>From:    Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
>One of our foster critters got hurt, he got stepped on and it has broken
>his spine.  His spinal cord is still intact.  We have to keep him in a
>small cage to keep his movement down to a minimal until we decide on the
>surgery.  They would put two rods in his back.  Little is only 21/2 years
>old.  How would I keep him from wanting to run and play with his buddy
>that he just loves and his buddy loves him two?  My vet tells me that this
>type of back surgery is a painful one.  What do I do?  Let him suffer the
>pain for a longer life or do I do the right thing and end his suffering
>and the pain?
 
Margaret,
 
I recently went threw a similar incedent with my newest ferret.  She
suffered a compound fracture to her right forward paw.  Of course it wasn't
nearly as bad a spinal problem that your ferret has experianced.  Teh over
riding reason I went for surgery was that she wanted to live.  She was
still jumping and bouncing around with her arm in such condition that I
knew she wanted me to do what ever it took so she could have as normal a
life as I could give her (My Vet even concurred at her energy and her
willingness to deal with the problem).  She had to spend two months in a
very small cage to keep from redamaging her leg (this wasn't fun either).
My costs to date are about 1.5k and I'm glad Idid it, but I was lucky that
I could get a loan from relitives (that I've since repayed).  Now that
she's healed upp she doesn't bounce like she used to, but she's still
enjoying life.
 
Toodles,
Jeff
[Posted in FML issue 3233]