Just looking for thoughts for a little girl that came in recently, sorry it is long. Her story..... I received an e-mail from a dog/cat shelter in Cedar Rapids IA, (2 1/2 hours away) they had taken in 2 ferrets approx. 7 yrs old that were in pretty bad condition. They did not know if they were male or female, they HAD seen a vet...but the vet supposedly refused to treat either of them until they were healthier and had put on more weight. The shelter thought they may be adrenal, and I was told they were eating ferret food from Thiesons, (no idea what this food is but I do not think it is good) What we found on pickup....2 tiny little girl ferrets, in an empty pet taxi (they met us part way so we did not have to drive quite as far), no food, bedding or water, fortunately we brought some....but this is a shelter,,,I was surprised they did not have anything in the taxi. I don't mean to put them in a bad light, the shelter had no idea what to do with the ferrets, hence trying to find someone who could take better care of them, but I was still shocked. They were immediately taken to my vet ( we had made an appt just in case) due to the smaller ferret, a light brown sable (Coco), who was fairly lethargic, plus she had a hugely swollen vulva, dripping greenish yellow pus, her lower legs and back end were crusted in it. Upon peeing there also were chunks of pus in her urine, and she was found to have a UTI on top of the infection in her vulva and she has earmites as well. WHY the vet who saw them refused to treat her just blows my mind......how can you expect a sick ferret with an infection to put on weight and be healthier without antibiotics?????? By my vet she was given Lupron, fluids, antibiotics, mite meds and lixotintic. Her sister (Bean) is obviously adrenal due to the pattern of hair loss but was much more energetic and active. She was treated with Lupron, mite meds and fluids . Both were given soup several times daily and have been eating hard food very well. Coco is done with her round off antibiotics and the infection seems to have cleared up. Now for my dilemma...... Coco's vulva is VERY swollen still, mention has been made by my vet that perhaps the spay was botched because it is so very swollen and the swelling has not gone down with the Lupron. (I am happy to email anyone who is a interested picture if you want to see) Any thoughts of what is best here, try another Lupron, exploratory surgery (she is still very fragile), melatonin implants, anything???? It has unfortunately been fairly expensive already, so I want to use money wisely, hence why I am asking for thoughts on the best way to progress. I will somehow find the money to get her taken care of, but do not want to jump into surgery and waste money and risk losing her during surgery if others have had experience with a better plan of action. On the positive side, Bean has been playful and active since day one, but Coco walks around a little, explores then curls up and takes a nap. BUT today she decided to chase some of the other ferrets through the tubes. She just got introduced to 3 new friends today, I actually have taken in 7 ferrets in the last couple of weeks so they have all been separated for the most part. But today they got to play and she was having a blast chasing and being chased.... It was such a wonderful moment, I teared up just to see how happy she was, watching her finally play is amazing! Daphne Forget-Me-Not-Ferrets [Posted in FML 7837]