Please forgive me for taking so long to update everyone on little Spot's
condition.  (In case it's been so long no one knows what I am talking
about, Spot was diagnosed with kidney failure in January.)  I am not a
superstitious person by nature, but I am a little bit when it comes to my
little furry kids.  I have been afraid to post good news for fear of
jinxing her.  Anyway, the reader's digest version is, Spot is doing OK.
Not great, but not too bad either, especially since I didn't expect her
to make it thorough February, never mind into April.  Her behavior and
attitude is great.  She seems to get tired a little more quickly than she
used to, but when she plays she does it with gusto.  Her bloodwork had
improved enormously since her week in the hospital.  Her creatinine,
calcium and phosphorus are normal (!), however her urea is still high.  It
is down from the 175 from when she was in the hospital, but up from a low
of 39.  (Normal is about 30.)  We reduced the sub-q fluids to twice a week,
but then went back to every other day, when the urea popped up.  My vet
says that these numbers indicate that her kidneys are no longer failing,
as the creatinine is normal, but there is some reduction in her kidney
function.  We will keep up the every other day fluid regimen for a couple
of weeks, and test her again, but if that doesn't seem to help, he would
like to put her on a low protein diet.  I have a few questions about this.
I looked at the Totally Ferret for older ferrets, hoping the protein would
be low enough to try using it, but unless I'm reading something wrong, it's
only 3% less than the regular TF.  I don't think this will do her much
good.  My vet is recommending a cat diet designed for cats with kidney
problems.  Will this be OK for her?  My other question is a logistical one.
How in the world do you feed one ferret a different diet than the other
two?  The only way I can see to do that perfectly is to keep her caged
separately from the other two, which doesn't thrill me, and doesn't solve
the problem of what to do while I am home, and they have free roam.  Any
thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Also on the "group of ferrets" question, I have to vote for chaos of
ferrets.  I can't imagine a name that would be more fitting.
 
PS I tried to send this post directly to all the people who e-mailed me
with support and good wishes, I'm sorry if I missed anyone.
 
Gail
 
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I'm against testing on animals.  They get all confused and get
all the answers wrong.
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[Posted in FML issue 3012]