Hi there! Well, last Friday's vet appointment went quite well. We had to wait awhile once we got there because there was a sick turtle before us. Jasper made jokes later about how of course that appointment went slow. Groan! Anyways, we got in there, got some weights - both have gone down a wee bit since last year's check-up. Especially in Geisha's case, this is okay. Gushi's feels pretty solid and the duck soup has given a little bit of a potbelly. :-> He was starting to feel a little too light at one point though about two months ago. It wasn't long after that that I had started in with the duck soup and his meds. Gushi just had his rabies shot - he has reactions and throws up big time, so we made sure he was done first and there was no reaction at all we're pleased to report. Geisha just la-la-la's through it - wish I could sit that still for shots! I had a good talk with Rick (Axelson at the Links) about teeth cleaning and I showed him some of the print outs I had received from people on the FML as well as the info Stan gave me about Mookie. He understood my concerns and took my suggestions into consideration. I almost started to cry at one point when I was telling him that I couldn't handle another possible loss so soon - two this year was much more than enough! When I mentioned less or no anesthetic, he did bring up a good point that it could be just as stressful for Gushi to be coherent for the procedure, since he would definitely be struggling and also that struggling could cause the vet to nick his gums alot more. He agreed that doing a full blood work-up before making any final decisions is a very good idea and wouldn't have proceeded beforehand anyways. Actually Rick suggested that before I had a chance to bring it up myself. As for anesthetics, he only uses isofluorane. At one time there was one - started with 'H' - that he also used but there were complications sometimes and he decided to throw it all out and just go with the isofluorane. He's never used ketamine. So, I still have to weigh the pros and cons some more and make a decision in the new year. Geisha's spleen felt slightly enlarged and he suggested that I keep an eye on her. If she starts to show any signs of discomfort or unusual behaviour then we'll discuss tests and maybe exploratory surgery. As for her teeth, they've always been in pretty rough shape since the day she was found. She was only 6-8 months old and they were bad then. She's now about five and a half years old and they haven't gotten much worse. I have tried cleaning them with the finger brush and the enzymatic toothpaste (for every fuzzy) but it hasn't helped much and they all hate me sticking my grubby paws in there! However, she does have one tooth, her front right lower canine that's going. We'll have that removed in the next short while. When we found her, all of her canines were broke about halfway down (I suspect some moron with a pair of needlenose pliers) and Rick and I knew that eventually there would be problems. Sigh! Other than that, everything went great - oh, Rick was also impressed with the brand new hair Gushi has sprouting out all over his tail!!!! On the down side, Geisha ripped out a toenail on Monday while we were away at work. :-< She seems no worse for wear though. Gushi's done this before and his has finished growing back in. Can't recall though how long it took for it to come back. Well, take care and hugs to all! George, Jasper and the Crew ************************************************************************ Georgette Peters Nothing is ferret-proof to a Steacie Science Library sufficiently talented ferret. York University 4700 Keele Street ***** North York, Ontario ********* M3J 1P3 ***** (416)736-5084 Dook, dook, bjork, bjork! e-mail - [log in to unmask] - Swedish Ferret ************************************************************************ [Posted in FML issue 2527]