Sukie posted yesterday and asked for people to share post-operative (and
no, Todd, we're not talking tree surgery ;) experiences.  Within the last
few months I've dealt with two extremes of reactions, so I thought I'd
share.
 
Cully had his adrenal out in August.  He also had his pancreas and some
lymph nodes biopsied.  He was in a great deal of pain after the surgery,
and stayed in the hospital two nights so that he could receive pain
medication.  When he came home, he was clearly relieved to be home, but I
think the pain was depressing him so much he was ready to give up.  His
throat was sore from being intubated, so he didn't want to eat, although
he would eat wet food if I put it under his nose.  Fortunately I scheduled
the surgery during my vacation, so I was able to feed him around the clock
every few hours, holding him and telling him what a great ferret he is.
His incision was healing well during this time, but he just became
withdrawn, and I do think that if I hadn't spent the time encouraging
him, he would have drifted off.  It was a very hard time for both of us,
although we ended up more strongly bonded than ever.  He's doing well now,
extremely well for an 8 year old with insulinoma and lymphoma-- you'd
hardly know he was ill, except for a little hind limb weakness when he
wakes up.  He stayed caged for about two weeks, partly to keep him still,
and partly because Amelia, who had borne the brunt of his adrenal-inspired
bad behavior, was taking her opportunity to snipe at him whenever possible.
 
Amelia had her adrenal out in early January (two weeks ago today, in fact).
I picked her up the next day and she was bright-eyed and ready to come out
of the carrier, banging on the door to be let out.  As with Cully, I set up
their cage so that she only had access to one floor, and I used a shallow
disposable baking tray for a litterpan (it had about a 1.5 cm lip on it,
enough to keep liquids in but not high enough to scrape tender bellies).
She slept a lot, but she chowed down on kibble, and whenever she was awake
she was fussing to get out.  Rather than encouraging her to do more, I've
had to try to slow her down!  She's healing fast and furious, and has
already grown back much of the hair that was shaved for the surgery.  I
tell you, if I had one quarter of this ferret's zest and vitality, I'd be
the ruler of my own small country (rather like Amelia herself!  ;) Anyway,
I've kept her caged for about ten days, and now she's back to being loose
in my room with Cully.  I've kept an eye on Cully with her, but he's quite
the gentleman now that he's not full of raging hormones.
 
So, that was my experience, and it was one I really could have predicted
based on the personalities of the ferrets in question.  Don't forget that
their minds may need recovery as well as their bodies!
 
Regina
 
Regina Harrison
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http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/1083
Electra the Brujah's page:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/8096
 
Wrapped in my mongrel wings, I nearly freeze
In the howlin wind and drivin rain
All the trash blowin round 'n' round
[Posted in FML issue 2941]