Sat. morning I received a call about a sick ferret.  The owner's a/c had
been out for two days, Slim was vomiting, lethargic and couldn't use his
back legs.  I assumed heat prostration, suggested they bring Slim and leave
him with me till their a/c was fixed.
 
Slim looked near death when they arrived.  I suggested they get him to a
vet asap but they said they couldn't afford it so I offered to do what I
could here.  Slim sounded as if he had pneumonia or an upper respiratory
infection.  Or so I thought at first.  Through the day and night I gave him
fluids every 2-3 hours without even getting a "pouch".  He did seem to perk
up a little after fluids and he'd eat a little soup frequently but would
choke and the gurgling/rumbling sounds coming from his throat, chest and
tummy made me suspicious of a hairball.  By Sunday afternoon, he was really
struggling to swallow so I took him to the vet.  Besides obvious adrenal,
dehydration, anemia, a cyst on his prostate, probable insulinoma, and
probable cardiomyopathy, x-rays revealed Megaesophagus.  We scheduled an
endescope for Wednesday and Dr. Rossi gave me pain injections for him and
for my little old lady Babs who had lymphoma and was rapidly going
downhill.  The pain injections didn't help Slim very much and he had a
horrible night.
 
Sadly, we made the decision to let Slim and Babs go to the bridge.
 
Slim had been left with the mom after the daughter moved out.  His third
home in his short three years.  His diet had been Purina One for the last
eight months.  Who knows what before that but he should have been a big
ferret and was from a breeder in Washington state.  A young son had fed
Slim chicken bones and had also thrown Slim against a wall.  There's no
question Slim's mom loved him and she's very distraught and feeling very
guilty for not bothering to learn about ferrets.  Seems no one in Slim's
life had either.
 
Loving your pet is not enough.  If you take on the responsibility of a pet,
it's a lifetime commitment and you need to learn as much as possible about
proper care, nutrition and health issues.  Loving your pet includes all
these things and more.  Even with a little knowledge, some of the illnesses
with Slim would have been recognized.
 
It was hard enough to lose my Babs at 8 1/2 years old but I know she's had
a healthy, wonderful life, lots of love and the best of care.  It's harder
to lose a young one that didn't have the proper care and love he deserved.
[Posted in FML issue 3053]