Randy, he'll cope fine without it!  They use THEIR SENSE OF SMELL as their
PRIMARY sense.  'Chopper was partly deaf and later went blind from protein
accumulating in the lenses of her eyes but she still got around fine,
played, and even climbed.  It took her a little while of being tentative to
adjust but them -- zoom, bang, bash "I am a FERRET!" behavior began again.
The times when we've seen them actually get befuddled are when we've had
ones which had to have enormous doses of Furosemide because at those levels
it decreases sense of smell.
 
I HATE those "put the ferret down" letters!!!!  Used to get a LOT of those
about our guys, too, especially Meltdown who was a fighter and lover of
life like Harley is.  Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  (There!  I YELLED
for you; does it help? :-) )  Seriously folks, we've had many times when a
ferret was seriously ill but happy and playing and I'd be having that same
ferret climbing over my shoulder down to my lap for belly tickles AT THE
SAME TIME that I'd be reading letters saying to kill the ferret.  Just
because humans with the same level of disease would be curled up and
garnering sympathy doesn't mean that ferrets stop being individuals who
make the most of life in that same situation.  These critters are TOUGH,
enthusiastic, joyful and resilient!  When people give up before the ferrets
do I wonder where the weakness really resides.
 
Sukie
Seven year old Meetseese who likes the results of her insulinoma and
adrenal operation last year since she's still playing and pigging as well
as having more stamina than anyone else, five year old Warp who was zooming
around so much 24 hours after major surgery (for insulinomae and a newly
discovered very OLD perforation of the intestine) that there was fear for
her stitches, Jumpstart, Ashling, Scooter, and Glueball -- all of whom
exclaim, "Ain't no wimps here!!!!!  We aren't like inferior humans!!!!!"
and who add a "Good Mommy Award!" to Michele who wrote:
>The remarkable thing about ferrets,(besides everything else<G>), is that
>theyhave an incredible ability to bounce back from illness with just a
>little help from us.  The downside is without this nursing care they tend
>to withdraw and lose interst in life.
 
Note from Sukie: Alicia's article in the most recent Modern Ferret teaches
how, too, for newbies to surgery.  (No, NOT you, Randi!)
[Posted in FML issue 2805]