Hi I haven't been online for awhile, Myself and my kids tried to get
through our first winter in Reno after liveing in Las Vegas it was a
drastic change for us all.  I brought a number of 24 carat babies with
me when I moved.  all pretty high maintenence.  All did well for the
first three months.

My first to fail was a little girl Babie Bear she had Adrenal disease
and severe Insulinoma, she started loosing function of her back legs and
became incontinent of urine and stool.  I babied her along and fed her
duck soup four to five times a day, one weekend in early March I made the
decision to take her to the Vet to be euthanized she was looking relly
bad and I had to give her Buprenex for pain twice a day but she decided
she wanted to go at home and I found her early one Sat am she had passed
sometime between 4am and 10am.

Everyone else seem to be doing great and I started a letter to our
shelter Vet and Vet tech to let them know how all were doing, I set
the letter aside to finish later and the next morning one of my dearest
and sweetest girls Sahara was not eating her morning soup, something
she lived for so I took her out of the cage to find she was in acute
respiratory distress.  I call the Vet and rushed her in, she was
immediately put into an oxygen tent and Xrays were taken, she was in
Acute Cardiac Failure, both lungs were filled with fluid and her right
lung was collasped, my heart broke andI had to make the decision to have
her euthanized, it appeared she had a big tumor on her heart.  Sahara was
such a special girl, she loved nothing more than to lie on my lap and
sleep, she hated other ferrets and would attack any other ferret that
came near me.  She was a beautiful champagne color and chubby and so
sweet.  There was no indication she was ill until the that day April
27th.  she did have Adrenal Disease but had done very well with Luperon
Injections, I thought she would have so much more time than she did.

Then less than two weeks later Rambo (Bobo) developed diarrhea, I took
him into the vet and he was diagnosed with 4+ Giardia.  He had developed
Insulinoma in Feb this year.  He was started on Amoxicillin on his first
visit before we had the stool sample results.  I had been giving him
Sub-Q fluid twice a day as well as Carafate and Pepcid, he did not
improve.  I returned to the Vet and she even tried Accupuncture which
seemed to help for a couple days then he became worse again.  On May 7th
I had to make the decision to have him euthanized he had deteriorated so
badly.  The Vet was able to palpate an abdominal tumor and it was felt
that he had more going on besides the diarrhea.  Bobo was such a sweet
boy and he loved his cage mates so much, it was how I ended up with him
from the shelte.  He had come to me to be isolated from the other shelter
babies because he had Giardia, he was to only stay with me until his
treatment was complete and then he could be adopted out, he decided
otherwise.  He loved my crew and begged to get in with their cage.  He
bonded right away with my kids and when I returned him to the shelter as
soon as he arrived and was put in a cage he had explosived green slimmy
diarrhea.  CJ said to take him back and we would try to find him a gome
from my place, It of course never happened and when i moved to Reno he
came with me.  Happy just to be with his nine other buddies.  the Vet
said she had never met a ferret with such a sweet disposition.  He was
indeed special guy.  My kids miss him and his antics as I do.

That night feeling really down because in such a short time I had lost
two very special kids I ge everyone thier Duck Soup and meds.  I heard
crying from Banditos cage.  He had eaten most of his soup but left some
and was in his Hammie.  this was very unusual for Bandito.  He ate his
portion and always begged for more.  I took him out of the hammie to find
his abdomen distended and hard.  He had Adrenal and Insulinoma and had an
episode similar before, His bladder was full.  I gave him some Buprenex
and Valium hoping it would relax him enough to urinate.  It failed and he
was in pain, I was up with him all night trying to keep him comfortable
hoping and praying that he had not developed Prostatic Cyst and that the
Vet could fix him and I would not loose another babie, It wasn't to be
the next morning I rushed him to the vet and my greatest fears were
realized, he had blocked off and ruptured his bladder, sadly I had to
have him euthanized on May 8th.

The big sister of Babie Bear, Momma Bear I feared would pass soon after
her sister, certaainly long before the  others I lost would is doing
amazinly well. She is thin, bald and looks pitiful but is full of life
and playful and amazes me every day.

Fuzzy I have had since I first started volunteering at 24 Carat in the
fall of 2004 he is doing well but has started to loose some weight again,
he had Adrenal and Insulinoma.  He is still active and playful and I
hope has a lot more time with me, his sister Frisky developed Insulinoma
this past Feb but is fat and sassy.  I think she will do well for a long
time.  So of the eight I chose to take with me I only have three left.
I lost my sweet Slinky the day before I left for Reno, he had developed
hypoglycemic seizures and was on the highest dose of Pred and his body
condition was so bad it was recommended that euthanizing him was the
kindest thing to do for him.  It broke my heart to loose him, he was so
special to me.  He had rallied so many times but there comes a time when
it just isn't possible to do.

I had hoped to have these precious kids longer but it was not to be.  I
can only hope that their last days with me were happy ones, they were
loved and I do miss each one of them so much.  All my other kids are
doing well.  We are all on vacation right now but are soon to travel back
to Reno.  I want to say Hi to all my friends in Las Vegas, I thought
putting this up on the FML I could let everyone know what is going on
with my crew.

Love to All Joelene & Kids
[Posted in FML issue 5275]