My poor little rescue is spending the night at the vet's tonight.  She is
down to a pound, skin and bones.  They are running tests and giving her
fluids.  They will tell me what they have learned tomorrow.  I am afraid of
what they will tell me.  I hope it is only a partial blockage that has
taken her appetite.  We have only had her since August 10.  She was very
thin, then.  Her coat improved and she gained a little weight with better
food, but then she lost all she had gained and then some.  She didn't have
an ounce to lose.  My girls were picking on her.  I thought that may have
something to do with it, so I separated them as much as possible.  My
ferrets are free range, so I don't have a cage that is large enough to lock
anyone up in for any length of time.  I have been feeding her by hand for
almost a month, but she still lost weight.  I decided to feed her three
times a day instead of only once, but it may do no good.  I was giving her
9ccs of Ensure, 3ccs of Ferretvite, 3ccs of chicken or turkey and rice baby
food and any pedialite or gatorade she would take, which wasn't much.  She
did eat on her own some, so I thought I was supplementing, but I guess that
was the main source of nutrition, since she lost weight while I was doing
it instead of gaining.  She is a cloth eater and has passed some fairly
recently.  She has been in the office away from the other ferrets for three
weeks while I fed her.  She liked my company as I work, but grew to forget
that only the girls picked on her.  I took her in to bathe her, with all
the other ferrets around.  She cried at anyone who got near her and would
strike out as she cried.  Poor Eddie was her buddy before, but seemed hurt
that she bit him for no reason.  He put up with everything she gave to him
until she calmed down (or tired out) and cuddled up with him.  He's such a
good boy.  He is the only one that gets along with EVERYBODY (ferret wise).
Bailey and Little Bit get tired of Stinky's persistant pouncing and cry at
him.  Oscar picks fights he can't win, then cries about it.  Little Bit
just wants everyone else to know she's in charge.  Everyone likes Eddie,
though.  He's a cuddly lug.  Anyway, Weezer is five years old and I fear we
won't get another out of her.  If it is just a partial blockage, I am happy
because that is probably the easiest thing to fix of all the possibilities.
Other options include (oops, temporary alzymers, the blood sugar thing...
something sarcoma.) or worse.  Her blood sugar was only 30.  The vet said
they like to see it at 80 to 100, so it is really low.  No wonder the poor
thing just sleeps all day.  I am feeling really guilty.  She wasn't in the
best health when we got her, but I thought I was saving her, not just
giving her a different place to die than she was used to.
 
The vet clipped her toenails close to get the blood for the bloodsugar
test.  Weezer bit her.  I was comforting her and she was licking my nose,
when all of a sudden she latched on.  It drew blood and tears.  I cried
involuntarily because it is my nose, but I also cried because it hurt my
feelings.  I have had ferrets for seven years and never had one bite me
like that.  Suddenly, hard, and drawing blood.  But then, I have to
remember that I didn't raise her and that she was hurt and frightened.  The
ones I have raised only bit in play and never very hard.  The two babies
are the hardest biters we have ever had, and again, they only bite in play
and even though it hurt, (they've out grown and been trained out of most of
it) it was just because they didn't know that we aren't as tough skinned as
ferrets.  I'm sorry for rambling on.  I just know that only ferret folks
understand what I'm going through.  I can tell my friends, and they are
sympathetic, but unless you own a ferret, you can't really understand about
the biting, pooping, climbing, leaping, kissing, sickly little animals we
love and worry about so much.  Others don't understand why we put up with
the accomidations we have to make for our little ones, like separating
Weezer and hand feeding her.
 
BTW, I wrote about bed pooping a while ago.  I cleaned the matress and
flipped it, replaced all sheets, steam cleaned the carpet, and no more
accidents (or on purposements) on the bed.  Yea!  I'm so glad I don't have
to kill anyone.  Just kidding of course.  I don't know what I would have
done if they hadn't stopped.  I probably would have had to close my bedroom
off, which I didn't want to do because my husband and I think it is a sign
of love when a furry decides to sleep curled up between us.  We've had as
many as three all piled up and warm on the bed most of the night.  That is
a special joy.  I feel better now, having written this out.  I am still
worried, but I think I can handle it now.  I will let you know what the
vets tell me.  I hope I adopted a ferret for years to come, but if it is
months, weeks, or days, we will give her the best home we can.
 
D
[Posted in FML issue 2481]