I received a phone call sunday night - a woman wanted to release a ferret
to the shelter - she said she thought it was sick and couldn't afford the
vet bills.  I asked her if the ferret was really ill and needed immediate
care or if he was just not 100%.  She said he wasn't that sick - and I
arranged for her to drop the ferret off at my vet clinic for care.
 
I had to go to the vet anyway that night for Diana's chemo treatment -
and when I got there the whole staff was up in arms!  The woman dropped
him off (he was a christmas present) and blithely told them that she was
on the way to the SPCA for another fuzzy friend!
 
This little boy (he's only 8 weeks old!) was emaciated, lethargic,
dehydrated and having neurological tremors on his head/neck.  My vet also
palpated a very swollen and abnormal kidney and personally expressed
doubts that the poor little one would make it.  Xrays showed a normal
spinal column but not much else - he had so little body fat that the
xrays were difficult to read as there was no contrast..  I had to try
and the vet put it in IV catheter and began running tests.  His WC was
24,000; reds/PCV were low.  Alb was high.  He also started him on
antibiotics and iron supplements.  He weighed only 340 grams (thats
just under 12 ounces)!
 
The previous owners called me monday night and told me "oh I forgot - he
had 2 seizures sunday night and we thought he was gonna die"!
 
Poor little one three days later still couldn't walk.  He rolls and swims
from one side of the incubator to the other - but has normal stools and
urine.  He eats and drinks on his own.  He has slowly improved over the
past few days and the vet removed his catheter thursday night.  We had
suspected bacterial meningitis and so started a 2nd antibiotic -
chloramphenicol on wednesday.  It is an effective and broad spectrum
antibiotic - and also called for in cases of meningitis.
 
His second CBC showed that the WC dropped to 10,000 and the reds/PCV
remained steady.  Kidney and liver values were normal.
 
Friday the vet is preparing to run another CBC to monitor his WC and
reds/PCV.  If the whites are down more and reds continued to improve,
he can come home to the shelter saturday.  He was actually as of friday
morning actually sternal (sitting up on his chest) in the incubator!
His kidney that was so swollen has returned almost to normal size and
palpation causes him no discomfort as it did before.  Because of this,
my vet is leaning now more towards an ingested toxin than bacterial
meningitis.  Since he was a christmas baby, Pointsettias and mistletoe
top the list of possible poisons.  He has some mobility and the
neurological tremors in his head have lessened somewhat - but we
understand that they may be permanent.
 
This poor 8 week old ferret has been at the vet clinic for 5 days because
of carelessness..and the shelter (and the ferret) pay.  Our vet bill on
just this one little guy was over $700 thursday..but I won't scrimp on
his care just because of the high bill...he deserves every opportunity
to recover.  This has been a weeklong struggle for both myself and Kodo
the ferret..every day I struggled with the decision - keep trying or put
him down...I am glad that I gave this brave little boy the chance to get
better...
 
He should come home Saturday - and we will start his therapy then so that
he might walk normally and be able to play.
 
I'm dismayed at the lack of care he received in his previous home and the
short length of time they had him and almost killed him...but at the same
time I am glad that I was able to take him in and get him the care he
needed...
 
Lisa Leidig, Head Ferret
Shelter Wench in good standing
The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea"
www.ferrethaven.org
[Posted in FML issue 4388]