I rarely write in on anything, other than when one of my guys goes to
the Bridge, but I too have had mixed results concerning the ferrets. I
have been with ferrets for years and I guess til I take my last breath
I will think of Rosie whenever this subject comes up. Rosie was one of
my little foundlings, she was a beautiful little albino weasel who
loved life and loved to play. Rosie developed adrenal disease so being
new at the game we took her in for surgery. Rosie was only 4 years old
and her only problem was the itching. Hindsight is 20/20 and had I
known I would have put her on something for the itching and left it
alone. Rosie came home after her surgery for only a day before she
crashed and died. I was beyond consoling. I had done this, I had taken
her to Columbia and signed for the surgery that ended her life. I did
the same thing with one of my little guys Hermann Munster. He was
barely a year old when he got sick and the same vet took out his
spleen, he never really got over it. Another surgery followed and
finally after 6 painful, disgusting months my little man, who loved
to lay in the food bowl while eating, passed away. At first I blamed
the vet and believe me it was a very long time before I signed another
thing for surgery. But I have a friend that has been with ferrets as
long as I have and uses the same vet with outstanding results, she will
travel across country if one of her guys need surgery so that this vet
can operate.

On the other hand I had a little girl that was diagnosed with adrenal
cancer and lived several years, lost her fur of course, but was healthy
and happy. About a year before she finally succumbed to her cancer I
allowed a different vet to operate. She allowed me to view and we
discovered that Charity had multiple tumors. We chose to close her up
and take her home. She lived another year before dying in her sleep,
curled up with her sisters.

So I guess my opinion is this take in consideration how old your baby
is and if you think they are uncomfortable or not. Thats what I do. My
older guys Im not going to put through all of that. If its a younger
one I have done the implants etc and I have elected to have surgery
on one, tumor needed debulking. Ultimately you have to decide because,
just like children, you know them better than anyone else. I love all
of mine and its been 5 years since Rosie went to the bridge but when
I think about it I still tear up. You make the decision that you can
live with, cause when its over you are the one that has to deal with
it. Everyone is quick to judge others but I think either choice is
acceptable as long as you are prepared for the outcome.

Sincerely
Kim Roth and the 7 spoiled weasels

[Posted in FML 6867]