I would welcome thoughts on our boy Sam prior to our vet visit Sat. morning
(had to wait for the first available early morning appt. since we have no
ac in the truck).  Sam is an albino we have had for a year.  His previous
owners adopted him from a shelter several years ago and took good care of
him; he showed no health problems.  He came to us when circumstances
required them to spend much less time with their pets.  His age is estimated
at 4-5 yrs.  His physical appearance is great.  His eyesight seems to have
always been poor, and I believe it has been getting worse - no cataracts are
noticeable.  He eats a mixture of Totally Ferret (begun in the spring) and
Iams Kitten.  He is a ferret that generally does not amuse himself; he is
active when the other 2, the cats, or we are playing with him, otherwise he
tends to sleep.  A while back I noticed that he would periodically pause for
a moment when out and about and stand still.  I attributed this to his need
to maintain his bearings due to his poor eyesight.  More recently I have
noticed that he tires more quickly after hard play.  After a recent session
he walked away from the rough and tumble seemingly very tired.  His back
legs gave out for a moment, he lay there then walked away to go to sleep.
He did not want to be touched during this.  I am hesitant to attribute this
to aging since he was not like this say, 6 mos.  ago.  I suspect developing
insulinoma (no other symptoms that I am noticing).  I expect to have a CBC
and a fasting blood glucose run at the vet's.  Other thoughts and
suggestions welcomed.
 
Thanks-
Shelly
(SC Ellis-Blackwell)
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[Posted in FML issue 1999]