Hey everyone,
It's been so long since I've posted about my kids...
I have two MF ferrets right now, Joey & Sarah. Joey is a 5-year-old
chocolate and Sarah is going to be 4 in October and she's a silver mitt.
Sarah is only 1 pound or so and is a hyper, feet-biting, healthy little
princess.
Joey, on the other hand, is a bundle of problems :( I adopted him from
the Greater Chicago Ferret Association (www.gcfa.com) in July of 2000.
In fall of 2001 he had one of his adrenal glands removed. Since then
he's had hind-end weakness which has grown progressively worse, but seems
to be neurological, not insulinomic, in origin. He also developed a
tumor over his prepuce (penis) a little over a year ago and that's grown
quite a bit in the last year. We've been keeping an eye on it as of late
because we were concerned it would start affecting his ability to
urinate.
Recently, we brought Joey to Dr. Nye at Midwest Bird & Exotic Animal
Hospital to evaluate the tumor for surgery. He did some x-rays and found
an enlarged heart, which could be hindering the blood flow to his lower
extremities. We decided to hold off on surgery because not only is it a
delicate procedure, but he also has other health concerns which could
cause complications during surgery.
Now, his tumor is starting to bleed. His stools look like the "black and
tarry" that no one ever wants to see for themselves. Since I've never
seen "black and tarry" stools, I don't know if this is the real deal. I
really hope it's not. I'm going to call the vet today and see if I can
get Joey in this evening or this weekend, but I figured I'd look to you
guys for advice.
You see, this is my first ferret to ever be on death's door. My
ex-fiance' has our original 4 ferrets, and they are all hanging in there.
Miya is the oldest at age 5 1/2. I don't know if I'm prepared to lose my
baby!! Joey is a sweetheart - he gives kisses NONSTOP (if he had his
way, at least), loves to cuddle, and has the sweetest face!! He doesn't
deserve all these problems...then again NO ferret deserves anything like
this. I know I've read of ferrets facing far worse (especially rescues
and the like) but this is MY FERRET and it's devastating.
Here are some pics...some were taken last summer in Seattle.
http://neenerbean.com/pics/AmyJoey.jpg
http://neenerbean.com/pics/AmyKids.jpg
http://neenerbean.com/pics/KissesforAmy.jpg
http://neenerbean.com/joeycage.jpg
http://neenerbean.com/joeysleep.jpg
He looks so much better back then. Now he's kinda scrawny, but with a
HUGE spleen and a tumor, his abdomen is kind of misshapen :(
So that about wraps it up...I hope everyone's kids are doing well and for
those who have recently lost their babies - my thoughts are with you...
Amy
[Posted in FML issue 4269]
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