Hi. It has taken a while to get used to Frit being gone and
also to get the final autopsy results. (I still have not cleaned
out her last batch of antibiotics in the fridge -- just can't
bring myself to do it yet.) She did have both lymphosarcoma and
insulinoma.
Having her survive for 21 weeks and actually maintain weight
and hydration was a real miracle; she was just over 6 years 8
months when we lost her.
Between the insulinoma tumor in her pancreas and the lympho
attacking her liver she finally went into insulin shock that even
35 cc of injected dextrose solution could not stop. Although it
was possible that a more concentrated large injection may has
brought the bout under control she had at that point been in
shock with seizures 3 times in less than 1 1/2 days and we were
having to supply sugars every 45 minutes round the clock. The
relief would have been very short lived, and later we learned
that her liver was so damaged that she was not going to live
maybe even a few hours or a day more. She was lucky; when she
went down hill she did so very rapidly so her suffering was
minimal. We helped her out of her pain -- the vet first gave her
a strong tranquilizer/ pain killer and then a mercy shot.
Frit gave a lot to other ferrets by hanging on so well. She
tested a chemotherapy that had only been used on one other fer-
ret, made it necessary that special food combinations high in
protein, fat, other nutrients, and binding starches be created,
etc. We know that she improved the chances for other ferrets.
Steve and I feel very grateful to our vet, Chris Newman of
Hillsborough, the vets who aided with information (Quesenberry
and Hoefer at Animal Medical Center in N.Y., an AMC oncologist
whose name we do not know, Hillyer of Rutherford -- previously of
AMC, and Fox of MIT), vet Susan Laevy of Basking Ridge who saved
Fritter from congestive heart failure, the makers of Nutrical
which was absolutely essential in keeping Frit alive and well
nourished, and to our many net friends who helped us with kind-
ness, understanding, and information on wholesale supply houses.
(The pet section of our budget book shows over $1,200 spent this
year, and that was with breaks given on Frit's care because the
vets were learning so much. Nancy's info on J&R was very useful
in keeping costs in line.)
It was hard, but it was worth it. Most people can not ar-
range their schedules to allow for constant 24 hour care so we
were lucky that way, but if anyone else can do that, or has a
ferret with another condition which requires special care such as
regular injections, please, have faith in your abilities to cope.
Now that we have a clean bill of health for Aleutians we have
a new member in our family. 'Chopper is a spotted, spayed female
who climbs anything. (Yes, she was named for the ability to get
anywhere like helicopter does.) Daleks is her favorite game;
when she is under the basin she runs blind at full tilt till she
bashes into something. This is a game for intelligent species --
ferrets enjoy it and the chimps I knew liked doing it with paper
bags.
I wish we could give a secret formula for longevity in fer-
rets. The person we know who has an 8 and a 9 year old (both
convenience) does NOTHING special so I suspect that genetics is
probably one of the biggest factors (Boy, do I wish she knew who
bred her's.) and would really like to see sperm exchanges (simi-
lar to what zoos do to keep species at their best in case there
winds up being habitat to restore the critters to) between
breeders around the world. Any closed gene pool is dangerous, it
doesn't matter where it is, or what species is involved.
None of our's have had longer than normal life spans.
Two lived here temporarily and we lost track of them.
Tandi (convenience female) died when she was only about 8
months old because she got a virus that can be passed in bird
droppings which destroyed her intestines.
Haleakala (whole female spayed after being retired as an
adult breeder) died at something between a good 7 to 9 years old
from Shogren's (?) Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder which starts
as Dry Mouth Dry Eye Syndrome but can get worse so that mucus
membranes (in Hale's case her colon) abscess uncontrollably. It
is rare enough in anyone except blond, blue eyed human females
that we probably would not have known what it was or been able to
control it as well as we did if she did not have a veterinary op-
thalmologist (because a male punctured one eyeball during mating
before we got her) who had been a human one before he got tired
of people and earned his DVM.
You know about Fritter -- convenience female, 6 years 8
months and a few days -- lymphosarcoma and insulinoma.
Hjalmar is now over 6 years and going strong. He is also
convenience.
Meltdown is a bit over 3 years and really enjoying her prime.
She's convenience.
Ruffle will very likely have a shorted life span than most
since she has intellectual impairment and deformities which
prevent her from having normal range of motion. One has to real-
ize that there may be other problems which are hidden. She is a
convenience female, now past 1 1/2 years.
'Chopper is only about 3 months. Yes, she is convenience.
We were sorry to hear about Cooper. We know how it feels.
Our usual places for contributions for ferrets are health
places like AMC and Morris Animal Foundation. Others apply money
well to shelters for ferrets. I have to apologize to the person
who wanted to make a contribution in Frit's memory, but I was
still so blown out from losing her that I honestly can't even re-
call who said that even though it was very comforting and felt
good to know how Frit had touched others. Anything anyone does
to make this world a better place, and to help rug weasels is
more than fine.
Love to all, --Sukie, Steve, Hjalmar, Meltdown, Ruffle, and
'Chopper
[Posted in FML 0188]
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