| Time Flies |
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| 11:39pm 20/03/2010 |
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I remember posting here sometime in '03, a few months after I had gotten my first ferret and theFerretStoreForums seemed to be dead. I didn't post often. Ferrets don't often require training information, the internet is not a vet, I'm not constantly looking for reviews on indestructible toys/bedding/cages, and the silly things my ferrets do, all ferrets do. Daily. Hourly, even.
But over the past few days I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking at my weezies. I've been drywalling my room and they sit there, watching me, creeping around in their cage as plaster flies everywhere. (Don't worry, I'm moving them out for sanding tomorrow =)) The more time I look at them, quietly watching me, the more I realise how long it's been.
( And, especially, how old my old man is. )
This will be my first Real Adult Pet that I'll be losing. Every cent put into Boo and Tink and my puppy were my cents; all care came from me. He's been completely reliant on me to provide him a good life... I only hope I did that for him, and can make it even better before he dies. I think my old man deserves it. |
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| 06:09pm 16/03/2010 |
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A little over two weeks ago my ferret TapTap had enlarged lymph nodes over alot of her little body. It looked suspicious, but my wonderful vet wanted to try a two week course of antibiotics in case the nodes were reacting to an infection. Today Tappy went back for a recheck. All signs of enlarged lymph nodes are gone. Over the two weeks, she has returned to her energetic self as well. I love my vet, she is great. And so, of course, is my TapTap.
Tonight, at my house, we are doing the Tappy happy dance! |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| Thank you, Skipper <3 |
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| 12:14am 13/03/2010 |
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mood:  grateful
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The most wonderful thing happened tonight while I was at work and I just can't help but feel unbelievably joyous, happy, and proud about it all. Most of you know who Skipper was, but for those of you who don't, he was my beloved 5 year old ferret I lost to a form of cancer known as Insulinoma this past January. Him, myself, and the vets did everything we could to save him, but in the end his body decided it simply had enough and I had him euthanized January 7th, me cradling him the entire time.
The experience wasn't in vain.
About a week or two ago, a lady came into my work buying a bunch of ferret stuff. She was buying a ferret cage, litterbox, and a bunch of food and treats, so I of course decided to make idle conversation with her about ferrets and asked her if she was getting one. She told me no, she already had 4, and the cage was for one of hers she had now who was having balance issues with the ramps and she wanted to move him into a one level cage. She then told me in a very sad voice he had been diagnosed with insulinoma that very day. He was only 9 months old... I froze at the word and my heart instantly sank. I told her then all about Skipper and everything I had gone through for him and she lit up a bit, seeming to be a bit happy that she was talking to someone who had dealt with it before ( I know that feeling to. It was devastating when I first got the news).
In the midst of our conversation I asked her if she knew about duck soup and she said no. I explained to her what it was how it effects ferrets especially those sick with insulinoma and how it saved Skipper's life on more then one occasion. I wrote it down and gave it to her and she seemed extremely pleased to have had it, thanked me and left.
Earlier tonight I got a phone call. At first I was expecting it to be my mom but when I picked up, I was a bit surprised to see it was the lady. She explained to me who she was and how she met me and I told her I remembered her. She was pretty upset and told me her little ferret hadn't touched his food in two days and she could feel his ribs. She said no matter what she did she couldn't get him to eat and wanted to know if I could give her that duck soup recipe again because she had left it at her vet's office by mistake. I quickly gave it to her again and told her how to serve it to him. She thanked me and promised to call or stop in sometime to give me an update.
About 20 minutes later, I got a phone call again from the same lady, only this time she was actually in tears. HAPPY tears! Apparently she cooked up the duck soup, gave it to him at first by syringe and he sucked it down! She said he seemed to eager to eat by syringe, so she served it to him on a plate and he went NUTS stuffing his little weasel face like there was no tomorrow! She said to me "Thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart! This is the first time he's eaten in days, you may have saved his life with this! I will NOT forget this!"
I can't tell you how much my heart swelled to hear those words. If I hadn't of gone through everything I did with Skipper, I wouldn't have been able to give her that advice/information. The end results of Skipper's illness was ultimately death, but I gained wisdom and knowledge that will help me help ferrets and the people who love them whenever they need me. I have Skipper to thank for that.
Thank you, Skipper, for helping me become a better person and animal care specialist. I love you and miss you <3 |
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Read 6 - Post |
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| Helicobacter infections in ferrets |
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| 09:38am 10/03/2010 |
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mood: relieved
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Hi all. I'm going to post this here and cross-post it in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) ferretlovers, and ferretish. One of my ferrets came across something that's probably not the most common ailment, but it may come up with one of your fuzzbutts. I'm gonna tag this if that's okay.
Kuzco has not been eating much this last week, week and a half. We were immediately concerned, especially as he would barely drink water. We went to a raw diet for now, livers, to help him keep his iron up as the last time this happened to him, at 8 months, he was anemic.
The symptoms were the same then as now: diminished appetite, vomiting occasionally, hacking as if he wanted to vomit, dark stools, and weight loss from the diminished appetite.
We caught it early this time. Both times we thought maybe he'd eaten something he wasn't supposed to and it caused an obstruction. Then, they found nothing, only inflammation. My vet then concluded he probably had an obstruction and had just passed it. I thought for sure that was it from a fragment or two of ripped spongemop. ... Actually, in hindsight, I believe he did that out of discomfort and didn't swallow it.
Anyway. Emergency vet's, last night. Took him in, described the symptoms. We did an x-ray to check for obstruction. Minor inflammation, but the vet was pretty sure, it wasn't an obstruction. This emergency vet was awesome, btw. (George Keech, VMD) Total confidence in him, very knowledgeable.
So then, what was going on?
Heliobacter. Heliobacter is a bacteria that can be found in people, and in ferrets. In many cases your body does fine with it, but it can flare up, if you will, get worse, cause gastric ulcers, inflammation, and the like. If you're a rat owner or familiar with rats, think of mycoplasma. Similar thing, different place. Instead of the lungs, this one's in the digestive system.
Kuzco was having heliobacter flareups. Here's a bit of info.
http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/med/ulcers.html
So, he was prescribed amoxicillin, metronizadole, and amotadine, if I got the spellings right. We gave him the first doses last night. This ferret, who would not take more than a dollop of ferretvite or a small bite of liver, and almost no water, has his full appetite restored a mere 12 hours later. We need to continue the treatment to continue to get the bacteria under control.
I bring this up because with the symptoms, you too might think, maybe it's a blockage. If they can't find any blockage, and the ferret still has the symptoms I listed above, it may be heliobacter.
We're just happy Kuzco's doing so much better so quickly. We caught it early enough, and we had a vet who really got what it was. |
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