Hello all.
 
Last weekend was a terribly difficult weekend.  We almost lost Sadie.  We
said our goodbyes on Friday evening because we thought that she would not
make it through the night.  I got up twice during the night to try and hand
feed her, each time surprised that she was still with us.  You know how a
ferret sleeps so many hours a day, well Sadie was awake for three days
straight.  She was so panicky because she just could not breathe that she
forced herself to stay awake.  She would not curl up and if she did go
under the blankets, her head would always be sticking out and her eyes wide
open.  She would not tolerate being in her cage so we left her out all of
the time and re-routed the exercise time for all of the other ferrets.
There was no conjestion in her lungs (except for one day there was a
little) and it seemed to be that her throat was closing up.  Xrays showed
something there, blocking the air passage but it wasn't an obstacle, it
looked like it could be a growth, closing it shut, like the mystery growth
in her tummy.  We were just getting her blood count sort of back to where
it was supposed to and bingo, something else happens.
 
A while back I think I said that Sadie has lympho but I was mistaken.  She
has insulinoma.  Her blood counts in almost all respects were at dangerous
lows, inspite of the fact that she was bright and perky.  Well last weekend
she wasn't too perky.  Even though she still wanted to yank that watch off
my wrist she was exhausted.  We had her on different medications (the vets
were baffled - nothing she did made sense, Sadie that is) and it was a
relative good few hours and then a bad few hours, and a relative good few
hours, etc.  I got up twice every night for 4 days and faithfully tried to
get some duck soup into her because she wouldn't eat or drink on her own.
Of course she started to get yellow foamy diarrhea too.  I would sit with
her for hours because all she wanted me to do was hold her.  Tues.
afternoon she started to improve and we started her on some different meds.
Her breathing is not 100% but boy is it better.  She doesn't want me to
hold her any more (this is actually a good sign), she is drinking lots, her
poops are getting better (soft but grainy - at least it is the normal
color) and she is eating a little Totally Ferret on her own.  I still hand
feed her duck soup as often as she will take it.  She has already put on a
wee bit of weight (on the weekend she was just skin and bones) and
hopefully she will improve from here on in.  I know her time here is
limited because there is so much wrong with her but we snatched her out of
the clutches of death for a wee while longer.
 
I will keep you posted.
 
Tryntje Miller.
[Posted in FML issue 2466]