We've been preparing for some time for the loss of our first ferret, an 8
year old with insulinoma, now blind and slowing down noticeably.  We also
have a 6 year old with insulinoma (but looking good so far) and two 4 year
olds, one who just had bloodwork done because she seems to have lost a lot
of weight.  But it was the other, Koala, who on Friday when she went for
her distemper vaccine, seemed in the pink of health, who brought us to
the emergency clinic on Sunday, where x-rays revealed extensive pulmonary
edema.  On one side only.  This made the vet suspect trauma, except that
there'd been no trauma that we could think of.  Blood tests revealed that
she was fighting a serious infection of unknown cause.  She made it
through the night on oxygen and antibiotics and to her own vet next day.
But a couple hours later, as they were trying a new treatment, she
collapsed and died in their arms.  Such a shock--we thought she'd outlive
them all.  We are having a necropsy done, but it'll be a while before we
get the results.  So meanwhile, thought I'd ask--anyone else seen
something like this?  It came out of nowhere and wiped her out pretty
fast.  First signs we saw on Sunday were a raspy breathing, lethargy and
difficulty walking.  She'd take a few steps and then do the speedbump bit,
or sometimes topple to the side.  One question I had is whether it could
have been the new Merial vaccine that she had on Friday.  She showed none
of the usual reaction signs then, and it was her first time with this
vaccine, so I don't THINK so, but is it possible that this was some weird
vaccine reaction?  The big concern (apart from whether we could have done
anything different to prevent this) is the possibility of contagion, not
only for our three others, but for the six whose people sat for our guys
a week or two ago.  We'll probably x-ray the weight-loser, but since her
bloodwork came out fine, she doesn't seem to have the same infection her
sister did.  With luck, the necropsy will tell us something in time to
deal with it, if the infection was viral or bacterial, but meanwhile, any
ideas?
 
Sandee, watch for Koala, a petite dark sable.  She doesn't have anyone to
meet her from our house, but she's cheery and outgoing when she's not
sick, so she'll make friends to hang out with while she waits for her
family to join her (one of which may do so regrettably soon, I fear).
 
Missing Koala,
Nancy and the rest of the family
[Posted in FML issue 3622]