It is almost 10 pm on Saturday and I just got home from the vets.  Syd, my
under 2 albino boy who had the huge tumor that turned out to be adrenal
developed more problems today.
 
Syd's followup ultrasound almost 2 weeks ago showed 3 spots, 2 of which we
were hoping would be scar tissue.  He has been doing pretty well, back to
his trouble making self!  But the past few days he has tired a little
quicker.  This morning I noticed he was shedding like crazy (he blew his
coat and had a thick winter coat).  Then this evening I heard him making a
noise similar to a cat trying to cough up a hairball.  When I picked him
up, his heart was racing and you could feel how hard his breathing was.
 
We went to Dr. Anna Edling's vet hospital, they provide 24 hour emergency
care.  The vet on duty spoke with Anna on the phone, I ruled out a ferret
flu or cold, been through both and this was NOT either.  I doubted an
obstruction unless he had some hair caught in his throat from his sudden
shed.  They did a full body xray to get an idea of what was going on.  What
we saw was a chest full of fluid, so much fluid that you could barely make
out the lungs or heart.  You cannot tell if the heart is enlarged because
of the fluid.
 
Syd laid in my arms for more than an hour barely stirring (he has never
cuddled for more than a few minutes).  He is to a point of almost
lethargic, but he did eat some food (gotta remember though this is a
ferret that would eat if his mouth was wired shut!).
 
He is staying at the vets, they are trying intramuscular injected lasix to
relieve the fluid.  That is not real hopeful, but they want to reduce the
fluid enough to determine where the organs are so they can tap the chest.
At this point, they would be going blind, which could be very dangerous.
They are gonna try tapping his chest later tonight if the lasix does not
help to drain the fluids substantially.
 
We are not holding out much hope for Syd to completely recover, because we
do not know what the cause is and on top of that problem he has the return
of the cancer.  We will decide tomorrow what the point is that we need to
stop.  I don't want to make him suffer to make me feel better.
 
Jen
[Posted in FML issue 2965]