Please forgive me for cross posting this, but it is still too painful to
write about, but I want to ward all the ferret owned people out there.
 
First I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has prayed for
Hope and myself.  Hope couldn't fight any more yesterday, 1/21 and went to
see her sister, Faith, at the rainbow bridge around 12:30 p.m.
 
I went to feed her breakfast and she was having a seizure.  I didn't realize
it at first.  I put the spoon up to her mouth and she just started shaking
all over.  I then tried the honey, but in my hurry, I forgot the warning to
use a q-tip and put it in my finger.  She bit it a good one, but I know she
couldn't help what she did.  I could even see the shock on her face saying
Mom, I didn't mean to do it.  I then rushed into the bedroom where the
q-tips are and tried that way.  I wasn't able to give her much, so I called
my friend, Tom, and said to get here A.S.A.P.  and then called the vets and
told the receptionist I was on my way in.
 
The first took blood and then gave her some glucose.  Her seizures did calm
down while she was under the anesthetic.  When she was awake, they gave her
some glucose.  He ran the blood panel and it showed her sugar was 680 and
the kidney test weren't so good either.  I wanted to stay with her, but I
had a doctors appointment that I could not miss plus Dr. Wolfe said it
would be better if I left.
 
I should have known something was very wrong, because when I got home he
had called me twice and left a message that he would call in about 2 hours.
I had told him I would call as soon as I got home from the doctors.  I
went ahead and called and now looking back, the receptionist turned me
immediately to Dr. Wolfe.  She will usually comment about the sick one
some when I have called before.  He broke the news to me.  He was very
understanding.  They revived her the first time her heart stopped, but
couldn't do it the second time.  He said with all that Hope had medically
wrong with here she didn't have much of a chance.  Her little heart
couldn't stand the seizures.  Based on the time of the first call, she
passed around 12 noon.
 
All you ferret owned people that have a ferret with insulinoma, PLEASE keep
a close eye on them.  I am not sure why, but I now have lost 2 insulinomic
ferrets in only 2 months and 1 day apart to a very high blood sugar that
has caused their delicate internal organs to shut down.
 
When Faith passed away, Dr. Lennex said that Faith was only the third
patient that she had treated where the blood sugar has went up.  She said
it was a VERY RARE condition in ferrets.  Now I am wondering if I am
jinxed.  Why did I have two that died from such a rare disease in such a
short time.  They were both Marshal Farms, but they couldn't be from the
same batch because it was guessed that Faith was about 3 months old and
Hope was only 6 weeks old.  I am also scared that it is something that we
know nothing about that can be passed from one to another.
 
I am going to go say goodbye to Hope and let the other babies do the same
on Mon.  I was suppose to go today, but quite frankly, I cannot handle it
today.  She was my cuddle baby.  She loved to be on my lap.  Sometimes she
would walk around for a while and other she would just lay on my lap or my
shoulder, like a burping baby does, and fall asleep and just look around.
She LOVED to have her bottom patted.
 
Please either get some urine test strips to test the sugar in their urine,
or get blood sugar tests a lot more frequently than are usually suggested.
I tired to get a new bottle of strips, but the stores I went to around here
were out.  You use the same ones you use on humans.  The advantage of this
is that you can do it often and it reduces your cost.  If you should get an
extremely high number or if you get a slightly high number two or three
times, get you baby to the vet immediately.  The higher it goes and the
longer it last, the more damage it causes to ferret.  I always put Hope
into the bath tub where there wasn't a litter pan or in the kitchen which
was tiled so I could get a good urine sample.  It isn't quite as accurate
as blood test, but I never found a way to do a glucameter stick on them.
I tried on Faith once and she wouldn't come to me for a few days.  I know
it hurts my fingers, but I was hoping that since they have thicker skin, it
wouldn't hurt as much.
 
Please pass this information on the high blood sugar on to all your ferret
friends.  Ferrets can have 2 different growths on their pancreas.  The
first on is the well known insulinoma and the second one is a gluconoma
(SP) which is the one that causes the sugar to go high.
 
Thanks again for all your support.  I don't know what I would have done
without all of you.
 
Phyllis and the Wigglies, Charrity, Generosity, and Grace
Always in Loving Memory of Faith and Hope
[Posted in FML issue 2565]