Hi, everyone.  I'm looking for some information and advice about Quincy,
the oldest of my 4 ferrets.  She's 2 months away from her eighth birthday,
and at this point, I'm really not sure she's going to make it that long.
She's had surgery for adrenal tumors (twice) and insulinoma in the last
2.5 years.  Her most recent surgery was in December 1999, and she seemed
to have recovered nicely from it.  Her energy level increased after the
surgery, then started to drop again about 3 weeks ago, and we made an
appointment with our regular vet for a checkup.  She seemed fine otherwise,
but we scheduled bloodwork to see if her insulinoma was coming back again.
Our vet was going out of town, so the bloodwork was scheduled for next
Monday (first day back in the office).
 
Then this past Tuesday night, we came home and found her very lethargic.
It was obvious that she hadn't eaten much all day, so my husband fed her
some chicken gravy.  She improved a little, and the next day seemed to
improve some more.  Thursday morning, she had dark brown diarrhea, and
within a couple of hours, she lost control of her hind legs.  Off to the
"emergency back-up vet" we went.  (Note: we didn't rush her to the vet
immediately on Tuesday because my husband feels *very* strongly about not
wanting her to be poked and prodded when it is avoidable.  She is also
blind, and we don't want her stressed out.  When she improved, we thought
it wouldn't be necessary to take her.)
 
Quincy stayed with the vet on Thursday, and went home with the vet Thursday
night.  She was dehydrated, so she received sub-q fluids; the vet also took
X-rays and ran blood tests.  When I picked her up on Friday, this is what
the vet told me:
 
- Quincy has an enlarged heart (guessing cardiomyopathy) , but doesn't
  appear to have any fluid in or around her lungs at this point.  She
  schedule for an ultrasound on Monday.
 
- Her blood glucose level was actually a little higher than normal
  (133); the vet attributed that to stress.  Does that sound reasonable?
 
- There is a small, dark purple lump on one of Quincy's ears, and another
  on one of her toes.  The vet thinks these lumps may be a sign of
  something (possibly some type of cancer) going on with the spleen.
  She has had them for at least a year.
 
- Quincy is anemic; the vet described the condition as being
  "non-responsive." I was bursting into tears at that point, and didn't
  think to ask exactly what she meant by that.  Does anyone have any ideas
  about that?  She also mentioned that Quincy's spleen (which is quite
  large) may be causing her to be anemic.
 
Quincy is at home with us now, and she's still lethargic.  She still can't
use her hind legs; although she wants to move around, she really can't do
it very well.  She's not making it to her newspapers, so she's peeing and
pooping in her bed.  At least some of the time, she knows she has to go,
but she just can't get to the papers fast enough.  She eats her chicken
gravy (mixed with pedialyte), but she doesn't want her kibble, and she
doesn't drink unless we offer her water in a glass or bowl.  (She has both
a water dish and bottle in her cage right beside her sleeping bag, but I
don't think she drinks from them.) The only drug she's on at the moment is
chloramphenicol (150 mg/5 ml, 0.57 cc twice a day).  In general, she's not
a happy ferret right now.
 
I guess what I'm looking for is some idea of whether there's any hope of
her condition improving -- such as regaining some use of her hind legs, or
more energy or strength.  I know she's an old ferret, and I'm not expecting
miracles.  But I don't want her to be miserable either.
 
Sorry this is so long.  We'd be grateful for any advice or suggestions
anyone can offer.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Jennifer
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Jennifer McCaskill
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[Posted in FML issue 3029]