|
I come to the thread to post about Pippin losing a nail and find a nail story already here. Pippin was thrashing about stuck to his bedding, so I grabbed Merry and went to stick him in the travel cage to keep him out of the way while I helped Pippin. Turned around and Pippin was standing behind me in a pool of blood. Poor little guy bled a lot before it stopped, and he's been limping ever since (yesterday). We were kind of worried about how much blood he lost but he is eating, sleeping and making GBS threads like normal so there isn't much we can do.
|
| # ¿ Apr 3, 2010 15:37 |
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 23, 2013 22:28 |
|
|
We actually have our little guys insured for this reason. Don't know if that's an option for you guys of course. Yep, we chose our insurance provider based on their ability to cover ferrets.
|
| # ¿ May 28, 2010 07:04 |
|
|
Sad post time... Merry is fading quick. He seems to have aged years over this past winter, grey hair all over, we hoped he would perk up with summer but he remains listless and avoids playing at all with Pippin. He also completely ignores his toys now. Over the past few weeks we have started to notice that he is having balance problems, with his back legs occasionally falling to one side. This weekend things got a lot worse, he has started to become unable to climb the shelves in his cage and will sometimes fall from them or misjudge his way down. They are not high shelves. He can get out but it seems harder and harder for him each time. We have moved a supply of food and water down to the lowest part of the cage so that he doesn't have to struggle to get to the main food area. When he is out of the cage he just roams around in circles like he is lost, and seems to be unaware of his surroundings. And when taken for walks (his favourite thing) he will walk but kind of aimlessly. Spent most of yesterday with him sleeping on my lap. We have a vets appointment on Thursday so we will hopefully find out what is going on. But I doubt it will be good. We're not the type of people to put him through some miserable treatment if it won't actually make his life better. So I can't honestly say he'll be be coming back on Thursday. He's always been a little bit "special", he was born with an eye defect that left him blind in one eye, so he spent a lot of his early life walking in to things or being surprised on his right side. It also gave him a constant look of polite disbelief. He won a bunch of prizes in the handicap class when he was a little boy, by such a large margin that he was disqualified from the following year for not being disabled enough. Anyway, sad post over. Here, have some pictures of him over his life to make up for it. Not long after we got him home for the first time.  Him and his new best friend Pippin. They are going to have so much fun together.  Exploring things is great!  And the last picture I took of him. About 2 months ago. Even then he was so much more energetic.  I'll take some more when I get home. Laser Cow fucked around with this message at Jun 7, 2010 around 09:11 |
| # ¿ Jun 7, 2010 08:59 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Seriously sounds like insulinoma to me. How old is he? They can live happy, fulfilled lives for YEARS with proper treatment, my 8 year old has had insulinoma for the past 3 years and is doing fine. Poor balance and traction in the hind legs just comes with old age, and you can do a lot of different things to make his life easier in that regard: no shelves in cage, covering all his walking surfaces with some kind of fabric to make walking easier, or making the shelves lower so the ramp isn't as steep. That is a ray of hope. He's 5 years old. His best bud Pippin of course is still as crazy as ever and doesn't understand why Merry won't play with him. It's quite heartbreaking to watch.
|
| # ¿ Jun 7, 2010 13:50 |
|
|
It is insulinoma, the vets decided against surgery so he is on half a prednisolon a day and a special diet. He seems to be responding well so far.
|
| # ¿ Jun 13, 2010 19:55 |
|
|
I'm keeping an eye on him, he seems to be enjoying the new diet quite a bit so no worries about his appetite yet. If he starts to go off it I'll talk to the vet about famotidine. Hardest thing right now is getting him to take his medicine in the first place. Mixing it in with ferretone didn't work, so far the only way we have got him to take it easily was to hide it in a piece of raw chicken and make it look like Pippin was going to get it. Nothing motivates a ferret more than thinking he is missing out. It's really nice to see him awake and responsive again. 
|
| # ¿ Jun 14, 2010 06:38 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Did your vet recommend giving pepcid with it? Sometimes prednisone (or prednisolone, which is just another form) can really irritate their stomachs and cause them not to want to eat, which can in turn cause mouth ulcers causing even LESS of an appetite, leading to wasting and blood sugar crashes. We're getting advice from the vets about our locally available options regarding pepcid. Merry lost 200 grams in the week after he started the medication, it's up a bit again due to hand feeding but it's not good. We're also still adjusting the medication, after initial good results he has kind of slipped back again so we need to up it.
|
| # ¿ Jun 21, 2010 08:27 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Oh dear! I don't know what the blood sugar reading was but he started with 1.25mg Apparently the max he should take is about 2.2mg We added 0.75 to that this morning and will see how he goes with that this week. He drinks fairly well but I'll try to keep an eye on that. He eats the soft food we ended up with from the vets quite well http://www.hillspet.com/products/pr...ine-canned.html and can be hand fed a little kibble too, its just such hard work for him.
|
| # ¿ Jun 21, 2010 13:21 |
|
|
 Merry died yesterday evening. Everybody go hug your ferrets.
|
| # ¿ Jun 26, 2010 07:05 |
|
|
Serella posted:Haha, the pet store is always confused by me. They have a card for pet food they want you to sign up for, so they ask what brand of cat food I buy when I pick up YN. I always have to tell them that I have ferrets, and that they don't carry any brands I like. v You're lucky. I have to go to three different countries. Norway has such a small selection available locally that I get stuff ordered in Sweden and I always pick up a huge bag of James Wellbeloved when I'm in the UK.
|
| # ¿ Jul 7, 2010 07:01 |
|
v I have to go to three separate stores in town to get all of my ferret stuff.
|
I would do this if my PS3 died. http://www.buzzfeed.com/sayomg/you-...inside-that-tah Pippin is starting to put a little belly on, that's about all he gets at winter time. Merry will be missed this winter, he really liked digging in the snow and was such a little fatty. Ah well.
|
| # ¿ Oct 18, 2010 10:24 |
|
|
Scoop once in the morning to get rid of night poopage and once in the evening to get rid of day poopage. Look at it this way, would you like to poo poo in a toilet that is full of poo poo? [edit] I only clean the cage once a week and change the bedding at the same time.
|
| # ¿ Dec 13, 2010 15:31 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Actually this is the only thing he got right. Pippin only gets cleaned if he does something stupid like steps in his own poop. And even then we only clean what's dirty. He lost another claw at new year, silly wee bastard. Still not sure how, seemed like he was trying to move the fridge.
|
| # ¿ Jan 14, 2011 20:03 |
|
|
Pippin never really got the hang of shoulder riding. Hoods on the other hand.
|
| # ¿ Apr 12, 2011 10:06 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:They look pretty young in those photos, without seeing the teeth there's no way to know. US ferrets are altered at like 5 or 6 weeks Seriously? It's illegal to neuter before they are 1 year old in Norway. Makes then very hard to handle and we were super relieved when we could finally have it done, what with them stinking like hell and trying to gently caress and or mark everything that was ankle height. But those pictures remind my so much of Merry.  My surviving little dude, Pippin, is much sleeker but still quite chunky.
|
| # ¿ Sep 21, 2011 07:01 |
|
|
Pippin has a vets appointment on Wednesday. He hasn't had a seizure or having trouble with his back legs, he is just really really tired all the time. He doesn't seem too comfortable eating either though he still does it. I'm really hoping it's flu, the timing is perfect as he and my wife started showing symptoms at the same time. But at the same time, he is getting on a bit and even flu can take its toll.
|
| # ¿ Dec 19, 2011 15:46 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Good on you for noticing his fatigue. Here's to hoping it's just the flu! Just by way of a late update, it was in fact a cold. Poor wee thing had a course of Benadryl and it was all fine. Though he was in a bit of a huff for a few days over us treatment. Nothing funnier tan a moody ferret.
|
| # ¿ Dec 27, 2011 20:36 |
|
|
Pippin just got back from his medical and teeth cleaning. Now that his cold has gone it turns out he is in pretty good shape for coming up on 7. His teeth are better than average and he has the beginnings of a slight cataract. Keep on trucking you funny little fella.
|
| # ¿ Jan 6, 2012 18:54 |
|
|
In my experience the ultimate ferret playplace is in fact a plastic carrier bag.
|
| # ¿ Mar 5, 2012 10:44 |
|
|
The easiest way for me to find my slippers is to check in the back of his cage first. Admittedly that's because I usually watch him steal them, but that's because he looks hilarious tripping up constantly when the get underneath him.
|
| # ¿ Mar 19, 2012 15:42 |
|
|
Pippin has, as of 15 minutes ago, started scratching at his mouth. If he is still doing it in the morning I'll call the vet. I'm guessing tooth ache?
|
| # ¿ Mar 22, 2012 22:29 |
|
|
Well it did stop, but since I never saw any evidence of food stuck in his teeth I'm going to call the vet anyway.
|
| # ¿ Mar 23, 2012 06:41 |
|
|
Pippin has a cold again. And again just after my wife got one. I worry because he will be 7 in a week. Little old man hasn't worked out he is old yet though. How old are everyone else's? I know they can get a fair bit older than this but I find it disturbing that I rarely meet any.
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2012 13:41 |
|
|
CompactFanny posted:Pippin is European, yes? He is patently healthier than our lovely north American ferrets. Here's hoping he hits double digits with you! Yeah, Pippin is European and from a locally respected breeder but I still worry. Despite his age he still looks very healthy and can still sprint for 15 minutes straight when we decide our walk is over and he makes a beeline for home, he can still jump as high as he needs to get on the sofa and he can still climb the outside of his three meter high cage. But you know, old. Also I just got home and found that my wife forgot to lock him up this morning, so someone has been having fun today.
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2012 15:36 |
|
|
Been using a rice box with Pippin for 7 years. He doesn't play with it much for playings sake anymore but we hide his toys under the rice and he likes to dig them out, hide them elsewhere then come back and sleep in it. We haven't changed the rice in seven years, while it is full of old fur, smells a bit wiffy and is not fit for human consumption it isn't moldy at all. That said I live in quite a dry climate. How do ferrets deal with change? We are moving house soon and I'm a little worried about that. Laser Cow fucked around with this message at Apr 26, 2012 around 20:38 |
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2012 20:35 |
|
|
Cross posting because who could resist. This is Pippin when he was 3 months or so old. Today he is 7.  And sorely missed, Merry around the same time. Not young enough for you?  Merry is the dark one furthest from his mother. Squeeky little fellow. No pictures of Pippin at that age, they were not related.  The rest of Merry's litter. I'm sure the little girl now has nightmares about this situation. But hey, when you have 8 baby ferrets who wouldn't pile them on a child. And here are the 2 together, the day we took them home.  The balls give you a pretty good sense of scale. When they were a little older than 1 we took them to the park to meet other ferrets.  Merry is the one looking up, in a bit of distress. Pippin is under the rest of them. The rest were all females that decided that the two boys needed looking after. Merry goes Rah!  Pippin goes wut? 
Laser Cow fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 10:24 |
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2012 10:00 |
|
|
If you move the toilet into the corner they like to poop in do they poop in a different corner? We had these triangular toilets that clipped to the side of the cage but they hated to use them, no matter where they were placed. So we tried to change toilet type to a rectangular one that we fastened to the side of the cage ourselves. Once it was in the corner they liked to poop in, almost no problem. They would occasionally poop next to it but a pile of toys strategically placed ended that too.
|
| # ¿ May 7, 2012 13:20 |
|
|
How often do you clean the toilet? I do it once in the morning and once at night. It is very rare that we get poop outside the toilet in the cage, beyond those things I have no other suggestions. Pooping outside the toilets in the rest of the apartment however. Ugh. For god's sake you just peed in the toilet, why are you pooping next to it now? Why!
|
| # ¿ May 7, 2012 14:09 |
|
|
When we first got our boys we used an ungodly mix of different kibbles, like 7 at one point, to make sure they ate all of them in case we couldn't get one (actually was a problem in Norway). Pippin isn't picky at all though, though like everything else it is more important to him where he is eating than what he is eating.
|
| # ¿ Jul 16, 2012 08:28 |
|
|
Pippin was at the vets yesterday being tested for insulinoma. He has been getting lethargic on and off and I don't take chances anymore now that he is getting old. Turns out he is anemic. Hopefully because of an ulcer which is treatable, hopefully not because of a tumor which he would be too old to have removed. We are giving him antibiotics now and treating it as if it is the ulcer, because why not. We won't find out till next week and the lab results are back though. I guess if it is a tumor then we'll just have to give him extra iron somehow and treat the symptoms. Chicken livers I guess. It's really disturbing when he phases out though, especially on the edge of the sofa and I have to catch him.
|
| # ¿ Aug 16, 2012 13:13 |
|
|
Pippins tests came back negative for the ulcer  We finished the course of meds anyway but today his symptoms started to return. Wife is calling the vet today. Prospects bleak.
|
| # ¿ Aug 27, 2012 08:18 |
|
|
His glucose is fine, no other medications. Wife got back from the vets, he has another course of antibiotics. I guess the vet wants to make sure.
|
| # ¿ Aug 27, 2012 13:40 |
|
|
The vet fasts ferrets before they do that test. They have to stay there all day. He was found to be anemic which covers that symptom. Given that he didn't respond to the ulcer medication then it is probably some form of cancer. I'm not holding out much hope here.
|
| # ¿ Aug 27, 2012 14:09 |
|
|
Pippin's symptoms returned pretty much the day after he finished his medication. He has a vets appointment on Tuesday. He was so fast asleep this morning that I thought he was dead. I used to love it when he slept like that, now it scares the poo poo out of me.
|
| # ¿ Sep 8, 2012 21:45 |
|
|
Just by way of an update, apart from the one episode mentioned above, Pippin has been perfectly fine. Keep on trucking you little monster.
|
| # ¿ Sep 21, 2012 08:47 |
|
|
We have to take Pippin to the vet this week. Over the past couple of weeks his attacks have been increasing in frequency to the point that once he is awake for 20 minutes he'll have one. The vet will test him once again for insulinoma but since it was negative last time I have little hope for some form of treatment to come from this. He is seven and a half so he has had a good run. I don't want to draw this out and make him suffer just so I can feel like I'm doing something.
|
| # ¿ Nov 13, 2012 07:35 |
|
|
Serella posted:Hope everything's ok. Even if it is insulinoma, medication can still give him a good quality of life for a time. I was amazed when Jak started on the prednisolone how his appetite picked back up and he was very energetic again. Let us know what happens! It's not insulinoma, the vet suspects that it is cardiomyopathy so we have some medication that, thankfully, isn't too invasive and should give clearly visibly results. So we'll know by a week if it has worked. Or not. We could find out for certain if it is a heart problem but we decided that the knowledge wasn't worth his discomfort. I don't want to hope too much but I've got a week more ferret at least.
|
| # ¿ Nov 14, 2012 09:32 |
|
|
Pippin update. He seems to have responded pretty well to his new medication  He got a bit worked up yesterday because we had visitors and ended up tiring himself out but for the most part he is now quite active when he is awake and much more playful. The medication is not a cure, he'll be on it for the rest of his life, and his life won't be very long. There is no cure for heart disease. But hopefully he'll be happy and feel good for as long as we can help him. Just seeing him take an interest in his toys (hiding them so we can't play with them) for the first time in months nearly made me cry.
|
| # ¿ Nov 21, 2012 09:13 |
|
|
I was looking at buying a bird a while ago when I had two ferrets and was advised not to for the same reason. It just takes one accident and you are down a bird.
|
| # ¿ Mar 11, 2013 09:07 |
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 23, 2013 22:28 |
|
|
Another vets appointment for Pippin. He is dribbling pee and seems in pain urinating. Doesn't look good for the little old man.
|
| # ¿ Mar 11, 2013 19:57 |
|
