Well, here's where we are with Miss Maggie (4 year old, spayed, MF).  I
didn't see any significant improvement in her activity levels or appearance
so we went to the vet yesterday.
 
Her weight (868 grams) is the same as it was in April.  Her eyes have red
circles around them.  We ran a quick blood glucose test and her BG was 61.
She pooped on the table and it was slimy and stinky.  Maggie has not been
in contact with any other animals (other than Butch) since October of last
year.  And naturally because she is Maggie, she bit the vet twice and the
vet tech once.  Mom was spared any nips.  Maggie has a history of biting
with the world at large and the vet in particular.
 
Maggie has always had a coarse and scruffy looking coat.  She did show
improvement for about 8 months but it's gone back to being sparse.  In the
2 1/2 years she's lived with me she has never had a seasonal coat change.
 
About 2 weeks ago I notice she was not pooping very much.  Poopie was
rather small.  She also stopped eating her kibble (The Ferret Store).  She
would eat Bob's Chicken Gravy and Chicken Baby food.  For treats she would
eat Ferretone, Ferretvite, a bit of Foamy Fry or the Chicken N Bones (also
from the Ferret Store).  She refused raisins 50% of the time and would take
a Right Bite Tarter Control treat to be polite but I didn't hear chewing.
 
We reviewed her file and the vet believes that she may have IBD or IBS.
Maggie (and Butch) did contract as case of ECE last fall but Maggie seemed
to recover well and much faster than Butch did.  The vet is leaning toward
biopsy to find out what's going on Maggie is not much of a chewer, she
does groom herself and Butch but not more than other ferrets probably do.
She did pass what I felt was a rather large amount of fur last April,
which I brought with me to the vet at that time.
 
The vet offered alternatives to the biopsy, one of which was the use of
Pred.  While I hesitate to just open her up to poke around I also do not
want to wait and compromise her health either.  Why would Pred be used in
this situation?  Maggie is now on Amoxi Drops #1, 35 ml twice a day and
the ever-popular Flagyll Elixir #1, 35 ml twice a day for the next 10
days.  I wear Flagyll then I get in her I'm sure.
 
This is our first surgery and I am scared out of my mind for us.  What
should I do to prepare us (me, her, Butch) for this?  Maggie and Butch are
"free-roam" ferrets who haven't been caged in 2 of the 2 1/2 years they've
lived with me.  Butch and Maggie have never been apart from each other in
the 4 years they've been together.
 
Any advice (DVM's and ordinary ferret folk alike) would be welcome!  The
biopsy is scheduled for August 8th.
 
Thanks for listening!
Connie, Butch and Maggie
 
PS A variation of this message is also posted to FHL but I have provided
more info here (I'm a bit calmer now!)
[Posted in FML issue 3492]