Hello all. This is our first note to the list. We live in Minnesota where
ferrets are legal, but the city we live in happens to ban them. Our family
consists of 4 ferrets, 3 cats and 2 people. Nina, our first, was purchased at
a pet store in North Carolina. She was not an MF baby. We fell in love with her
a beautiful siamese little girl. She lived with us for 2 1/2 years, until last
December (exactly a month ago actually), when she died of lymphosarcoma. She
was fine only a few days before she died and when we noticed she was a bit
lethargic, we brought her to the vet. An elevated lymphocyte count and a tumor
seen near her heart via radiograph diagnosed her. We spent the 5 days after her
diagnosis watching her decline rapidly. We went to other doctors for 2nd & 3rd
opinions, fed her with a syringe, gave her drops of homeopathic teas thru eye
droppers and sat with her 24 hours a day as she sunk into a coma. We miss her
terribly. Edith, the 2nd that came to live with us was purchased in Alabama.
She is a red-eyed albino and we think she is an MF baby although the pet store
claimed she was not. Her ear is tatooed but a little differently than most MF
ferrets. Hers is more of a blue line on the front of her ear. They claimed she
was from Colorado. She is the most beautiful ferret ever. She looks like an
angora cat. She has very long plush white hair and a big bushy tail. And, we
have been through quite a lot together. When she was still a baby she suffered
a broken arm and after one cast attempt and another and another we feared her
leg would need to be amputated. Until, finally, an innovative doctor came up
with a cast that wrapped around her entire body. So - for the first few months
of her life our baby was in a virtual body cast. After battling many infections
though 2 years later no one would know she had ever injured her arm. I want you
all to imagine what a ferret in a plastered body cast looks like coming down
the stairs. :-) ! A few months ago, two little ones joined the family. A 3.5
lb rolly polly silver mit boy, Clarence & a little fitch girl, Zoey - NONSTOP
action packed fun. They are definitely MF babies with 2 tatooed dots on
the under side of the ear. And, finally, our most recent member of the family:
an ELEVEN year old grandma ferret who we were able to take in from a rescue
association just a couple of weeks ago. Herein, is why I am sending a note to
all of you knowledgeable people. Grandma apparently suffered near starvation
when her owner went out of town for several days with no one watching her. When
she came to our house 2 weeks ago she weighed about a pound. They told us she
had been tube fed for 30 days after the incident and was just starting to eat
on her own. She is now up to more than 1 1/2 lbs (although still scrawny). Her
tail is almost bald. She is getting so much happier every day and she eats
good. We had complete blood test on her and the vet says she is looking good
but they do suspect kidney disease, and perhaps adrenal tumors because of
the hair loss. She won't eat the K/D prescription food - but LOVES Totally
Ferret. Anyone out there with any experience with OLD ferrets. What can we do
to make her more comfortable. Is alopecia on the tail possibly caused from
malnutrition or stress or old age? or is it pretty indicative of adrenal tumors
? Her skin is very dry - another symptom of adrenal tumors - she WILL NOT eat
linatone - but i have been spraying her with conditioning coat spray and we've
been running the humidifier - any other suggestions to keep her from scratching
?? (There is no hair loss anywhere but the end of her tail). She is also quite
weak - but getting stronger - and we have been building the most unbelievable
ramps and things to allow granny to get around. Any good ideas for making our
house accessible - she is not strong enough to use the stairs or get up on the
bed. Any ideas about where Edith came from? Thanks, Charlene
[Posted in FML issue 1072]