| Homeowners with ferrets, help! |
[May. 16th, 2008|10:02 am] |
We will be moving into the new home we purchased in less than 2 weeks. I need some advice from you homeowners with ferrets. Do I put down pergo or vinyl flooring in our ferret room? The room is upstairs and has a wooden subfloor beneath it. So, I have the following concerns and cons:
Pergo
- Very little liquid to make this warp
- the underlayment for it would easily protect the subfloor and lock out odors for when I go to resell the home in a few years.
Vinyl
- Would be tough against the ferret wear and tear and resist moisture. But it wouldn't really help protect the subfloor.
- Would lock in odor possibly making resale later harder.
Any advice or ideas on this guys? |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Mar. 2nd, 2008|12:07 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  crushed | ] |
Bella lost her battle with Lymphoma on Monday. She had her second chemo treatment on Friday and I'd noticed she was severely favoring the leg that the chemo was administered into. They figured it was just tender. Later than evening, she developed severe diarhea, a rash, and she was limping worse. So I took her into the emergency vet. All they could do was give her something for the diarhea. Sunday, she wouldn't walk at all. She's panic with her back feet but wouldn't use her front legs at all. I rushed her into the oncologist on Monday morning. She was so miserable. Her coloring was orange, she was still unable to walk, she was unable to control her bodily functions.
The doctor saw her first thing and said that the chemo wasn't working, the cancer had spread to her nervous system. She didn't expect her live another 24 hours. I had to make the single hardest decision of my life thus far. In the end, I decided to end Bella's suffering. I couldn't be selfish and have her suffer for her my company any longer. She passed away in my arms and I still wonder if I did the right thing, if I could have done anything differently. After all, it went from no symptoms less than a month ago, to cancer so sever and aggressive that it devoured her lymphnodes and invaded her nervous system like wildfire. Bella had always been the healthiest, smartest, sweetest ferret we had. I'm still in a shock and a bit of denial. Her brother, Logan, is taking it reall hard as well. The other 6 of our ferrets seem to be alright. There's just no comfort, no filling the void of losing a baby.
Here's some pictures of Bella over the last few years we shared our lives with her.
( Bella ) |
|
|
| A question for the sickies |
[Feb. 19th, 2008|10:36 pm] |
A little quiz for curiosity's sake and maybe answers for newbies to the ferret world. All these pertain to when you have a ferret that's feeling under the weather.
1. When your fuzzy baby is sick, do you have a special meal you give whether by force or any other reason? If so, what does it consist of?
2. What signs do you look for as sure fire run-to-the-vet signs of illness?
3. When baby is feeling yucky, do you tend to carry them around with you rarely, often, always and why?
4. If you have multiple ferrets, do you immediately isolate them to their own cage?
5. Do you have any special setups for a "sick cage" as far as bedding, arrangement, etc.?
6. Do you find any unusual treatment to be helpful when they feel bad? (Music, warm wash cloth, heating pads, covering the cage, etc.)
7. Do you take off work when your ferret is ill?
8. Any special tips and tricks for the mommy or daddy of a sick ferret? |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Feb. 16th, 2008|08:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | worried | ] |
Bella started Chemo yesterday for lymphoma. At the time, only 2 lymphnodes were enlarged. Today, almost of them are. Has anyone else had a ferret with lymphoma undergo Chemo? Is this normal? I have no idea what to expect! |
|
|
| Urgent advice please! |
[Feb. 12th, 2008|08:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | worried | ] |
So, we thought Bella had an ulcer. Didn't want to eat, was grinding when she did and had lost some weight. We did the usual ulcer treatment. Then, I noticed a bump in her throat. Not where a lymphnode would be. I brought her back and the doctor felt this was probably a battle wound from the youngest. He figured some rough housing got to be too much and an injury to the salivary glad was infected. We follow that with some antibiotics. It didn't help. Now, the lymphnode next to the belly is enlarged. Not knowing what to do, we treat for both infection and an ulcer. We put her under and did an ultrasound of both and asprirates of each. The throat aspirate further indicated infection. The belly was pretty inconclusive. The cells there weren't typical of either lymphoma or an ulcer. We started prednisone. Bella was still no better. So, we brought her back. We ran more tests, did an x-ray and sub-q fluids. Her calcium was off the chart making her hyper-calciumic. Thus her feeling so bad. The xray showed no further growth in the 'masses'. But she had some 'congestion' in her chest and some severe inflammation in her lower intestine. It was then suggested that I talk to an oncologist and start Chemo.
I've been speaking with the amazing oncologist that managed to remove an extremely aggressive sarcoma in another ferret with all natural treatment. My doc said I urgently needed to begin this. But, now, the oncologist doesn't have enough documentation to proceed with the chemo. The doc can't help me any more with the resources he has.
I CAN'T sit back and wait for them to have a free moment and figure this out, but I'm powerless. What can I do? Has anyone else had any experience in this, or these symptoms?
P.S. I've had some MAJOR issues with the only other ferret knowledgeable vet's at the practice she just joined. AND, it's directly (as in maybe 8 feet) next door to the vet I am seeing. I don't want to burn any bridges or anything in this either. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Jan. 6th, 2008|09:39 pm] |
My vet has closed her practice and moved to another office. I don't know if her heart just isn't in it or if it's the new staff, but I just don't think I can go back. (I've left 7 messages for her and no return call and I had to medicate all 8 of our ferrets as a preventative after Biff died for unknown reasons. The staff confirmed an EXTREMELY high dosage 3 times and I knew it was wrong. It could have been lethal.)
So my question is, can anyone recommend a great ferret vet near Mesa, AZ? |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 24th, 2007|01:02 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | crushed | ] |
We brought Biff in last Saturday because he was breathing funny. Nothing else wrong. Not even lethargic. We did an xray and some blood work. The xray showed one lung had collapsed. We started calling around for an ultrasound to get a better idea. The blood work should show something in about 24 hours. Somehow the blood 'didn't get picked up' and was sent out later. Come Tuesday, no results and Biff was getting worse. He was lethargic and didn't want to eat. I called the vet back again. I was livid at the lack of blood results. I felt blown off. She called around and got someone to do the ultrasound and a tap. I rushed him in. They pulled a water bottles worth of fluid out of his chest. We have no idea how he even held that much there. It was awful. He was doped up all night. The next morning, he was eating, drinking, hulking out on the cage bars wanting out. He was basically back to normal all the sudden like a miracle. Later Wed. night, he started breathing a bit faster. I kept him in cuddles as I had been all week. Babying my baby so-to speak. He just kept getting worse and worse through the night. Thanksgiving morning after an awful scene I wish I could erase from my memory, Biff suddenly passed away. The bloodwork came back completely healthy. No results yet on the fluids.
Biff was the inspiration that lead to us rescuing ferrets as we have. He was a gorgeous blonde with dark blue eyes. He was a hob that I desperately wanted to breed. He was an angel in life and had been a part of our lives for the last 3 and a half years. There is a terrible void in our home. We're in shock and denial. It all happened so fast and with Biff, seemed impossible. The always healthy, well behaved little boy seemed invincible. We really feel like we lost a child. And, no one seems to understand that. Now, we're just left feeling void and paranoid that whatever this mystery is might be contagious. I don't know if I want to know what the fluid results say.
Please keep Biff, his fuzzy siblings and family in your prayers. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2007|11:02 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | worried | ] |
Thursday, when i got home from work, I noticed Biff was breathing really hard. I called the emergency clinics and none of them would treat ferrets with any knowledge. I called my vet and made the next available appointment. We got in Saturday morning. Though breathing hard, he scoped the room out for the 2 hours we were there. At the time, the breathing thing seemed to be a simple annoyance to Biff. The doctor, who has TONS of experience with ferrets and has a dozen herself, doesn't know what's wrong. The xrays only showed that he has only one functioning lung. A large lump sum later and no answers.
Biff is really rather down for the count today. He's only 3 years old. We're baffled. All we can do now is wait for blood work and possible do a ultrasound next week with an aspirated biopsy if we don't learn anything. He's been put on 2 antibiotics for the time being. One being administered with a syringe and the other orally. He's in my room with a heating pad, humidifier and lots and lots of blankets. He'll randomly wake up and 'hulk out' on the bars because he wants out but he'll quickly run out of steam.
Biff is where my decision to rescue all stemmed from. He means soooo very much to myself and my husband. We're a mess here with worry.
Any kind of advice, prayers, anything would be greatly appreciated. |
|
|
| Tutorials? |
[Nov. 6th, 2007|09:03 pm] |
|
I've had ferrets for years now. I'm not a vet, and I'm sure people have their own ferret care steps. But, would anyone be interested in me doing a series of tutorials? Ya know, liquid meds, solid meds, force feeding, nail trimming, etc.? I'd be more than glad to get them together if people would be interested and open to methods *maybe* outside their own. |
|
|
| Oddity |
[Sep. 1st, 2007|08:20 pm] |
|
In all my years of ferret owning, I've never experienced anything like this. I have a female with a very strange quirk. She's almost masocistic. I keep finding her doing strange things to herself and others. She chews her tail fur. Not like scratching, but like a nervous thing. She also does the fur tail thing to other ferrets. She's beginning to do it to other places on her body. She'll chew fur down to bald and I've now found a place where she's broken the skin. There's no redness, or irritation. It's just this weird quirk. Anyone else ever experience this? |
|
|
| What the?! |
[Aug. 28th, 2007|07:02 pm] |
I just grabbed one of my girls outta the cage as soon as I got home. I look her over, and the top of her head looks buzzed! It's just my hubby and myself and it wasn't there this morning. I have no idea how the heck it could have happened. Just shows, ferrets are capable of anything.
 |
|
|
| Raw Diets and Ferrets. |
[Jul. 9th, 2007|07:52 am] |
After doing a lot of research, many of the authors have said that a raw diet is one of the best that a ferret can have.
What are your thoughts on it?
It would stand to reason considering it would be the closest to their natural diet that they could get.
What would be the best form of raw diet to feed them?
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
*cross-posted* |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Jun. 17th, 2007|10:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | worried | ] |
Biff is about 4 1/2. He went to the vet Thursday and had a blood test. At home, his belly seems swollen and he seems a bit lethargic. The doc looked him over and he seemed ok. His spleen seemed a little big but, he's un-neutered and all which can be normal apparently. A full blown blood test was done to see if there was anything wrong. Has anyone else ever dealt with symptoms like this? I've had ferrets for years and gone through the gammit of fuzzy illnesses. I'm at a loss. Hopefully, the results will be back tomorrow. (4 days? sheesh, they better be!) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. Doing the normal: peeing, pooping, eating, drinking, etc.
x-posted |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Apr. 30th, 2007|06:54 pm] |
ack. my little Bacon has cataracts. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Apr. 20th, 2007|07:45 pm] |
she's home, she won't calm down, she got away from me first thing and I had to chase her down, she hates the isolation cage, calmed down when I put Bacon in for a minute but then Bacon started stepping on her so I took her out.
I am freaking because my last ferret Max died after adrenal surgery. I am very ferret knowledgable but I am still freaking out. She cannot have any pain meds right now (too soon) and I have seen her eat and drink, what else can I do. She generally lives in a ferret nation cage with her sibs. Ideas?
sorry to sound soooo dumb, I am just freaking out. want her to be okay |
|
|
| Lelu update... |
[Nov. 1st, 2006|10:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  relieved | ] |
Yesterday I posted about Lelu getting stuck between bars and being rushed to the emergency room and then the regular (ferret pro) vet. By the time Dr. Molina got to see Lelu, if she was held upright, blood would leak from her rectum and she was periodically vomitting blood. I didn't know whether or not to hold much hope. I left her there and trusted the vet. She got an IV and an xray. The xray didn't show any kind of bladder and we feared it may have burst. Dr. Molina took her home that night and continued IV and sub-q fluids. If another X-ray in the morning didn't show the bladder an emergency surgery or euthanasia would be necessary. At around 3:30 AM she managed to pull out her own IV. Apparently, she felt she didn't need it anymore. Dr. Molina felt for her bladder and found it. Upon that Lelu immediately ran to the litter box and peed. She began eating on her own again and drinking water. It's inexplicable! She's fine again. Going from bleeding from both ends to fine is a miracle!
Now, she's staying on a couple anti-biotics and ulcer preventatives. She still isn't up for play but she's active. After a huge bill we'll keep our Lou!
Several people asked about the cage. Here's a link to the exact cage:
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/theferretstore_1918_4137817
The cage is held together by plastic clips. Lelu somehow popped one off and squeezed the top corner of the cube. She then slid down in the "V" it created there and was stuck. It damn near killed her. Needless to same that cage now has about 50 zip ties all over it. If you have a similar set-up I suggest you do the same. If anyone has any better ideas on securing it PLEASE LET US ALL KNOW! |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
ferretism