you have, find another one.
 
I am presently working on a new web site that will have her story up
again.  Once it is completed, I'll repost it to this group.
 
In loving memory of Tinder...
betty and her blur o'fur
for the love of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 4056]

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