To Diane, who asked about weak hind legs:
 
I have had two ferrets who have suffered from weakness in the back legs as
they got older, and I've had some success with oral steroids.  Yes, the
banned-in-humans kind.  They're banned in humans because they cause liver
damage over time, but by the time your elderly ferret begins to get liver
damage, well, that'll be the least of their worries.  I don't mean to sound
callous, but the steroids have been great when I've had an elderly ferret
that obviously doesn't have a lot of time left, and I'm just trying to
improve their quality of life during their last few months.
 
Otto, a ferret I had some years ago, was fine on carpet, but couldn't
handle linoleum.  This was when he was about 7-1/2.  He would stop at the
edge of the carpet and look wistfully out at the kitchen.  About a week
after I started him on the steroids, he was zooming around the kitchen
with no trouble, and had a great 6 months before he died quietly.
 
Snowy, who just died about a week and a half ago, didn't respond so well.
The steroids helped a little, but it was marginal.  She had been declining
steadily for the last year, and often walked with her back feet in "fists",
suggesting some degenerative neurological damage.  Improving her muscles
therefore didn't accomplish much.  She couldn't poop away from her bedding,
and had trouble keeping herself clean.  She got steadily worse over the
last 3 months, so much so that I kept expecting to find her dead in the
cage.  About all she wanted to do was sleep in my fleece jacket while I
watched TV or sat at the computer.  I found her passed out in the cage the
Thursday morning before last, and in the hour before my vet opened, she
started having seizures.  It was probably insulinoma, but we decided that
letting her go was probably the best thing, considering her overall decline
over the last year.  She's the second ferret that I've had go from no
symptoms to total seizures in a few hours.
 
Anyway, that was overly long and depressing, but that's been my experience
with ferrets and steroids.  The steroids are okay, and no, you don't have
to worry about them suddenly initiating commando raids against the other
pets.
 
-- Joyce
 
Yes, the Ferrets in Art History Page is still up!
http://www.doctorbeer.com
[Posted in FML issue 3348]