One, you never know if they will like the wheelchair or not - the only
thing you can do is give it a try. If you need the ferret flyer info,
I have it, just contact me or ask on the list.

Two - you said her eyes have "lost that shine". That usually means that
they are ready to go. But at the same time - I had an
insulinomic/adrenal/cancerous old ferret that "lost that shine" off
and on for years. If you aren't sure if it's time, maybe it's not. She
will let you know for sure. We struggled with that for years and then
finally knew when it was time.

If she is in pain, she may squeak when you pick her up, not want to
move, or just move to a single spot and lay there continuously. She
will grind her teeth (the most common of all pain signals).

Quality of life - her wanting to eat and drink on her own, even if it's
some sort of duck soup or ground up wet ferret food....heck, if she's
eating enough to sustain herself, even if you're feeding it to her by
hand (I can understand why she might want to), and you don't have to
force her physically to eat or drink, and there are no signals of pain,
then I would say quality of life is not yet diminished.

It can be easy to think that a ferret that is paralyzed just lays
there and isn't happy. I would look for her playing with certain toys,
chewing on N-Bones still, enjoying treats (although their tastes can
change), interacting with your other boy in any way.

Once you know why she is like this, and if she stays like this without
her health deteriorating further, you may be able to carry her around,
but of course that is up to your vet and the ferret. I have known
people to carry paralyzed ferrets with them all day in a wearable
ferret sling and they enjoyed the one on one time.

Laryssa

[Posted in FML 6042]