My Sweet Sophie

My poor sweet Sophie - she's not doing well. In the past couple weeks her appetite has decreased to the point where yesterday and today she ate almost no duck soup at all. She took a couple pieces of kibble out of my hand, but didn't go to the dish herself. She's drinking a lot of water as well. Her pupils are almost entirely covered with perfectly round cataracts that appear silver when the light hits them. This could be a result of the long term pred use or possibly the hypoglycemic condition itself. She's also fairly incontinent since yesterday, and seems to poop a small amount every 30 min or so. When she's done, I have to wipe her, as she can't do it herself. About 20 minutes ago, I went to check on her and found her laying in her own feces. There wasn't much, so it wasn't hard to clean up, but it was disheartening to see that when she had to go, she just went where she was laying. That's the first time she's ever done that.

I have an appointment for her for tomorrow. I'm going to have some x-rays done to see if there is anything obvious that we could successfully treat. But I think what we're going to see is tumors - lymphoma. Her insulinoma isn't causing this; her BG levels are in the normal range. It could be the adrenal disease getting worse, as her hair loss has gotten significantly worse in the past couple months.

But no matter what it is, I think I'm going to have to help my little Princess cross the bridge tomorrow. She's so tired, I can see it in her eyes. And the ferret she is now is even more heartbreaking when I compare it to the ferret she used to be - sassy, crazy, and clever with a major attitude and a gorgeous white coat. Now she can barely move, and when she tries to walk or stand in the litter box she falls over. Her hind legs have been getting progressively weaker over the past few months, even though I've upped her pred. But really the most obvious change is in her demeanor. She isn't even trying to be active anymore - she's just laying there. I don't want to prolong her life if this is the quality of life she's going to have.

Here are some pics of her taken a few months ago when we still up in PA. If you can imagine it, she looks about 10 times worse now.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, Insulinoma, Adrenal Disease