Hi,
I've been on this list for quite a while now.  I have learned more than I
ever thought I would about ferrets and have cried for a lot of the ferts
that have crossed the bridge.  In March, I thought I was going to have to
help one of my lil guys over the bridge.  He just started losing a great
amount of weight, and wouldn't eat.  Fortunately, I now work in an
emergency animal clinic and took my guy to work with me to see what they
could figure out.  They did blood test, his liver values and just about
everything else were WAY out of whack.  They said it wasn't a good sign.
A week later, I opted for a feeding tube, he wasn't letting me give him
meds anymore and we had to get nutrition in him or we would for sure lose
him.  After a week of meds and food, he started to eat on his own again,
not much, but more than he had before.  The feeding tube came out.  BUT,
he wasn't moving his hind legs a whole lot.  So back work we went for
radiographs, more blood tests, etc.  Nothing broken, but one leg VERY
swollen, we took a culture of the fluid in his leg.  While we waited for
the results to come back, which took a good week, we splinted his leg
because it had atrophied so badly by that time that he was in pain when
we tried to straighten it.  Also during this time, my second fert, Bandit,
was losing LOTS of hair and scratching.  In to work he goes...Doc thinks he
can feel a very large tumor, and is pretty positive its the right adrenal.
Surgery is scheduled for the next monday.  During this time, Sylver had to
get meds at all different times of the day and night, each within a certain
time as they might make him sick if they weren't given at far enough
intervals.  Bandits surgery went fine, the doc operated one night while I
was working so I could be there.  He recovered overnight there, with LOTS
of attention from everyone.  I took Bandit home the next day and set up a
sick cage to keep him separated from the others so they wouldnt' bother his
belly.  Sylver also went in with Bandit, so they kept each other company.
 
During all of this, which was my point to begin with....I have 15 ferts
total to take care of.  12 are my own, and 3 are fosters from The Ferret
Nook.  They will be with me a year in July!!!!  I have realized from all of
this what can be fine one day, can be TOTALLY the opposite the very next
day.  Every fert gets lots of attention every day and cages are cleaned
every day.  We also have a 9 mo. old Staffordshire Terrier, 3 cats, and a
guinea pig.  Sometimes I get stressed out, wondering when I'll have time to
do everything, plus planning a wedding for this Oct.  But, I chose to make
these animals my priority and that will always be the case.  I thankfully
work with GREAT vets that are willing to help and learn what they don't
know.  If I didn't start working there when I did, things would have been
very rough and very costly for me.
 
My point, I will probably never own 15 ferrets at any one time again, but
would never give this up for the world.  They are what my days revolve
around and what keep me going.  Sylver has now grown back most of his fur,
the splint is off and just this past Thursday, he climbed up to the second
level of their cage and went into the hammock!  This was the first time in
2 months that he has been able to do this.  Each day he gets more strength.
He gives me the strength to keep going, knowing that if he was at deaths
door and could beat it, I surely can beat many things that I don't think I
am up to.
 
Thanks for listening,
Heidi and the rugrats: Maggie, Bandit, Gizmo, Sylver, Larz, Midnite,
Jaymz, Simon, Shadow, Zoey, Elvis, Joey, Mickey, Linkin, and Jagger.
[Posted in FML issue 3410]