This week I got to know my vet very well.  I spent everyday there with
various kiddo's.  I should just turn my apartment into a ferret hospital!
Here's the rundown:
 
Ozzy (4 1/2 MF) has insulinoma and adrenal problems. The prelone I was
giving him for the insulinoma gave him stomach ulcers.  So last weekend Kaye
Pullen and Troy Lyn got frantic phone calls from me about Ozzy vomiting and
having diarhea.  Troy was very helpful and I went out and got a whole bunch
of goodies to hopefully get Ozzy to eat.  He wasn't interested.  On Monday
his vet did some blood tests and pumped him full of fluids and got him to
eat some.  He vomited it all upon arriving home.  So back to the vet he
went.  The rest of the week he spent his days hooked up to an IV and his
evenings home with me.  He still won't eat much hard food, but seems to like
his A/D.  He is on carrafate, flagyl, and amoxycillin, in addition to his
regular prelone.
 
He is already starting to look much better.
 
Aggy,(4 1/2 MF) my husky guy, who is also adrenal, MAY have lymphosarcoma.
His lymph nodes are HUGE.  The vet thinks it may just be a lot of fatty
tissue though.  She said the only way to prove anything would be to remove
the node.  Chemo would be $600!  She also said that lympho doesn't affect
ferrets the same way that it does other animals though.  I'm going to go and
search some old ferret newletters for this stuff.
 
Aggy also has a heart murmur.  She said that ferrets with heart problems may
pant for no reason- which Aggy often does.  She also said that she would
need to run an ultrasound ($90) to see if this was really the problem.  She
also said the the treatment has not been proven yet to have definite
positive affects on ferrets, though it works on other mammals.  Treatment
would be $15/month.
 
Lucy- my Fredonia rescue- was given a clean bill of health- almost.  She too
has a heart murmur.  Quite louder than Aggy's, but I haven't seen any
symptons of problems with her.  The vet also estimates her age at around 4
or 5 years.  I was kind of shocked.  I really thought she was younger.  I
discussed the possibility of having her descented, since it seems she will
spray if you look at her funny sometimes.  She even sprays when she goes to
the bathroom.  The vet thought that wouldn't be a good idea without knowing
what was causing the heart murmur.  The vet was really impressed with Lucy's
demeanor considering what she'd been through in the past.  Lucy was calm
throughout the whole appointment.  She's such a cutie!
 
Winnie, my 6 1/2 month old baby from Kaye Pullen, was about the only one
without serious problems.  Just a bladder infection which is no big deal.
Poor Winnie got spoofed when the vet walked into the room and took a nose
dive into my belly from the examination table while crying and chattering.
I have no idea why she was so scared.
 
All in all, the week only cost me $250 for Ozzy and shots for everyone.  I'm
still deciding what to do about the heart murmurs.  I'm not sure if I'm
going to pursue the lymphosarcoma.  The descenting may be totally out of the
picture.  Just a crazy week.
 
One good thing did come of it.  It seems while at the vet's, Winnie and Ozzy
seem to have settled most of their differences.  Now we just have to work on
getting Lucy to talk to everyone else.  She still likes to scream.
 
Thanks to Kaye and Troy for your help.
 
gracie ( i need another credit card)
aggy    (why does Ozzy get to go out all the time?)
ozzy    (would everyone just quit poking me!)
winnie (i'll be your friend Ozzy)
lucy    (you don't like my perfume?)
[Posted in FML issue 1779]