This is my first posting to the FML, if you don't count the one that may
have been sent when my system went haywire.  (BIG-if you got the first one,
please dump it.)   [It went out yesterday - BIG]
 
I have a female sable, 3 yrs old, Frettchen (German for ferret.) On Sunday,
she was caught in her favorite "illegal" activity, eating rubber.  As I
lost a female cinnamon sable in Oct. due to this, I have tried to be very
diligent, but she snuck past me.  I immediately gave her some hairball med,
and she passed rubber all night.  Monday, she was not eating, and was
lethargic, so I immediately took her to the vet.  She was given Amoxicillin
Susp., 50mg/ml, to take 2x daily.  I was instructed to continue the
hairball meds.  She began having black, tarry BM's on Mon., also.  By Wed,
she had completely quit eating, and would not eat baby food, so she was put
on Science Diet AD.  The first feeding caused vomiting and swelling of the
abdomen.  Her BM's also stopped on Wed.  First thing Thurs.  morning, she
was taken again to the vet, and X-Rayed.  No foreign objects detected.  The
vet gave her an injection of Dexamethasone, hydrated her by injecting water
under her shoulder skin, and hospitalized her for the night.  This AM, the
doctor called and reported that the swelling had gone down, that she had
eaten some, and had had a bowel movement, which looked fairly normal.  I
took her home at five.  I also took home some Dexamethasone/Amoxicillin
mixture.  She was still quite lethargic, and the skin near the hydrated
sites were red and swollen.  The vet felt that this was strange, but not to
worry.  Within 2 hours of getting her home, (3 hrs ago), the injection
sites had begun weeping and bleeding, and she lost a lot of fluid.  Her
nose, gums and tongue turned pale, almost white.  I was able to contact the
vet, and she was at a loss.  She instructed me to keep giving the
antibiotic/anti-imflammatory, and try to get her to eat some Karo syrup and
baby food (which she did); and to keep her warm.  I was also intructed to
clean the wounds.
  What is wrong?  Is it something we've done wrong, or what.  Please help,
as I am afraid that she may not make it through the weekend at this point.
 
Jim Storm
[Posted in FML issue 1200]