> From: [log in to unmask] > Subject: HCG shots > > To Cindy Sooy: > One thing that should be considered is why the animal was given this > shot. Could she have been so far along in her cycle that she already had a v ery > low blood count and died of anemia or other complications of uninterrupted > estrus? Or could something else have happened altogether, as the animal was not > seen for 48 hours. > > Or could there be another story and the death is simply blamed on the > HCG shot? > > No, I'm not convinced a single HCG shot properly dosed and administer ed, > is lethal in ferrets. Dr. Williams, (I didn't read Cindy's post, so forgive if any of this is duplicate information) I know the owners in question, and spoke with the mother for some time. I can honestly say that they are the single most doting owners I have ever met. (and that says a lot, given the people I know) When Sneakers sneezed, she went to the vet. (well, a bit of an exaggeration, but not much.) They called for her vet appointment the day they noticed her going into heat. She was not in heat any longer than 2 - 2 1/2 weeks. (more like 1 1/2 to 2) They lost their first ferret because noone bothered to tell them that a female will die if she's not bred/brought out of heat. So they were VERY conscious of this issue. And, I know that they would have noticed if she were ill. Especially since she was an only ferret, and they could monitor her intake and output closely. I am certain that this was a healthy ferret going into the shot. And the vet, who I trust as a very capable vet, gave her a good exam beforehand. Now, I don't discount an infection. It just seems highly unlikely. Given how sudden it was, with no prior symptoms whatsoever, it sounds like anaphylactic (sp?) shock to me. :( Unfortunately, they found her late Saturday. They would have had her autopsied, but after a few hours of having to walk by her body, they couldn't take any more and decided to take her out and bury her next to Bandit. I spoke with my vet about it last night (Dr. Flack, studied under Dr. Brown, I believe). She looked at a bottle of the medication. It is synthetic (not animal), so she said that it is very unlikely to cause a reaction. But, not impossible. Do you agree with that? Is it possible we are just looking at a 'one in a million' case here? Now, for my news: Percy has some sort of diarrhea problem. I ran her to the vet last night, she was getting dehydrated. :( So, I'm giving her sub-Q fluids, antibiotics, and kaopectate 2x a day. :( At least one other of my little ones (either Bree or Popcorn) has it too. Since neither one is showing any other symptoms I have them seperated today to figure out who it is. I guess I'll be running to the vet again tonight. It's a normal-colored diarrhea, so I don't think it's the mystery green diarrhea problem. And, Percy seemed much better this morning. So, hopefully all will be well. I guess since Percy's getting to be an old lady (6), it's just hitting her harder than it normally would. - Nancy Nancy Hartman Internet - [log in to unmask] GEnie - n.hartman4 President, Delaware Valley Ferret Club | CIS Grad Student, U. of Delaware *** Caregiver to Percy, Bree, Popcorn, & Scuttlebutt the ferrets *** "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals" - Kant [Posted in FML issue 0951]