I had to take Cujo to a vet to have his prostatic cyst aspirated tonight
(Monday).  Over the last couple of weeks, I thought it was getting a little
bigger when I would check him.  I checked him about 5 pm and decided it
needed drained.  Since our regular ferret vet, Dr. Shaffer, is over 40
miles away (it would seem like 80 in Orlando's evening rush hour), I called
an animal hospital run by two vets who graduated with Dr. Shaffer.  They
are only about 10 miles away.  This procedure is not that complicated.  It
consists of pushing a needle in through the skin and the cyst, and drawing
off the infected fluid in it.  Knowing that they can call on Dr. Shaffer if
needed makes me feel OK about taking Cujo to them.  And, they are open
until 6 pm.
 
We arrived about 20 to 6 and left at 6 pm.  Cost for the procedure was
$23.50.  Cujo is on Lysodren, Eulexen and Orbax (antibiotic).  We all know
that he cannot live forever on antibiotics, but the cyst is inoperable, so
we do what we can.  He last had the cyst aspirated in June.  Until it
becomes something that has to be done a lot oftener, we can live with that.
The main drawback is that there is always the chance that some of the fluid
could get between the cyst and skin and cause perotinitis, just like having
your gall bladder or appendix burst.  So far, we have been lucky and have
been able to find something to help him each time he has something go
wrong.
 
We take it a day at a time, knowing he may may have many days or few days
left.  He is happy.  He does not appear to be in pain even when the cyst
fills up.  He just goes pee oftener, as it pushes on his bladder and cuts
down on the volume it can hold.  He bounces around, dooks, wrestles and
chews on a cheweasle occasionally.
 
Such tender little critters.  So much love.  So much joy.
 
Charlie, Ag, Donna, Cujo, Bandit, Snowball and Valentine
[Posted in FML issue 2460]