A ferrety update

[Tinytom]

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Any news on a lady friend yet .... (for the ferret )..

 

[JudyN]

Iggy has found the perfect way to repurpose old bike helmets

 

[Finsky]

So Iggy, our albino ferret, has always had as much grace and agility as a brick, it seems Goose got the gymnastics gene...or so we thought! This last week or so Iggy has discovered he can climb exceptionally well and jump gaps he never thought possible! He literally, over night it seemed, went from utterly missing an 8 inch jump from sofa to sofa(somehow!) to now almost perfectly leaping that gap and bigger and oh my goodness does he now totally love climbing! I found him on top of both the cages the other day, so high I could only just reach him and then he managed to get on a trunk, climb up through our coats and get to the helmet rack where I found him climbing through each helmet, like a ninja! His new name is 'Spider Ig'!!!

Helmets are like custom made perfect perching post for a ferret...he looks very comfortable there!

 

[Finsky]

Almost forgot, random ferret fact(think I've run out after this one!)- a group of ferrets is called
'your worst nightmare!', only joking, they're called a 'business'

I think I'm going to surprise a friend of mine who is life long ferret keeper by dropping odd random ferret fact into our conversations.... He might think I'm more clever after all than I appear at first glance

 

[Flobo]

Any news on a lady friend yet .... (for the ferret )

Ah, we've kind of decided to stop looking, I had a crisis about him bonding with an old lady and then if she went before him I didn't think Sid would ever get over it..or if he went before her how would she cope? As the brothers aren't entirely neutered I was also concerned about them bothering her, being young and boisterous too, and then we'd be back at square one but with a lonely old girl.. so head won over heart and now Sid is just spending as much time out with us,(which is all the time if no dogs are staying), being totally spoilt, hand fed and as comfortable as possible The picture is him snuggled up in daughters bed!
This last week he has slowly been eating less and sleeping more though so buckets of love, snuggles and comfort are his prescription now...eek, don't even want to think about what's on the horizon...

 

[Flobo]

Helmets are like custom made perfect perching post for a ferret...he looks very comfortable there!

He was very comfortable but when he ducked inside the helmet and started digging at the padded, rather important bit of a helmet he got removed rather swiftly!! And of course now he knows he shouldn't be up there, that is exactly where he wants to be

 

[Hemlock]

He is one lucky ferret that you take such good care of his emotional needs as well as his physical ones.

 

[Flobo]

It's been quite a week with my boys! Firstly Iggy has been to the vets with sore gums and is awaiting a dental clean now for his back teeth at the end of the month, necessary but I dread it all the same. I have also since found a lump in him which they will also check out whilst he's under... on top of that I got them out Thursday morning as usual and Goose jumped out and promptly fell over! He couldn't move or put weight on one of his back legs! Goodness knows what he'd done, as he was fine when he went to bed the night before, but off to the vets we went. Thankfully she couldn't feel any breaks or dislocations and he still had feeling in his foot so he's on strict cage rest and an anti inflammatory to see how he goes over this weekend, we have an x-ray slot booked in for Monday just in case there's no improvement. Though I am quietly hopeful today as I saw him putting some weight on the foot this morning, so fingers crossed the resting and meds do the trick and we won't need the x-ray!

Sid is still Sid I am happy to say! Still enjoying his snoozing, being hand fed and generally pampered and showered with love( even though he is a stinky old man). He settles in his cage now through the day and still comes out with Goose and Iggy mornings and afternoons, and then he is out with us after tea where he bimbles about, sometimes rearranging his stash of popped balls then he beds up with either one of us or in one of his many favourite snoozing places for the night in the front room. He does have good days and bad days as expected but he seems happy enough for the now one day at a time eh...

Here's a pic of him awake for a change!

 

[JudyN]

Now that's a ferret with attitude! (Though I'm not sure they come in any other sort...) I hope they're all fighting fit again soon.

 

[JoanneF]

I love your ferret updates! One day I would love a ferret but I know nothing about them, so I'd have loads to learn.

 

[Hemlock]

Goodvibes for ferrets feeling better and not needing vet treatment.

I once took a ferret to the vet for an Ominous Lump, and when I got into the consulting room discovered he'd chewed said lump off while we were waiting. It never came back, and the vet didn't charge me for the consultation (wouldn't happen now).

 

[Flobo]

Thankyou, ferrets are a bit hardcore!

Goose is still improving, slowly but surely, I caught him having a good old scratch with his bad leg this morning! And the few minutes he spent out of cage, restricted to the hall, while I cleaned them out, he spent the whole time manically trying to remove all the stuff I'd used to block the shut doors as he obsesses over trying to scratch/eat his way through or under them!! Thankfully once back in his cage he settles, phew... unless anything changes overnight I'm going to cancel the x-ray and keep up with the meds and rest. Fingers crossed!

 

[Flobo]

Quick update on the boys. Goose mended himself, thankfully no xray needed! Iggy now has lovely teeth and his gums are all good, but the lump was his spleen enlarged(which is what I thought from shape of it), it was around 4 times it's usual size by the time the vet got to check it out with an utra-sound and she could also see a small amount of 'fluid' in his abdomen, the concern was that it was cancerous and may burst!...there was options for more tests or surgery to remove the spleen.
After panicking and thinking surgery would have to be the option rather than delay, I re spoke to the vet and thankfully she had re thought and suggested a 10 day course of penicillin first, phew!! (not an option she had suggested on the phone prior to me picking him up btw!), I dreaded the thought of surgery, but dreading losing him more.
He's finished his meds(and amazingly is still talking to me!) is eating well and maintaining his weight, hopefully a good sign, and playing with his brother in his usual nutball way. The spleen feels a lot smaller now, so fingers crossed, he is due back at the vets in about 10 days. Ferrets having enlarged spleens is not hugely uncommon and sometimes with no known or obvious cause... so, desperately hoping there is nothing untoward going on...

With all this going on, Sid also ended up at the emergency vet( in between Goose and Iggy going!)
He didn't eat for a couple of days, no interest even in the 'critical care' food I have, I actually thought on the Saturday night we were going to lose him, so off we went on Sunday to the vets, she gave him a shot of long acting anti biotics and steroids and he's bounced right back (in his old man way), again! Not quite his time yet it seems, thankfully...
So it's been a worrying few weeks, but for now, we're all good, big phew!! Though my vet fund has taken a severe hammering!

 

[JoanneF]

Oh dear - I don't want to ”like” but you know what I mean ...

 

[Hemlock]

Poor you! I hope this is the end of the scary stuff and everyone will relax into normal good health again.

 

[Finsky]

Quick update on the boys. Goose mended himself, thankfully no xray needed! Iggy now has lovely teeth and his gums are all good, but the lump was his spleen enlarged(which is what I thought from shape of it), it was around 4 times it's usual size by the time the vet got to check it out with an utra-sound and she could also see a small amount of 'fluid' in his abdomen, the concern was that it was cancerous and may burst!...there was options for more tests or surgery to remove the spleen.
After panicking and thinking surgery would have to be the option rather than delay, I re spoke to the vet and thankfully she had re thought and suggested a 10 day course of penicillin first, phew!! (not an option she had suggested on the phone prior to me picking him up btw!), I dreaded the thought of surgery, but dreading losing him more.
He's finished his meds(and amazingly is still talking to me!) is eating well and maintaining his weight, hopefully a good sign, and playing with his brother in his usual nutball way. The spleen feels a lot smaller now, so fingers crossed, he is due back at the vets in about 10 days. Ferrets having enlarged spleens is not hugely uncommon and sometimes with no known or obvious cause... so, desperately hoping there is nothing untoward going on...

With all this going on, Sid also ended up at the emergency vet( in between Goose and Iggy going!)
He didn't eat for a couple of days, no interest even in the 'critical care' food I have, I actually thought on the Saturday night we were going to lose him, so off we went on Sunday to the vets, she gave him a shot of long acting anti biotics and steroids and he's bounced right back (in his old man way), again! Not quite his time yet it seems, thankfully...
So it's been a worrying few weeks, but for now, we're all good, big phew!! Though my vet fund has taken a severe hammering!

 

[Finsky]

Blimey....You and the ferrets have been through a mill and back lately. I'm glad to hear that there is positive news to all of your struggles. I think it is often that our expectation for the vets knowledge and problem solving during visits can be rather challenging for them. It can't be easy for the vets to come up with results in a hurry....sometimes they do need time to have a good old thinking session. It is a sign of a decent vet if they are spending their precious time problem solving and thinking more than just during those few visiting minutes..

 

[Flobo]

Yes I agree @Finsky , it is a new exotics vet that I am having to get used to too. But I quite like her and I don't massively like change! My old vet of over 25 years has cut his days down recently, so it's very hard to get an appointment with him unless you know well in advance you're going to need it, which obviously without a crystal ball I don't. The new vet has met all 3 of my little buggers now so that's something...but fingers crossed we won't have to see her too much more in the near future!!

 

[Flobo]

Ok, some sad news... We had to say goodbye to our lovely Sid nearly 2 weeks ago now. I thought I'd be able to type this with no tears but it seems I can't... We are all heartbroken... He went peacefully in my arms at the vets, his last bounce back didn't last long and it was his time, sleeping his long sleep now, buried next to Winnie.
Rip our very special old man Sid.

 

[JoanneF]

I'm so very sorry. RIP Sid.