So it stopped raining and Moriarty, Megellan and I went to the garden to continue on the great project....an enormous hole in my wildlife area of my back garden.

After all the gardening, the boys relaxed in MY garden chair

I'm sorry I forgot to update last night. The vet is like a 40 minute drive from where I live (The closest e-vet that sees ferrets, that is) and we got home really, really, really late.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented (even if I didn't reply, doing LJ from my phone can be difficult) and gave advice.

Xander. I have been suspicious that something was going on with him because he was acting lethargic, and had lost a little weight. I took him to the vet a little over a week ago because I suspected he may be insulinomic; however his BG was ok. We decided to wait and see if there was any change, then re-evaluate him later.

But then yesterday he had his head tilted severely to the left and he had a lot of trouble walking and went in circles. I had no clue what this could be, talked to penguinsane briefly about it to see what she though; then took him to the emergency vet in Brandon.

They saw him and took him from me immediately to stabilize him, and we waited almost an hour to hear back from the vet.

When I expressed my earlier concerns about insulinoma they did a blood test and said his BG was 192. I know you guys were expressing that this is REALLY high. I remember she said it was high also, and that it could be elevated due to stress. I also gave him some Nutra-Cal and baby food in the car on the way over (it was a 40 minute drive). There is the possibility I heard the number wrong; but I forgot to ask again.

His temp was 102. Pulse 200. Weight 1.80 lbs. No skin issues, good coat, no discharge from eyes/ears/nose. Teeth were fine, gums were fine. No obvious lumps, heat sounded fine.

The only thing off was the severe head tilt and the bad walking.

They gave me a few options: Massive ear infection, stroke, or tumor. The options they gave me were to pay an extra $200 for a blood test to check for an infection - however if he didn't have one, I'd have spent $200 on it. Or I can give him some antibiotics, and if it clears up then it was an infection and if that's not what it is I need to go back. She said it was highly unlikely to be an ear infection at this point, and that all signs were pointing more toward stroke - but she wanted to put him on the antibiotics just on the off chance it helped. If it doesn't then I have to go back and figure out what to do. Like if it was a stroke, why did he stroke; and if there is a possibility of there being a tumor near his brain or anything, since it was so sudden.

IDK. I spent a whole lot of money, didn't get any definite answers. We go back to his regular vet this week to see if she can help; and after that it's back to Dr. Lightfoot in Tampa.

Also, here is a video that shows his symptoms in case anyone was wondering. Yes, I warn you, it is very, very awful. I took it his morning after I gave him his medication.



He has kibble in his bowl because he HAS been eating; however he's now seperated from the others so I can monitor how much he eats, poos, etc very carefully. I'm also feeding him some duck soup to make sure he eats enough.

Do your ferrets like Dooker Delights or Totally Ferret Treats? I won way more than I can use before the expiration date (November I believe), so I'm offering them to anyone who wants them:

8 packs of your choice for $10 (via paypal) includes shipping. Post here if you are interested.

I am litteraly in the waiting room at the emergency vet waiting to hear. I am very, very impaitent and posting from my phone.

Anyone had a ferret with a head tilt? My 3 yr old is here bc of it, and circling to the left. The only thing we'ved ruled out so far is insulinoma (he had a bg of 192). I'm freaked out, nervous as hell, and don't know what to expect.

Howdy,

Here are a couple of pics of my babies. I miss them both (even if Samantha was a bit of a cow).

( A couple of pics behind here... )

Does anyone find that the whites tend to have a bit of an attitude and can be rather narky? Sputnik was the most adorable, loveable and friendly ferret I had ever known. Sam on the other hand was a stark contrast. She was moody, aggressive, there wasn't many times I found her to be affectionate like Sput. Both were brought as kits and were about 2 weeks to a month apart in age.

Howdy! I'm Evan, your newest member. I Was approved.... 72 seconds ago now. I thought I'd share with you all my story. i'm not a first time owner, I had a beautiful DEW some years back who we adopted from the animal rescue. She had been abandoned in an empty apartment for weeks and was picked up when the neighbors called in sighting "some big rat or something" in the place. She later died with insulinoma, adrenal, and had a horrid tumor of her pancreas that kept coming back. very sad, but she was a great girl and lived a full life when she was with us. On to more current events!


This is Doctor Cruces, my new ferret. No, that is not me holding him that way. I found this guy a few hours ago on craigslist. Cruces was purchased by a silly woman for her young child as a first pet, and upon owning it, the child (of course) is not being responsible for it's care, and she "doesn't want to" so she put up an add... the add read as follows.
"3-story Ferret Cage with accessories $100. Young sable ferret included in the purchase.
Please contact me @ ******"

... I was so very very angry that I called immediately to tell her to remove the add, that I'd be there as soon as I could (which turns out to be tomorrow around 7 o'clock). I Mean really? Cage and Accessories? Ferret included in purchase? GAH! so. pissed. off. right. now. I want to slap her in the head for being a SPO, but instead I'm going to give her my money and get that guy outa there. Gotta finish the ferret proofing that was already started on my house, cause I'm adopting an abused little girl from the local shelter as soon as they think she's ready to get out.

It's a pleasure to be here, btw. Thanks for having me in the business.

( edited so I can cross-post, cause I'm lame that way )

Although Skipper is responding well to his medication, his energy levels fluctuate. My vet told me that was common with ferrets that have Insulinoma. Today was a good day. I was in the middle of changing out water in animal cages when Skipper kept trying to run out of my room to go explore. I finally got sick of fighting with him and just left the door open so he could wander down into the hallway. He's a lot slower these days and there really isn't anything he could get into so I figured the couple of minutes wouldn't hurt him. It wasn't to hot today, was fairly dry, and there was a really really nice breeze blowing from the south due to an oncoming storm. I figured I'd take Skipper out and get some fresh air before the storm hit.

While outside, he rolled around in the grass for a while on his flexi leash and when he got bored of that, he stood up and walked down the driveway towards the front of the house/road. The neighbors who live across the street are an elderly couple, both are VERY nice, and they called over to me, asking what he was. I told them he was a ferret and the lady looked surprised and said "I thought they were illegal!" and I told her they had been legal in our state for years and that they were legal in just about every state with the exception of Calofornia, Hawaii, and a few select cities. The lady was really surprised and the man said "He's all white. Doesn't that mean he's an ermin?" XD They weren't trying to be mean or anything, they were genuinely curious. It was really cute.

After a few minutes, Skipper started getting tired so I ended up bringing him back in. He's now laying under my sweater next to me, dozing off. He's still here with me, he's doing good, and while I know his time with me is limited, we're both keeping our heads high and cherishing the time we have.

Thanks everyone.

Thomas is a happy boy so we shall continue :) You just get so stressed sometimes, especially with hubbie having issues and being stressed.

Bath day today so we'll empty bladder in the bath this evening. Never know, maybe it'll get better. He certainly doesn't seem to mind that much, must be a relief :)

Felt it this morning, nothing there so maybe he managed overnight.