Molly left us Friday afternoon.  When I came home at noon to check on her
and feed her she had her little head propped up on the cage door as if she
was watching the door (Molly could not see) so she must have been listening
for me.  I took her out of the cage and placed her on another blankie on the
futon while I changed the soiled ones in her cage.  I warmed her recipe and
got her Duphalac for her.  She took the Duphalac (used to pull the ammonia
into the intestines when kidneys aren't working properly - human
prescription medicine for constipation) but just let the recipe drip out of
her mouth.  She raised her head once and looked up at me then laid her head
back down and stretched out.  I kissed her gently on the top of her head,
ran my face along the length of her body and gently petted her from head to
tail.  I told her it was o.k. to leave us.  By the look of her gums and paw
pads she was quite pale so I suspect internal bleeding, which in my
understanding is a gentle way to go, they just get so very tired and then
drift off.  I sat cradling and caressing her for a few minutes then I put
her back in her cage.  When I came home that evening she was gone and had
not moved out of the position she was in when I left.  She must have died
shortly after I left.  It was a blessing for us both that her leaving was
gentle and she saved me from having to make "the decision".
 
DISTEMPER ALERT - LAWRENCE KANSAS
A couple adopted two ferrets from the Lawrence shelter exactly 14 days ago.
They had the ferrets vaccinated the day they got them.  One of the ferrets
became sick 4 days after being adopted.  His eyes and ears were secreting
pus and the vet thought he had an infection so she put him antibiotics.  He
responded immediately to antibiotics but as time progressed he became worse.
Yesterday his head and feet were swollen, eyes swollen shut, paw pads
crusty, and he was loosing hair around the face area.  The vet confirmed by
symptoms and visual diagnosis it was distemper.  The couple took the ferret
back to the shelter and the vet there euthanized him.  They were also told
that the shelter had distemper and they had lost several animals recently.
I will be contacting the shelter this evening to find out if it is distemper
or parvo they have experienced and question them as to why they took the
ferrets (or any other animal for that matter)in the first place if they knew
they had distemper in their facility.  Also they are under the impression
that ferrets "carry" rabies as skunks do and that they are born with rabies.
I have contacted them before regarding the rabies issue and sent them 2 or 3
packets of information, which obviously went directly into the trash.  If
anyone else would like to contact the shelter and "inform" them on the
dangers of distemper and/or the ferret and rabies issues you may write or
call the Lawrence Humane Society Inc, 1805 E 19th Street, Lawrence KS
913-843-6835.  Looks like we can use all the help we can get on this one.
 
Adoptions - I have several listings for ferrets for adoption (3 pairs
actually) so if anyone in our area is experiencing the ferret math virus
please give us a call (913-456-8FFS).
 
Hugs to all. tle
[Posted in FML issue 1876]