Hi.  I am very new to the FML and just wanted to share an experience of mine
from just last week.  My ferret's name is Buddy and he is about four and a
half years old.  Well about two months ago he started to lose his hair.  So
I took him into the vet and he was diagnosed with a fungal infection and i
was supposed to bath him in medicated shampoo once a week.  Well it got to
the point that he was almost hairless except for his head and neck, legs,
and behind his rear legs.  So last Tuesday I took him back and he was
diagnosed with an adrenal tumor.  So on Thurday he went in to have it
removed at 7:30 in the morning.  The vet then informs that his condition was
worse because the tumor was on the left side and could be growing into a
vein, which would make it unoperable and would force the vet to put him to
sleep.  My heart sank, because he had already commented on how large the
tumor was.  An hour and a half later, I got a phone call to tell me that the
tumor had been growing into this vein (the vena caffe???) and the vet had
almost decided to give up, but then found a way to get around it, and thus,
buddy is recovering now.  The vet said the tumor was about 4cm wide, and
also said that the largest recorded tumor in ferrets was on around 3cm.
Buddy also had a small tumor on the right side that was removed at the same
time.
 
Now, not even a week later, he is already growing hair back.  He is like a
peach.  He is active and eats normally, but sleeps a little more than
usuall.  The vet also had me keep a warm bottle of water with him for the
first few days to avoid hypothermia, which it sounds like somebody almost
had that problem this weekend.
 
Buddy got internal stitches, but there is a place near the surgery site that
looks like a bruise that is getting very dry.  I asked my vet this morning
if that is bad, and he said that it will get drier and eventually fall out
leaving a hole which will need to be stapled?  If anyone knows about this, I
would really like some info.  This sounds strange to me and I was never
informed about it beforehand.
 
Talkatchalater
Erik and Buddy
[Posted in FML issue 1745]