Hey all.  It's a little distressing for me to write today.  My ferret, Edie
(3-4 yr.  MF shelter baby) has been sick for a few days.  I took her to a
recommended vet and after initial xrays, it was believed that she had a
partial blockage that might be fixed with laxatone treatment for 2-3 days.
When she didn't look any better the second day and wasn't even interested in
the laxatone, I took her back to the vet.  They did stool samples (the first
day) and the second day did a barium series to confirm whether or not there
was a blockage and there is no blockage.  The problem is that there is a
rather large void in her abdomen on these xrays.  You can see that her
intestines are all pushed out towards the walls of her abdominal cavity, and
her spleen, although normal sized, is too low in her abdomen.  In the
middle, there's a big black spot on the xrays, nothing, where the vet said
her intestines should run all through there.  She (the vet) said this black
spot could be indicitive of a tumor or several other things, but she
recommended I treat Edie with antibiotics for the vomiting and "runs" and
after about a month, when the enteritis has cleared up, come back & she'll
check and see if the "nothing" has gotten bigger and if we need to do an
ultrasound.  I'm going to try to get the films to take to my vet in San
Antonio when I go back over the holidays, but I wonder if I should wait that
long... Any advice on what it could be or if I should wait?
 
Also, I know the FML'r that posted about the thank-you notes wrote back and
apologized, but I understand what she's saying.  On the other hand, i think
there are a lot of ferret owners who rarely realize what the shelter
operators do for us.  When I have had health problems with my ferrets or
questions, there have been several people who have shelters who have been
very helpful and a great resource.  They also don't hesitate to say to call
anytime and stuff...I don't think I could put a dollar figure on the amount
of help I've gotten from Sharon Schermerhorn (austin shelter) who'll even
call me long distance when I have a problem and takes my calls at any time,
Trish at Ferrets First, who's offered me lots of advice and practical
solutions, Alicia at Ferretwise, who's also offered great advice, Rick and
Candy White in San Antonio, and Noni, who heads the Houston Ferret Club and
is destined to become a shelter operator soon whether she realizes it or
not...This is just the short list of people who've helped me out, and I'm
ashamed to say I've never sent one of them a thank-you note.  Right now, I'm
unemployed and won't start work until January, but after I get a paycheck, I
plan to try to make amends for my previous thoughtlessness.  Don't forget
they do us favors, too!  Thanks, y'all!
 
Wishing everyone a great holiday, please pray for Edie!!!
Later.
Kelly
Reverend Maynard, Edie, Cosette, and Static....
[Posted in FML issue 1782]