Nyssa Report (with Ella, Chin Soon, and Zephyr notes)

On Wednesday night Nyssa actually had a really good night. She ran twice, maybe 40 minutes in all, and was my puppy again except for a brief period when she put her doggie in the bag and took revenge on Chin Soon by stealing her toys from under the curio cabinet. She also is definitely running with Ella more and those two are cuddled up sleeping together a lot now. Nyssa and Zephyr mostly avoid each other. I haven't seen Zephyr try to pick on Nyssa again. Chin Soon does try to initiate play with Nyssa all the time when Nyssa feels good but does take no for an answer :)

Ella and Chin Soon were really wild that night. Zephyr didn't run quite as much but did have some very playful periods.

On Thursday morning while I was getting ready to leave (as in packing my lunch) I heard Nyssa crying. I picked her up and she stopped crying but was shivering in my arms. After a few minutes she wanted down and I figured she needed the litter pan. She did manage to get into the litter pan but going was obviously painful for her. After that Nyssa took her meds and Ferretone and Ferretvite gratefully. She seemed more comfortable when I left.

Nyssa was good last night and seemed alert this morning. She had two short runs yesterday evening (only about 20 minutes) and she definitely seems to be in permanent puppy mode now. Then the others get jealous. The good news is I can keep them together now without Nyssa having problems. The only possible exception, Zephyr, was more independent last night. She was also the last one standing, just the opposite from the previous night.

All in all I think Nyssa's time is short and her symptoms mimic Lady Ayeka's in the last weeks of Ayeka's life. (I know, I've thought Nyssa was in serious trouble several times before now and she's still here.) The good news is that the gravy did put some weight on her and she seems to be maintaining that weight now. I think the gravy may also account for her increased energy lately. Bob Church knows his stuff.

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Super Puppies

Ella and Nyssa were in super puppy mode tonight. Wherever I went they went. Nyssa was feeling pretty good and wanted attention for about an hour straight. She also curled up next to me on the couch to sleep when I watched one of the few TV programs I like.

I haven't posted any cute pictures in quite a while. Here's one of Ella:


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Very Cute Ferrets In Japan

I can't read or understand a word of this Japanese blog but the ferrets in the pictures are way cute. The animation is cleverly done as well.

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Nyssa This Morning

After her meds this morning Nyssa climbed up to the top hammock and snuggled up with Chin Soon. A little later she started heading down, I guess to the litter pan, while Ella started coming up from the bottom. A quick moving Ella met a slow moving Nyssa on the middle level and Ella litterally went across Nyssa to get to the water bottle, literally laying on Nyssa to drink. Nyssa started crying. She had to go to the litter pan right then and there and didn't have the strength to extricate herself from Ella. Ella didn't mean any harm and wasn't trying to pick on Nyssa.

Anyway, I cleaned up both Nyssa and the middle level. I then put Nyssa back in the bottom of the cage. She promptly, slowly, went back up the ramp, ending up in the top hammock snuggled with Chin Soon.

Poor Nyssa. She doesn't move very quickly anymore and she isn't strong anymore. She is still strong willed, though, and Ella wasn't going to change where she wanted to be or where she was going.


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New Ferret Vet; Nyssa Is Still Doing Amazingly Well Considering

Nyssa went to see her new, highly recommended ferret vet. I must say my first impression is really positive. The people who were there before me have two ferrets, one of which, a beautiful five year old white ferret girl, recently had combined adrenal and insulinoma surgery. She's obviously recovered beautifully. That was really encouraging. So... Nyssa saw Dr. Sarah Wolfe at Animal Hospital of De Pere.

Dr. Wolfe's opinion was the same as Dr. Weston's and Dr. Rosing's: yes, Nyssa has lots of enlarged stuff, including some lymph nodes. Her body temperature was low (99.7) but that isn't anything new. Her gums, especially near the broken canine tooth, are, in Dr. Wolf's words, "a disaster", which is also nothing new. She was on antibiotics for that back in October. Consdering Nyssa was diagnosed with lymphoma almost 14 months ago she is doing amazingly well. Nyssa was awake, alert, and wanted to explore at the vet's today. Since she wasn't allowed to run around she decided eating large quantities of Totally Ferret (the senior formula) was a good alternative.

Dr. Wolfe basically wants to continue doing what we've been doing. Don't change what is working well. She's calling in torbugesic (pain medication) to a pharmacy in case Nyssa needs it again.

Last night Nyssa was in rare form. I haven't seen her have that much energy in months. Chin Soon definitely noticed and at one point she started war dancing around Nyssa. I got a two second look at Nyssa's war dance for the first time since my consulting gig in Pittsburgh. Again, it's been months.

Oh, and yesterday was seven and a half years to the day since Nyssa came home with me. No, I don't put much stock in half anniversaries but with an old ferret with a dreaded disease such dates are definitely worth noting.

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Ringing In A Ferrety New Year

Last night I ended up staying home (details in my Entropy blog) and it was just me and the ferrets to celebrate the New Year. The three younger weasels were totally playful and wild and pretty much kept going like Energizer bunnies for three and a half hours.

Zephyr's favorite game lately is one the late, great Pertwee loved: to go into the tunnels and have me play with her through the tunnel walls. She scratches and I scratch back, she sticks her nose in the little holes in the hard plastic tunnels and I stick a small finger in. She'll turn around and lick it or gently nip at it or go for another hole and I'm supposed to follow. When she goes into the soft tubes I lift them and tumble her. When she comes to the end we play a little hide a seek. Zephy was also incredibly affectionate and full of kisses. So was Chin Soon, for that matter, when she wasn't jumping, pouncing Ella to start a wrestling match, or relocating her polar fleece balls.

The only down note was when Ella jumped Nyssa, I think just wanting to play. Nyssa was barely awake at that point and let out a squeak. The hair on her tail stood up and she just stood there, shivering. Nyssa just wasn't ready for wild play. She rarely ever is anymore and it has to be on her own terms. Ella meant no harm but it just didn't go well. I picked Nyssa up and she just wanted to be held. She shivered a lot. It was time for her medicine maybe 20 minutes later and that, plus the "treats" that go with it (like her high calorie supplement) seemed to help. Nyssa settled down to sleep in the fleecy blanket and rested comfortable.

By 11:30 all the ferrets were crashed out but Nyssa was ready to get up again. This time Nyssa was very awake, very alert, and very playful. My old ferret and I rang in the New Year together. She played with her doggie, wanted up on the couch, wanted to be hand-fed some TF senior, and went and had three other dinner breaks. (Is this a ferret or a hobbit?) With Zephyr asleep she even decided to run through the tunnels. In many ways she really was her old self which was just plain great to see. We had a full hour of one-on-one time and for Nyssa a straight hour of play and run is very rare indeed nowadays. Ella, Chin Soon, and Zephyr were all great fun but Nyssa's finish to ferret playtime made it a very special and very happy New Year.

Nyssa was diagnosed with lymphoma in November, 2004. No ferret of mine has held on so long with this disease. Neither Nyssa's vets nor I dreamed she'd still be here in 2006 and still be playing. She's even put a couple of ounces back on, something she desperately needed to do.

I don't usually stay up late anymore so I was exhausted but happy.

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