Part of me is wondering why I'm posting this here; guess I just need a
shoulder to cry on.  I adopted my first ferret almost two weeks ago, and
already he's gone.
 
Gus came from a reputable shelter with no real background -- someone left
him at the humane society with nothing but his name.  When I brought him
home, he'd already been checked over by an experienced fert vet just two
days before and was proclaimed in perfect health, probably 2-3 years old.
He gave everyone kisses whenever he could reach your face and was gentle,
mellow, and alert.  I was so worried that there would be a conflict with
our dog or cat but Gus just took to Max, our standard poodle, like they
were best friends (never let them loose near each other, of course).
 
The day after I came home with him, Gus developed diarhea, probably ECE.
We took him to the nearest exotic animal vet, got him medications and
directions for feeding him baby food and for a week and a half I fed
him and gave him his meds twice a day.  He seemed alert and always drank
water on his own and was a healthy weight, so I thought he'd be fine,
eventually ...
 
The poor little guy went downhill suddenly this last Saturday, stopped
drinking water and would have nothing to do with his food, slept all the
time, didn't seem to focus his eyes on anything.  I gave him a bath that
morning -- after all, he was getting a bit messy in the rear -- and he
didn't struggle, didn't even stand, just lay there with his left legs
stretched out straight, unmoving, and occasionally sniffed at the water
like he couldn't imagine what it was.  At that point, I panicked, it
looked like he'd had a stroke.  I called the shelter, and they offered to
bring him to their vet.
 
Monday evening they called me back and said the ECE was the least of Gus's
problems: he had a neurological infection that was rapidly getting worse,
going from paralysis to convulsions, and his eyes were not responsive to
light.  The vet gave out really no hope that he could get through this.
Without much other choice, I gave them permission to euthanize him.
 
Everyone at the shelter was very kind and helpful through all this.  There
was no way to know this would happen and nothing to do to stop it.  I miss
him so badly already, it's terrible, I only knew him for a few days but if
our cat of 10 years died today I could hardly be more upset.  He was such
a sweet, well-behaved little guy, he deserved better.  Sandee, keep an eye
peeled for Gus, he's a big sable with three little brown dots on his pink
nose.  He loves krackly bags and I bet now he's got his appetite back,
he'll like raisins.  I hope he finally gets to play.
 
B.
[Posted in FML issue 3594]