Hello,
 
I'm not really sure what I am looking for, just a sounding board I guess.
I'm just sort of grasping at ropes here and thought that perhaps others
have had this situation & can advise me as to how they dealt with it?
I'm afraid that the time for my Buddy to go is near, but I can't tell if
he is in pain or not & unless he is I can't let him go.
 
My ferret Buddy is 6 1/2 years old.  He has had IBD for the whole time I
have had him (I adopted him at 4 years) and up until recently he was on
1/4 tablet Predisone every other day & 1cc Immuran every three days.
That seemed to keep him healthy & fairly active.  He was also previously
on different sets of Amoxidrops, Baytril, Carafate & Metronidazole (I
don't know if that is the same as Metronidazole Benzoate or just a
derivative of it).
 
However he has taken a turn for the worse.  He has lost some strength in
his back legs.  One visit to the emergency room was because he collapsed
& was pulling himself along with his hind legs.  Another was because he
was vomiting.  Numerous sonograms have revealed a non-operable cyst in
his liver as well as either pancreatitis or a type of cancer in his
pancreas (not insulinoma).
 
This is an on-going problem, two months ago he had exploratory surgery
for what the doctors believed was a blockage after looking at his x-rays,
however they did not find anything.  That was when he was put on pred &
immuran.
 
He is now on Metronidazole Benzoate .2cc two times a day, Pepcid .05cc
once a day and Sucralfate .25cc two times a day.  He will no longer eat
the Carnivore Care that I am supposed to give him 2-3 times a day as a
supplement.  He is still eating & drinking normally & has not lost any
weight.
 
He came back after being in the hospital for three days on the 25th.  I
am supposed to take him back for another sonogram to see if he is
responding to the medicine in 28 days.
 
However giving him medicine is getting impossible.  I have tried putting
it in the Carnivore Care (when he was eating it) and putting it in
ferretone, but he just refuses.  He starts whimpering when I pick him up
to give him medicine & fights me every step of the way.  I now require
help to hold him as he is breaking out of his scruff & acting wild.
 
He has also started urinating & pooping on me every time I give him the
medicine, even if I have made sure he has used the litter box before I
started.  This bothers me because I don't know if it is a response to
pain or just not wanting to take his medicine.
 
Is there anyway to tell if he is in pain?  I want to keep him alive &
with me as long as possible, but not if his quality of life is suffering.
 
Another factor that I am dealing with is that his sister adores him &
follows him around everywhere.  She took the death of her two other cage
mates in previous years hard & I don't think that she would live very
long without her brother.  She hates all other ferrets and has all the
time I have had her, so she will only have me, but I am out of the house
4 days a week 12 hours at a time for work.  They are separated from my
other ferrets since she is so violent with them.
 
While he was in the hospital, she barely ate or drank & would either run
all over my apartment looking for him or just stay in one place on the
floor (not in a sleep sack or other bedding).  I had to hand feed her to
make sure she was ok.
 
Does anyone have any ideas what I can do, either to give him medicine, to
make him more comfortable, or to tell if he is in pain?  Right now he his
scampering around & seems fine except his footing isn't as sure as it
used to be.
 
Also any ideas on treatment that I could run past his vet would really
be helpful.  If nothing else, thanks for letting me "vent".
 
Thanks,
Anna
[Posted in FML issue 5359]