I've been avoiding writing this because this is the "happy" Christmas
season, but I need a bit of release.  I truly hope everyone is having a
wonderful Christmas, as cynical as I might sound at the moment.
 
If you remember, my ferrets got this viral infection which caused some
secondary ear infections.  I lost Mocha to this virus and three of my
other guys - Taz, Sid, and Jaws - are still getting over their loss of
balance and coordination.  Taz is pretty much back to normal except for
a slight head tilt.  Sid is pretty much back to normal too, although he
has the head tilt and falls down when he does the ferret dance.  Jaws,
however, has had some other problems.  I took him to my vet on Friday
because he was showing what I thought was neuro symptoms.  It turns out
that Jaws is now blind, although to what extent we truly don't know.  My
vet doesn't think that the blindness is necessarily related to the viral
infection.  It's hard to know what's going on with this damn virus.  I've
tried getting information on blind ferrets from the net, but so far I've
only found one informative article [from http://www.ferret-fact.org/ ].
 
Jaws is healthy otherwise, although he's still suffering a bit from the
lack of balance - same as the other guys.  This probably doesn't make
it easier for him to deal with being newly blind.  From everything I've
read, blindness in a ferret is not terribly traumatic for them.  Then
can normally only see in greyscale and maybe the color red.  Ferrets are
nearsighted and depend more on sound, smell, and touch to get around.  I
would appreciate any other information on blind ferrets, though.  I would
like to hear from people with blind ferrets so that I can learn better
how to care for my guy.
 
Jaws is still not really eating or drinking on his own (that I see), but
this may be because I've been syringe feeding them their food ground up
(with Nutrical and Missing Link) mixed with water.  I haven't syringe
fed him in the last day and a half, although I put a dish out with this
mixture so that he'll be prompted to eat it on his own.  He has.  I've
even seen him eat a piece of kibble, so I know he can do it.  What he
does mostly with his kibble is to grab a mouthful and take it underneath
a blanket or behind the TV and leave it there.  It's like he's storing
his food in a place he can find it again.
 
Besides all this, my wife was in an accident at work.  She was the
passenger in a van.  The girl driving the van was going 43mph in a
Walmart parking lot and hit a pole head on.  The girl driving only broke
her wrist.  I don't even know how you do such a stupid thing.  My wife
had been in the hospital since Monday when the accident happened.  She
just got out on Friday.  She has some "moderate" head trauma, with two
bleeds - one subdural and one subarachnoid.  These were "small" bleeds,
according to the doctors and were stabilized quickly.  It's hard to
visualize the words "small" and "moderate" in this situation.  Nothing
seems "small" or "moderate".  She also has an internally fractured skull
and a fractured clavicle (collar bone).  She was out of it from Monday
thru Wednesday, but started talking to us again on Thursday.  She's been
progressing well and is now home, although in alot of pain.  She's taking
pain meds, but they don't work for long.  I feel so bad for her.  There's
not a part of her body that isn't bruised.  I can't do anything to make
her feel much better.  I can just do what she asks the best I know how
to do.
 
I'm the lone ranger here taking care of things and I'm not terribly
good at it, but I'm learning.  I get stressed out, but I quickly get over
it as I'm the only one I've got, lol.  I've learned how much I really
depended on my wife to take care of things, including our guys.  I'm
adjusting to the change, although not always gracefully.  Alot's been
going on in the last few weeks.  There's been alot to deal with.
 
Part of me wants to whine about having a terrible Christmas, but a bigger
part of me realizes that I've already gotten my Christmas presents.  My
wife is alive and talking to me.  My guys are getting through this
horrible evil virus.  I heard one of the guys trying to claw into our
pantry cupboard, and lo and behold it was Jaws!  Apparently he ain't that
sick, lol.
 
And while Mocha isn't with us, the remaining 8 are.  I've almost been too
busy to miss her, but I still do.  I'm sure if she was here she'd climb
up on my leg as I'm typing this out and tell me that everything's going
to be alright.  I'm sure it will be in time.
 
Anyways, it's time for my lazy butt to get up and get some stuff done...
maybe I'll put up some lights and stuff.  I haven't felt up to it to this
point, but maybe it's time.
 
Roary and Yvonne
Albuquerque, NM
[Posted in FML issue 4369]