>Goose is on a low dose of pred for now and surgery is next Tuesday (so
>keep him in your prayers and send some positive energy his way!
I have had 5 ferrets with many surgeries and procedures between them.
The bad news is for ferrets, surgery is often a fact of life. Their wild
life-spans are often less than 2 years, while thanks to medical advances
and domestic life our babies often last far greater than 5 years. Oh,
and the good news - surgery is often commonplace as long as your doctor
has the experience, and their prognosis is very good. I think that
ferret life-spans will continue to expand, which is good news for all of
us who have found the benefit of having these little spirits as a part
of our family. I believe you are doing the best for your ferret, and
my experience is that after the surgery their quality of life greatly
improves. If you ask people with insolinoma how they feel, they often
feel very tired and sick, and I believe that aggressive treatment of this
disease reduces the time the ferret feels ill, and maximizes the time
they feel like, well, ferrets. Also, is the doctor going to look around
for other problems that he/she can see while in there? It is common for
doctors to find other things in the ferret's belly, and they will handle
the procedure right there. This reduces surgeries and solves future
problems at the source. Common finds are: liver, node, spleen, and
adrenals issues. All these things will be biopsied and then, if
medication is required, treated (one time one of my ferrets was found to
have portal hepatitis - which is easily treatable with antibiotics)...
>I have started feeding him chicken and turkey baby food with A and D
>every 4 hours or so and he eats it like a treat, so that's good.
Don't be afraid to feed as much from your finger as they will take, or
teach them to lick it from a spoon - which saves you some time in a
pinch. Look at the label - turkey or chicken baby food is high in
protein, low in fat with NO carbs (sugar) so is great for any ferret...
When they are sick, be careful to hold the food very close to the front
of their mouths, but slightly away - let them come to you... Sometimes
they will try to take a breath and that can make them choke on food if
you are pressing it to their nose accidentally... Normally, this isn't
an issue, but I have had ferret's sneeze at the strangest times...
>How long did it take your ferret to recover after surgery?
I always create a quite recovery area in my bathroom, making sure the
cabinets are secured and they cannot climb in them or onto anything. I
use paper towels in a corner as their litter box and change it regularly
because I do not want to risk their tummy area to get infected with
regular litter.
Give them a big pile of water and food, and have a blanket they like
wrapped up for them to nap in. They may need you to visit and cuddle
them to sleep, but it is very important to keep them from playing,
especially with other ferrets. Introduce your baby to your ferrets in
supervised visits after a day or so, just so they know their friends are
still around. For major surgeries, I normally keep them isolated for
about 10 days, but VISIT often and leave in a night light.
My doctor gives post-surgery ferrets Torbutrol 1MG/ML in a liquid with
instructions to give .1cc every 6-8 hours as needed for pain for the
first days. This helps them to sleep for the first few days, and keeps
them from frolicking around when they need their sutures to heal.
Ferrets often appear ready to play the first minute they see you, but
don't believe them - they are happy to see you and still need the
recovery time.
>I wish I had never given rasins, ferretvite or Yogis before.
For most ferrets, a small amount of these treats are never much of a
problem (as far as I have heard and experienced). One trick is to make
sure if you give them carbs, you give them adequate turkey or chicken
baby food. For example, if the carbs in the raisins are 2 grams, keep
the carbs to fewer than 30% or so... so you would need enough baby food
to make their diet balance out
[Posted in FML issue 4695]
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