Due to a busy schedule and many distractions, it's been a while since I've
posted to the FML, and since I've had the time to read a digest all the way
through, but an incident yesterday (happy ending notwithstanding) motivates
me to do so now.  For those of you who don't know me, I've been a ferret
owner and FML subscriber for 2 years, and read every book on ferrets I can
find.  It scares me that a moment of inattention nearly caused serious harm
to one of my dear ferrets.
 
I had my eldest (2-year old, chocolate sable MF male) ferret, Rocko, on my
shoulder.  He's fairly calm for a ferret, and was quite happy to sit there
and look around.  I went into the kitchen to get something out of the
fridge, and having both hands off him, he unexpectedly chose that moment to
quickly leap off of my shoulder.  I missed seeing him on the way down, but
he evidently struck something, and hit the floor, writhing and hissing.  He
let out a short, loud shriek, worse-sounding than any child in pain that
I've heard.  I was distraught, worried he'd broken his back or crushed
something, and carefully picked him up.  While holding him, he shrieked
again, but wasn't moving frantically and calmed down.  He only seemed dazed
at this point, and gentle touching of him along his body by my fiance
produced no complaints.  Meanwhile, I was on the phone to my vet, who was
closed but referred me to a recommended nearby emergency vet.  By the time I
slipped shoes on and grabbed the carrier, Rocko was bright-eyed and alert,
and wanted to explore.
 
During the ride, he pawed at the carrier door and overturned the litter box,
as per normal, while I somewhat tearfully joked that he seemed his usual
self.  The vet was great, and knew a lot about ferrets, including various
diseases that ferrets are susceptible to and how to scruff them to get them
to be still.  An exam and x-ray later, he checked out as fine, with no
broken bones, no lung or other internal damage, and not even a chipped fang.
The vet cautioned us to see if Rocko could sleep all right, as he said
internal (lung?) damage can show itself by sleeplessness and pacing instead.
The bill was very reasonable, and we went home relieved.  He's been fine,
and we've been spoiling him rotten.  :)
 
Even though he was completely fine, we're glad we took him in - we were
worried that he might have had internal damage, and didn't want something to
happen in the middle of the night, when we might not have known.  Besides,
now we've got a neat 2-view x-ray of him - how in the world they got him to
lie still in a new, unexplored environment, we'll never know - that we can
bring to the regular vet at his next checkup.  :)
 
I guess my reason for posting is to warn that even those who think they're
careful (especially after he'd swallowed a huge rubber band at 6 mo. old and
had expensive surgery) may not think about what danger some things can pose
to their ferrets.  Please be careful if your ferret is riding on your
shoulder or even sitting in your arms, especially over hard floors or near
anything else that could be dangerous.  Keep at least one hand on them at
all times if you're standing up or otherwise wouldn't want them to jump down.
 
[Many thanks to the folks at Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital in
Westchester, IL, for finding a great clinic to refer us to (and being a
wonderful regular vet for our ferrets) and dealing with a somewhat
distraught me, and to the vet and assistant at Emergency Veterinary Services
in Lisle, IL, for taking good care of our little one.]
 
- Denise, plus Gene, and: Rocko (2 yr old chocolate sable male; the quiet
ones are always the troublemakers...), Randall (1.5 yr old sable male),
Spunky (1 yr old silvermitt male), and Regina (8 mo old sable female)
--
Denise Voskuil - [log in to unmask]@eden.com - http://www.mcs.net/~dvoskuil/
Hepcats= http://www.mcs.net/~dvoskuil/hepcats/
    or   http://www.eden.com/hepcats/
"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."
    - Margaret Bonnano
[Posted in FML issue 1611]