Thank you to everybody who responded to my cry for help.  Unfortunately I
found this Mailing List a little to late.  We put Einstein to sleep today
after a difficult night and morning.  He didn't eat at all yesterday and we
could not pry his mouth open to force feed him.  It was heart wrenching to
watch him seizure over and over again and screach in pain (in my opinion)
every 3 to 5 minutes for a minute or so straight.  Finally I think he lost
his "voice" and just started whimpering.  We called the Vet and she came to
the house about an hour and a half later to put him to sleep.  It was
horrible to watch, but I needed to see that he was gone and not in pain.  We
sat with him for a while and then we wrapped in his towel and she took him
with her.  We have decided to have him cremated (individually).  It has been
a very sad day at our house today.  I hate that we had to live in a state
that was unable to help my ferret.  I thought about calling all the local
pet stores today informing them that it isn't right to sell ferrets here
being that there aren't any Vets available to assist them should they get
sick.  I think I was just reacting to my situation, but it is something to
think about.  Oh, someone asked how old Einstein was - he would have been 6
years old next month.
 
Again, thank you to everybody who gave me great suggestions - it's more
information than I could ever hope to get out of my Vet.  I will refer your
List to other ferret owners in the future.  Maybe someday we will decide to
get another one (or two).
 
Laura Beth & Dave Holz
[Posted in FML issue 2181]