EMMETT'S STORY As a means of introduction, we are a family of six. Two of everything, human, cat and Ferret. Recently we had a health scare with our two year old sable male by the name of Emmett Weasel Weaver. Here is our story. We were to take a vacation the end of August 1997 to a cabin in the woods and Emmett was coming with us for the adventure. For a short while before that Jim had been thinking that his coat was getting darker not lighter for the winter but Emmett was his fun loving self and we were not overly concerned. He had a little diarrhea but got over that quickly. After we returned, on September 5, we brought Noel LaWeasel Weaver home and watched as she ran circles around her older brother. Over the course of about four days we gave them time together and as time went on Noel seemed to be running roughshod over Emmett. Initially, he had some slight diarrhea which got better, but by September 20th he wasn't eating well and the diarrhea was back. So at 7 p.m. we called the vet. The group of vets that we normally go to was closed and the answering machine gave the number for emergency calls during off hours. That number referred us to an animal hospital, that upon calling, informed us that they did not handle "exotic" pets. After frantic conversation, we finally got the number for the Carlisle Small Animal Hospital, about 20 miles away. We drove out and arrived about 9 p.m. The doctor took us in and did tests on his stool and felt for blockages but found nothing. Emmet seemed alert and he was still eating so the vet got together some medicine to combat a stomach virus and we went home. He didn't seem to improve or get worse for a few days but his stool was forest green and by Thursday he was hardly eating. We made an appointment and took him again where he stayed for the day to get some blood work done and be under observation. They gave us new medication to combat Helicobacter Pylori and we took him home. He wasn't given any food while they were doing the tests and when we took him home that evening he didn't eat anything more. When the blood work came back it didn't show any infection and we were to continue the medicine. The next day he was no better, he would not eat or drink and he would rest often and look at us with pain in his bright eyes. Again we went to the emergency room at the Good Hope Animal Clinic which is a satellite office to the Carlisle Hospital. The doctor on call, Curt Barnett, came and examined him. We all believed that he would not last the night. He would not stand for any length of time, he had nothing to eat or drink and had only been taking the new medicine for a day. We knew he hadn't had enough time for the medicine to take affect and we didn't know if his kidneys were still working. There was obvious blood in his stools which meant ulcers and the vet said he would be more comfortable dying at home then in the clinic. Emmett's spirit was tired, but not gone, and we felt that if he could get some fluid into his system he would get the only chance there was. The doctor gave him a shot of fluid and told us to get some chicken baby food in to him, gave us some syringes and bid us good bye never expecting to see us (or Emmett) again. We figured we couldn't give up until Emmett did so we settled ourselves in for a long haul. He absorbed the water in a couple of hours and we established the regimen of feeding him about .2 cc's every 15 minutes. This started about 10 PM and around 1 we began giving him .3 cc's every half hour. At 3 am he urinated for the first time that evening and if we hadn't been tired and sick with worry we would have danced around the house. We decided to spell ourselves in the feeding duties so Jim slept while I took the morning shift. To be sure we didn't miss a feeding I set the alarm and kept to the half hour schedule and slept with him to keep him warm. He had lost so much weight that there was no insulation. At 6 a.m. he had a bowel movement. Still dark green and runny but his system was still working and we had new found determination knowing that he was still fighting. Over the remainder of the weekend we continued with the scheduled baby food feedings but we lengthened them from an hour to two and increased the amount eventually to 1 cc. He spent the whole weekend on a cushion on the couch covered with a blanket when not sleeping with me. He looked so pitiful. He had gone from down to less than one pound. Every bone in his body stood out even through his fur. His movement was limited to a few steps before he would lay and rest most of the time falling asleep where he stopped. Once he seemed to fall asleep in the litter box, which we continually had to help him into. The weight of his legs seemed too much for him and he would sometimes walk like a drunken sailor. We weren't sure we had done him any favors but we were on this track and determined to stick with it. We are fortunate that one of us can be home at all times and over the next week we continued with the regular feedings and tried to increase the intake. He wasn't tolerating ferretvite or a mineral/vitamin supplement that we picked up on Tuesday so the vet (who was intrigued when he found out that Emmett made it through the weekend) suggested to go straight for the fat. We then began to add olive oil to the formula. The formula that we began with was just chicken baby food. I don't believe any of us will ever be able to smell that again without getting nauseous. As time went on Jim did considerable research and reviewed several recipes for "duck soup". He spent many hours researching everything about ferrets and diseases in order to help Emmett. Two weeks after the angel of death came looking for our door we took Emmet in for a check up. He was at two pounds and eating a bit of his own food again. The doctor was impressed with his improvement and we shared with him all the research Jim had gotten from the Internet. For all those people who gave us information directly or indirectly that helped to save our Emmett we are extremely grateful. We owe special thanks to Dr. Barnett because without his help we would have lost Emmett, and whose willingness to answer countless questions with oodles of advise goes well beyond the necessary. We highly recommend the Carlisle Small Animal Hospital and the Good Hope Animal Clinic in the Harrisburg, PA area. The staff is courteous and efficient. We want to share this information as a way to help others who may have the same problems in the hope that by recognizing this malady sooner than we did, their ferret will get help much sooner. Note to the editor: I did speak to Dr. Barnett and he has given permission to use his name and the name of his practice on the internet. Emmett is still doing well and now weighs more then he ever did. [OP] [Moderator's note: Thanks for letting me know and for sharing the story. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 2177]