Hi all. I'd like some advice about my boy Buster. He has a bad habit of chewing fabric. On Wednesday, January 23 he some how got hold of one of my dirty socks, chewed it up and swallowed some. I gave him some laxative, but by morning he was in obvious distress, gagging and pawing at his mouth, and unable to poop except for small runny bits. I brought him to the vet. He x-rayed Buster and in addition to a blockage saw some sort of cyst in his belly, so he operated. The cyst was a fluid filled sack near one of the kidneys; biopsy indicated it was harmless. He drained the cyst and removed the blockage. The next morning (Friday) Buster was still a bit nauseous and wasn't eating much yet, so the vet wanted to observe him over the weekend. Over the weekend Buster started eating and pooping, but also developed a fever. They put him on anti-biotics, but by Monday he had a large inflamed patch of skin on his stomach and extending around his flank. They added anti-inflammatories to his meds. On Tuesday what looked like a bruise appeared on one spot on his stomach. The day after that it burst open and leaked fluid from the large inflamed area under the skin. The doctor took a sample from the wound for lab culture but at first it came back with no sign of infection. The doctor thought Buster might be having a reaction to his stitches, and if he had one in the bowel it could be fatal. Since Buster was feeling stronger on Thursday the doctor decided to replace his stitches in case this was an allergic reaction. He also removed a lot of damaged tissue from inside Buster's wound, although the bowel itself appeared to be fine. The next morning Buster seemed perky, had good energy, appetite and a good temperature. His wound was continuing to drain so the vet wanted to keep him a little longer. By Monday (February 4th) the lab came back positive on a bacterial culture from Buster's wound: clostridium. The vet switched to another antibiotic which should be more effective. Also, since this organism doesn't do well in oxygen he wanted to allow the wound to continue to drain and breathe. Through the week Buster's temperature, appetite and energy fluctuated. He developed another smaller inflamed patch on his chest, but it shrunk away and never burst like the first had. On Thursday he developed two new small wounds on his belly, but the vet said the body was just trying to drain the original inflamed area which *was* very large. He said the skin underneath appeared to be getting more healthy. On Friday Buster was more energetic and his wounds did look better. But his temperature was still not stable and the vet wanted to watch him a little longer. On Saturday Buster's pee was darker than usual. The vet figured this was the body cleaning out damaged and dead tissue. But by today (Monday) his pee was still dark and his energy was not as good. He also looked a little pale. Blood tests indicated a slightly elevated white cell count, and a reduced red cell count. Tests also indicated his red cells were not being replaced as quickly as they should (I think this is called non-regenerative anemia?). I am becoming very worried about Buster. It's been almost 3 weeks since he went in, and every time it looks like he may be home soon, something else comes up. I don't know much about anemia, what may cause it and how to treat it. Buster is only 8 months old, and at 4.25 pounds never seemed frail. Why is all this happening? I should note that this vet has treated ferrets for 25 years and has treated my ferrets for 10 years. I trust that my boy is in good hands. But this is going on so long, I'm so worried about my boy, I don't know what to do. Any advice would be appreciated. -- John Rosloot, Caregiver to Buster and Pandora With loving memories of my dear departed Buddy, my precious little Cassie-angel, And my silly snuggly Sammy http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 3691]