A Scary Incident, an Anticlimactic Vet Visit, and Some Sad News

It's been a very hectic ferret month, hence the total lack of posting. (It's not just me being kind of lazy and scattered this time...)

First - the scary episode... Cheeba had an ulcer episode. He'd had one last year around the same time (spring shed), so I'd been keeping an eye out for the symptoms this time - black poop, lethargy, decreased appetite, grinding teeth, pawing at the mouth, etc. He didn't have any of them. Then a little over a week ago, I went into the ferret room when I heard a kind of thin screaming (thought it was Mojo getting frisky on one of the other fuzzies again), and I found Cheeba laying in the middle of the floor trying to throw up. He started projectile vomiting bile, then pooped a little. There was blood in the poop. I left him with Steve and ran downstairs to call the local emergency vets. I had to call 3 before I found one that would take him out near Stroudsburg (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours away). We rushed him over there, where he stayed on an IV in Intensive Care for the next 2 days. We were able to bring him home on Friday, and he's made a full recovery. Thankfully we caught it early, and he's doing fine. Now I know next year when spring shed comes around, I'll just put him on Amoxi and Carafate and be done with it before it even starts.

Note to all those out there who are told to give Metronidazole (an antiobiotic) to your ferrets - it is unbelievably bitter, mixing it with things doesn't really help, and there is a very good chance your ferret will pee on you when you give it to him. Cheeba did, every time but once. Ask your vet for Biaxin instead. They'll still fight it, but they won't urinate or defecate on you. Hopefully. Poor little guy.

Next, the anticlimactic vet visit... Sophie was diagnosed as adrenal, and she was supposed to go in for surgery. That in itself was a headache, as I was supposed to be there by 8 (which meant I had to get up at 5 and leave by 6 am), and my alarm clock chose that morning to malfunction. I woke up at 7:30, rushed out of the house by 8:15, and made it there by 9:45. This is a miracle, as "construction season" (what the rest of the country calls spring and summer) started this week. God must have been looking out for me, because my speeding fine would have been large.

So they take Sophie right back, do all the prep work - blood tests, x-rays, etc. It turns out that she has some fluid or something around her lungs and heart, and the vet is concerned about Sophie's chances of surviving the recovery period, mainly the week after the surgery. So Sophie is on Biaxin for 2 weeks, and then we'll do the x-rays again to see if she's a good surgical candidate. For now, we gave her a Lupron shot and a melatonin implant. Very disappointing, as I was looking forward to having the adrenal and insulinoma surgergies done and getting my crazy little girl back. She's still a nutcase sometimes, but she's definitely getting on in years.

Now for the sad news. My heart hurts just typing this. Smoke passed away early this morning around 3:45 am. Last night we knew it was his time - he had made it almost a year without his Rascal, and he was ready to join him. He'd been going downhill with no apparent cause for the last couple months. A vet visit yielded nothing other than he was old. Given that he was a little over 7 years old, and we don't know what his first year of life was like (other than the abuse), it's not surprising. He loved Rascal so much, and while he made a valiant effort to play and enjoy life, you could tell it just wasn't the same for him without his soulmate.

When I came home yesterday afternoon, I found him barely able to move, laying in his own waste. I don't wish the sight of a beloved companion in that condition on anyone. We put him in his favorite sleep sack and took turns holding him and cuddling him. I told him all about the Rainbow Bridge, and how Rascal was waiting there to see him. I told him that he would always have socks to hide, and he would be the big crazy boy he used to be when he was young. Around midnight, I went to bed, and brought him upstairs with me. Steve came into the bedroom around 3:30, and Smoke's breathing was shallow. He stroked him, told him that he loved him, and then (he told me after), Smoke just took a final breath, sighed, and was gone. It was peaceful, and he was snuggled between us. I'd like to think that was how he would have wanted to go, with the two people that loved him the most in the world.

My next post will be a memorial to Smoke, but for now I'll just post a picture of him. He was such a special, sweet ferret. Truly one of the best ferrets ever. I miss you Smoke - I will carry you in my heart.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, Lupron, Melatonin Implant, Ulcers, Rainbow Bridge, Adrenal Disease, Insulinoma, Metronidazole