Ferrets' blog

Happy Belated Birthday, Chin Soon

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:50:00 +0000

Life's been crazy busy lately and I didn't post last week about an important event. Last week was 5 years and a month since Chin Soon's rescue. We were told she was 11 months old then. That means she had her sixth birthday. Since we don't know her exact date of birth we mark her birthday by the anniversary of her rescue. Happy belated birthday, Chin Soon! I'll try to get some new, cute pictures taken soon for all to see.

Oh, and yes, Chin Soon did fully recover from her vaccination reactions and her surgery. She's bouncy and playful and acts like a young ferret again even though she's now officially "geriatric". Just don't tell her that. Last night Chin Soon and Ella took turns pouncing each other and wrestling like crazy. Ella is now about 7½ and she also doesn't know she's supposed to be old. I think Chin Soon thought it was time that she became dominant alpha and Ella was having no part of that. Ella is still the toughest ferret of the three. She doesn't start fights but she sure finishes them. In that way she reminds me of Tenchi, our first ferret and then our first alpha once ferret math struck., even if she looks more like a miniature version of Kodo (a/k/a Big Bear).

Anyway, my housemate and I did pick up a small cake to celebrate the occasion. It's been a good birthday for Chin Soon and we're thrilled she's still around to brighten our lives.

Chin Soon's Delayed Reaction To Her Distemper Vaccination

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Last Tuesday it seemed that Chin Soon's reaction to her distemper vaccination was the least severe of the three. By last night Ella and Zephyr were completely back to normal and were especially playful. They were the proverbial energizer weasels: they kept going and going. Chin Soon continued to look and feel out of sorts while the others recovered and by last night it looked like she was in serious trouble. She had no energy at all and still seemed off balance. By last night it was so bad she could barely walk. Chin Soon had obviously been losing weight despite still having her usually strong appetite for chicken gravy. I'm just not sure she was eating much of anything else. She was weak but it didn't look at all the same as when she had insulinoma. She just plain looked miserable.

I was able to reach Dr. Powers around 10 PM last night and she really came through for Chin Soon and for me. Based on her instructions I gave Chin Soon 0.05ml of pediapred (1mg/ml concentration) as an anti-inflammatory. We still had pred in the house from when she was taking it for insulinoma. I also gave her a tiny amount of famotidine (generic for Pepcid AC) crushed up in some more gravy. I've been offering her gravy every three to four hours since then. If need be Dr. Powers offered to see Chin Soon today on an emergency basis. Thankfully it wasn't necessary.

The good news is that Chin Soon seems to have turned the corner and is slowly improving. She's more perky and is eating plenty of gravy when offered. She doesn't feel nearly as light. I checked her blood glucose just in case and it was a nice, normal 101 this morning. Dr. Powers called to check up on Chin Soon and instructed me to continue the pediapred once a day for another couple of days and to continue carafate (now discontinued for the other ferrets) and the famotidine for another four days. We'll touch base on Monday or Tuesday.

Chin Soon is scheduled for her rabies vaccination and having her teeth cleaned right after the 4th of July holiday. Right now it's an open question whether or not we'll go ahead with either of those things. It all depends on how she recovers from here on out.

Three Vaccinations, Three Reactions

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Ella, Zephyr and Chin Soon all went to see Dr. Lauren Powers at Carolina Veterinary Specialists today to have their regular checkups and their annual distemper vaccinations. All three ferrets have had previous reactions to Merial Purevax, which has become the standard distemper vaccination. The older vaccine, Fervac-D, had a high rate of adverse reactions. Merial Purevax is supposed to have a very low reaction rate. Unfortunately my ferrets don't seem to know that. Anyway, in the past when a ferret of mine had a relatively minor reaction we pretreated with Benadryl the following year and there were no problems at all. This year my ferrets all had adverse reactions despite being pretreated, something I had never seen before.

The reactions included vomiting and diarrhea. Chin Soon's reaction was relatively mild. Ella and Zephyr both needed dex-s injections, a famotidine injection to settle their stomachs, and sub-q fluids to rehydrate them. Zephyr, who seemed to have the most severe reaction, stayed with Dr. Powers the longest. After three hours at the vet we finally were able to head for home thinking the worst had passed.

On the last leg of the trip home one of the ferrets (probably Zephyr, but we can't really be sure) had nasty, seriously bloody diarrhea. That qualifies as a severe reaction. I called Dr. Powers and while my housemate watched the ferrets like a hawk I ran out to the pharmacy before closing to get some carafate. If the problem recurred someone was going back to the vet for the night. Thankfully that didn't happen. Zephyr and Ella still have upset stomachs (not unexpected) but no blood. Chin Soon had little energy tonight but her stool is almost back to normal. Everyone involved, ferret and human, had a very rough day. It also turned into a somewhat expensive day, as in well over $200 all told.

Ella will be eight before she is due for another distemper vaccination. Dr. Powers has already advised me not to vaccinate her again. Between her age and the reaction it just is safer not to. Zephyr and Chin Soon will be vaccinated next year assuming they are healthy but will be pretreated with dexamethasone as well as Benadryl to prevent this from happening again.

After the fourth of July weekend all go back to the vet for their rabies vaccinations. They all have reacted to that before as well. Rabies vaccinations are mandatory where I live so we will go ahead with those. Hopefully we won't have a repeat of today's very long and very unpleasant vet visit. Ella will also have blood work done then. No, nothing is wrong. It's just something our vet likes to do every six months to catch any problems early in ferrets over seven years old.

There was good news today. Chin Soon's blood glucose was a nice, normal 109. She got a clean bill of health and has completely recovered from her April insulinoma and adrenal surgery. Dr. Powers commented that her coat is so full now you can't even tell that she had surgery. Her teeth and gums are still pretty nasty and she will have them properly scaled and cleaned next visit.

Ella is also blissfully healthy. Even though she is just about blind and occasionally bumps into things her pupils still react to a strong light and there are no signs of cataracts. Her spleen is still moderately enlarged but, as expected, we aren't going to worry about that and she has no symptoms that indicate it's a problem. It's been four and a half years since Dr. Powers did her adrenal surgery and she really has had no problems other than vaccination reactions (now three in all) since then.

Zephyr is the only ferret of my three who has never had a major health issue. Despite all that happened today she had a decent amount of energy tonight and acter like her normal self.

It's been a long day and I'm glad it's over.

Too Hot For My Ferrets (and For Me)

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:25:00 +0000

Our air conditioner is out and we're waiting for service to show up. They were supposed to "work us in" on Thursday but never showed up. This is North Carolina and we're already having summer weather. Even with everything opened up and the ceiling fans on it climbed to 82°F in the house. Even now, as of 2:27 AM, it's still 80°F indoors even though it's much cooler outside. It's also humid and I can't sleep.

Ferrets generally don't do well in temperatures over 80°F so the little weasels are probably even more uncomfortable than I am. I've made sure they have plenty of water and plenty of bedding to burrow into if they want. During playtime they seemed as happy and as active as ever at first but they ran out of energy and sacked out quickly. The few times they've had to deal with hot weather in their lives their energy level has always been way down.

It's supposed to get up to 88°F which is definitely too hot for my ferrets. If the air conditioning repair people don't show up early I'll have to make up some ice packs for the ferrets so that they can keep cool. That's pretty much all I can do until the A/C is fixed which, I hope, will be sometime during the day.

UPDATE: The A/C was fixed at 10 AM this morning. The ferrets are energizer weasels tonight and as playful as ever. What a difference a day and some cooler air makes.

Chin Soon Is Recovering Beautifully

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Chin Soon is doing absolutely brilliantly. Yesterday, after a low blood glucose reading, Dr. Powers decided to discontinue her insulin. Now, more than 48 hours without insulin, Chin Soon has a blissfully normal blood glucose of 105. Her insulin producing cells in her pancreas seem to be working normally again. All her blood glucose readings over the past 48 hours have been either normal or just a bit above normal. It's all good.

Chin Soon is also regrowing hair on her belly and where her forelegs were shaved to insert a catheter. This is a sure sign that her adrenal disease is gone.

Last night Chin Soon ran the most of all the three ferrets. She wants to go a million miles an hour, something I can't let happen just yet. Her incision is healing beautifully but it's not 100% healed yet. Fortunately Chin Soon is like Pertwee in one respect: if I put her on my shoulder and walk around she is happy to take in the world from there and calms right down. Poor Ella got pounced by Chin Soon twice and didn't get to fight back and have a wrestling match because I picked Chin Soon up and put her on my shoulder.

Anyway, I'm thrilled be these results. While Dr. Powers says it's still to early to know for sure everything at this point seems to indicate a completely successful surgery and a full recovery.

New Website For My Ferrets

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:38:00 +0000

My ferrets web pages have been moved to their own site and my ferrets now have their own web domain. I'll be first updating the pages and then redesigning them. Right now the HTML and design is positively archaic. There will be a new look soon.

The new website is at: http://www.ferretsofdisorder.co.cc. The old pages will redirect to the new for a few days until the old domain expires. Please check it out over the next few weeks and watch the changes.

Happy Birthday Zephyr!

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:30:00 +0000

With all the worry and concern about Chin Soon I neglected to mention something important. The fifth anniversary of Zephyr's original rescue and first vet appointment has passed. We don't know the exact date of Zephyr's birth but just like Ella she was estimated to be one year old when she was first examined by Dr. Dan Hudson. Add one to five and you get six years old. Happy Birthday Zephyr!

Zephyr is now a geriatric ferret but you could never tell be the way she looks or acts. She's an energizer weasel who keeps going and going during playtime. OK, she didn't the last few nights but now that she knows that Chin Soon is home, alive, and well I'll be she perks up and acts like her old self again.

Chin Soon Comes Home

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:23:00 +0000

After four days in the hospital Chin Soon is finally stable. I brought her home Friday night. She is still on insulin. With a daily insulin injection her blood glucose does still bounce around but does come back into the normal range. What we are hoping is that her blood glucose stops spiking up because her pancreas is producing insulin again. I obviously don't want her to remain diabetic and to need insulin daily and regular blood glucose checks.

Zephyr has been a little out of sorts the last few days. She hasn't been playing or wrestling much and has been clinging to me. I think she missed Chin Soon. Now that she knows Chin Soon is OK things should get better.

I am checking Chin Soon's blood glucose every four hours (yes, including in the middle of the night), giving her frequent feedings of Bob Church's Chicken Gravy, and giving her the insulin injection. These are things I've never had to do before with any of my ferrets and are definitely things I am squeamish about and uncomfortable with. Unfortunately I don't see any other choice.

The good news is that Chin Soon is alert and is acting pretty much like her normal self. When I put her into a Midwest cage (without levels or hammocks) she immediately tried to climb out. After gravy it's supposed to be playtime, right? She still thinks so. Her incision is healing nicely. I'd just like to get her back to a nice, normal life. That's when I get back to a nice, normal life.

Between the surgery and complications, four days of hospitalization, the diabetes supplies, and her prescriptions the total cost is in excess of $1,400. It will get close to $1,500 with at least one follow-up visit to Dr. Powers I'm sure some people would read this and think that I am absolutely crazy to spend this kind of money on a ferret's medical care and to go through all this aftercare as well. Most pet owners will understand perfectly. Chin Soon is part of the family. She gets what she needs. Hopefully she'll end up healthy and happy again and will be around for a few more good years.

Chin Soon Not Doing Well (Post-Surgery Diabetes)

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:56:00 +0000

If you've been reading this blog you know that Chin Soon is a 5½ year old spayed female ferret who had insulinoma and adrenal surgery on Tuesday. Her vet, Dr. Powers, found a small left adrenal tumor and an insulinoma tumor she described as "huge", "evil", and "very aggressive". It had grown up against the vena cava. There was also one smaller nodule on Chin Soon's pancreas. Dr. Powers feels she successfully removed all of the tumor and the nodule.

Chin Soon was recovering well yesterday. She had post-surgery diabetes which is something we've seen before. Her blood glucose night before last was 400. It dropped to 280 by yesterday morning and 232 by yesterday evening. Then things started going backwards. She was up to 320 by yesterday evening and the levels have kept going up. Her blood glucose this morning was 432.

Dr. Powers tells us that in cases like this, after a very large and aggressive insulinoma tumor is removed, sometimes diabetes is a permanent but manageable consequence. She is starting Chin Soon on insulin today and holding her over one more night to see how she responds. Then Chin Soon will come home but we will have to monitor her blood glucose regularly and give her a small quantity of insulin daily. She'll have to go back to Dr. Powers for a recheck her next week.

This is a setback we really did not expect or plan for. I'll post more when I know more.

Chin Soon Surgery Update

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:49:00 +0000

Chin Soon had her surgery yesterday afternoon. Dr. Powers found a small growth on her left adrenal gland. She also found an insulinoma tumor which she described as "huge", "evil", and "very aggressive" which was right next to the vena cava. She was able to remove all of it as well as one more small nodule she found on Chin Soon's pancreas.

As of late last night Chin Soon was recovering well. As of early this morning things are still going well for the most part but she is severely diabetic. Her blood glucose has been as high as 400. She is on IV fluids to avoid dehydration. We've seen this before after insulinoma surgery and normally the blood glucose does come down and return to normal. I'll get another update after noon and I still hope to be able to take her home late this afternoon or this evening.

Please continue to keep Chin Soon in your thoughts. I am hoping for a speedy and complete recovery.

Chin Soon Update: Surgery Next Tuesday

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Chin Soon is going back to see Dr. Lauren Powers at Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Huntersville again next Tuesday. She will have surgery for both insulinoma and adrenal disease.

At her last recheck her blood glucose was still only 57. She's gained a fair amount of weight, a side effect of the pediapred (prednisolone) as well as a consequence of eating lots of high calorie chicken gravy. As a result we could increase her pediapred dosage again a little. It's still not enough. Yes, Chin Soon is bouncy and playful but her stamina still isn't what it used to be and she still slips and has hind-end weakness. Her insulinoma can't be controlled with a moderate dose of pediapred and that means it's time for surgery. We no longer have any other good options.

Her adrenal disease is progressing as well despite increasing her lupron dosage to 200mcg. She's still losing hair all over the place. The only cure for adrenal disease is surgery. The only good thing about having both diseases at once is that she will only have to go through one surgery instead of two.

I'm worried, of course. This is major surgery and there is always a risk that something can go wrong. At least I have complete confidence in Dr. Powers. She did Ella's adrenal surgery more than four years ago and Ella has been fine ever since. I'm hoping the surgery will give us several more good years with Chin Soon.

The cost? Depending on what Dr. Powers finds and how well things go it will be anywhere from $850 to $1175. There is no getting around the fact that ferrets are expensive pets and that the average ferret will have at least once health crisis requiring surgery and costing $1000 or more during their lifetime.

Anyone who is a pet owner knows that pets become family members. Medical care like this is, unfortunately, a mandatory part of being a responsible pet owner.

Please keep Chin Soon in your thoughts over the next week.

Ella is 7!

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:54:00 +0000

A little over six years ago a stray ferret was found in Chapel Hill in poor condition. The average lifespan of a ferret that is turned loose or strays away from home is three days. You don't usually find stray ferrets, at least not alive. That ferret was picked up by a wonderful local ferret owner, Celia Wright, who named her Ella. Six years ago last Wednesday Ella went to the vet for the first time immediately after the rescue. The vet was Dr. Dan Hudson, our original vet (now retired) estimated her age at one year old. She was an adult ferret so she couldn't have been much younger than that. She could have been a little older but probably not much.

Sadly Celia passed away and I adopted her two ferrets, Ella and Zephyr, more than four years ago. We'll never know Ella's exact birthday but we've used that first vet visit and added the one year estimate to calculate her age. By that measure Ella turned seven this past week. Happy Birthday Ella!

While she's taking a snooze in the picture above Ella remains a very playful and active ferret. Oh, she's old by ferret standards but she doesn't act that way. This is despite the fact that she is blind now. She lost her eyesight gradually and adjusted brilliantly. She can run down the hall and make a turn into the living room at full speed and not run into anything. She knows exactly where things are supposed to be. We do rearrange the tunnels and toys (she likes exploring and finding where things are) but we also leave large areas where she can run to her hearts content without fear of bumping into anything. Sometimes she does go bump but she rarely misjudges. Ella also knows exactly where to find her gravy at the beginning of playtime and runs out of the cage and to the bowl and maximum speed.

We leave a three story ferret condo at the edge of the couch which she climbs, either on the inside or the outside, to get up on the furniture. We don't dare move that. We also always have one of her two favorite blankets where Ella likes to sleep. Other than that she gets around by sense of smell. She also comes when called so her hearing is fine.

Ella also still loves rough play. Tonight she did sock drags: literally hanging onto my sock with my foot in it while I drag her around. She also grabbed onto my thumb with both forepaws and her teeth (without biting down at all) and I literally lifted her off the couch by one thumb. She's strong and can hang on for quite some time if she wants to. Ella shows no real signs of slowing down at all, a good indication that she's still healthy. The only other health issue I am aware of is an enlarged spleen, something that's common in older ferrets. It doesn't seem to bother her at all.

I've had some seventh ferret birthdays that were bittersweet due to deteriorating health and I've had some ferrets where it was all joy. Ella's seventh (whichever day it really was or is or will be) is a happy occasion.

Chin Soon Update: Insulinoma and Adrenal Disease

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Last Tuesday I made the three hour drive to get Chin Soon to a vet I really trust: Dr. Lauren Powers at Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Huntersville.

During the entire time I've been in North Carolina and have owned ferrets Dr. Powers has always been our backup vet, the one Dr. Hudson would send us to when he wanted a second opinion or the one we went to when there was an emergency and a local vet simply wasn't available. She's an outstanding vet with a fantastic reputation in the ferret community but she is just plain far from home. The net result is that she always sees our ferrets when they are on death's door. OK, Pertwee lived for another four years after his visit with Dr. Powers but he wasn't expected to. It was nice, for once, to have Dr. Powers see a ferret she actually could treat. I guess I should point out that Dr. Powers did Ella's entirely successful adrenal surgery more than four years ago. That was a couple of months before I adopted Ella.

Dr. Powers confirmed what I pretty much knew: in addition to insulinoma Chin Soon has adrenal disease. Her nipples are enlarged and her hair loss is starting to look like a classic adrenal pattern. Dr. Powers also said something that Dr. Hudson said to me whenever I caught adrenal disease early: surgery will have to wait a little to make sure that it's clear which adrenal gland is enlarged. The disease has to progress far enough for the surgeon, in this case Dr. Powers, to actually be able to see that one gland is really bigger than the other. Chin Soon is looking at a combined adrenal and insulinoma surgery, essentially the same surgery Lady Ayeka had back in 2004, at a cost of around $900.

Dr. Powers also rechecked Chin Soon's blood glucose. Despite obvious clinical improvement from the pediapred it was still very low: 44. The pediapred dosage was increased to .18ml (5mg/5ml concentation), still less than a fifth of what the nightmare vet wanted to prescribe. Dr. Powers also started Chin Soon on 100mcg of Lupron (the one month depot) to relieve her adrenal symptoms. Lupron worked very well for Podo when his adrenal disease recurred late in his life.

Chin Soon also gained 110 grams in just a week, a side effect of the pediapred. The fact that she is voraciously eating Bob Church's Chicken Gravy twice a day when she gets her medication is almost certainly also contributing. She had actually lost weight this winter due to her illnesses so this weight gain is a good thing.

While the expense of surgery is going to be difficult to meet in the current economic climate at least I know Chin Soon can be treated and is being cared for by a great vet. As I noted in my last post Chin Soon is definitely feeling much better. The net result is that she's bouncing and war dancing and wrestling more. When she plays more Ella and Zephyr get excited and play with her. Things are better all around.

Chin Soon Is Feeling Much Better

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Chin Soon is feeling much better since starting on pediapred. I used what our original vet always used as a starting dosage: .01ml twice a day (5mg/5ml concentration) and it's pretty obvious she didn't need 10 times that much. She is very much her old self, ferreting away her favorite toys and running down the hall with abandon and, best of all, no more signs of hind end weakness.

Of course I have no idea what Chin Soon's actualy blood glucose level is at the moment. We'll know on Tuesday when she goes to see Dr. Lauren Powers, the outstanding ferret vet I've mentioned before. Then we'll know whether the pediapred dosage needs to be increased, decreased, or left alone.

Chin Soon Has Insulinoma & A Nightmare Vet Visit

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:35:00 +0000

I'm back after a long absence... This post is long but I want to get all the facts out so please bear with me.

Chin Soon is 5½ now and until recently she has had no health problems at all other than minor vaccination reactions. Lately she's had two symptoms: hind end weakness and hair loss, almost entirely on her tail. Chin Soon has rat tail at every coat change and she always grows the hair back quickly. This winter she didn't. My fears were insulinoma and adrenal disease. I've had a couple of ferrets in the past have both at once. I also thought of lymphoma. Anyway, off to the vet...

I've been back in North Carolina for a while now but I was in a quandry about what vet to take Chin Soon too. Our original vet here, Dr. Dan Hudson, retired a few years ago. The vet we used after that rarely sees ferrets now. The other vet I really trust moved all the way across the state a few years back. There are two ferret vets left in my local area. One has a fantastic reputation in terms of care but also has a reputation for being outrageously expensive and for doing everything and anything extra to increase the bill. Another who shall remain nameless was recommended by one of the active members of the local ferret club for both quality care and reasonable prices. In the current economy I decided I really had to go to the second vet.

The new vet checked Chin Soon's fasting blood glucose which was 41 so that confirmed insulinoma. She wants to do an ultrasound to see if an adrenal tumor shows up. All well and good so far. She said some other things vis a vis adrenal treatment that made no sense to me but I filed them for later research. She called in a perscription for Pediapred which I picked up yesterday afternoon. This is where things started to go seriously wrong.

The dosage with the perscription was 1.0ml twice daily, 5mg/ml solution. Yes, 1.0 not 0.1. Every other vet I've dealt with started my ferrets at 0.1ml, rechecked the glucose, and adjusted the dosage. A dosage 10 times higher worried me greatly. I called the vet's office to confirm that this was an error and that someone slipped a digit. No, it turns out that because Chin Soon's blood glucose level was "so low" she really wanted to give her 2mg per day. I wasn't going to give that much without a second opinion
.
This morning I called that vet that had moved across the state who I really do trust. She told me that the dosage prescribed was higher than what they give with chemotherapy to destroy a ferret's immune system! While she wouldn't prescribe a dosage without a visit (and I don't blame her for
that) she read me the textbook maximum dosage and it is less than a third of what the new vet prescribed for Chin Soon.

My decision, of course, is to drive three and a half hours and to take Chin Soon to the vet I spoke to today. The new vet's dosage would actually have been dangerous if not eventually life threatening for poor little Chin Soon. Thankfully I knew enough about ferrets after 11 years of having them and going through all their medical issues with them to question that dosage. Imagine if I didn't. Imagine if I just did what the new vet said. Most people would have done just that. I would have 10 years ago.

This incident, this nightmare vet, reinforced my belief that ferret medicine is a specialty and that ferrets have to go to vets who have both experience and a high success rate with ferrets. Thankfully there is an active ferret community online and in most major cities which allows ferret owners to network and get the information I need.

I also realize just how spoiled the ferrets and I were when we were in Green Bay and had a great ferret vet 20 minutes away.

Pressure Cooker On The Stove For Bob Church's Chicken Gravy

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:20:00 +0000

Next week will be five and a half years since Ella's first vet visit after Celia Wright rescued her. At that time the vet guesstimated her age to be one year old. Yep, she's definitely a senior ferret now.

Let's assume that guess on her age was spot on. Ella was an adult ferret at the time so she couldn't be much younger. She's also a Marshall Farms ferret. I've had ferrets live to be up to 10 years old but I've never had a Marshall's see their seventh birthday. Whether that's just plain bad luck or something about the way the country's largest ferret breeder raises their kits is an open question.

I'm also certainly more knowledgeable about ferret health and nutrition than I once was. I'd like to believe I can keep my current ferrets, all of whom were bred by Marshall Farms, healthy and happy a bit longer simply by doing preventative things and giving them the best possible food.

I've mentioned Bob Church's Chicken Gravy before as something I give ailing and recovering ferrets. I've also mentioned Pam Sessoms' Pressure Cooker Method as the easiest way to make it. A number of ferret owners in the area, including Pam, do give gravy in limited quantities to their healthy ferrets each day. Pam did this for both Ella and Zephyr in the time she took care of them after Celia Wright became ill and before I adopted them. Since they already had the gravy habit I kept it going.

Here we are, nearly four years later, and all three ferrets have been happy and healthy pretty much the whole time. Ella has had no recurrence of adrenal disease in nearly four years and neither Zephyr nor Chin Soon has had any serious health problems as of yet. Does feeding them a little gravy every day in addition to kibble help? A lot of ferret owners and some vets seem to think so. It's certainly worth the extra bit of work every month or two to make it for them.

I know one thing for certain: I'd like to see these three Marshall Farms bred ferrets all have seventh birthdays. I'd like them to be happy and healthy at eight and nine too.

Chin Soon Is Five

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:07:00 +0000

It was late in May, 2004 that my housemate, working with a local pet store that has since closed, rescued a little ferret that had been left at a local martial arts studio that has also since closed. That ferret, Chin Soon, was 11 months old at the time. Assuming that was accurate Chin Soon almost certainly had her fifth birthday recently. My youngest and often craziest ferret is now middle aged. Where did the time go?

The good news is that Chin Soon is happy, healthy, and still fiercely protecting her polar fleece toys. The only other ferret I've had who was so incredibly protective of and possessive of certain toys was Nyssa. Woe to any ferret who touched Nyssa's favorite stuffed doggie. Chin Soon isn't aggressive the way Nyssa was. If Zephyr steals a toy she'll patiently wait and steal it back the second Zephyr abandons it and make absolutely certain it's in one of her favorite hiding places, mostly under the coffee table. You can see her poking her head out from under the coffee table in the picture. She will then check on it regularly to make sure it stays put. That's my Chin Soon.

Happy Birthday little girl!

Anniversaries

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:09:00 +0000

It's the time of year for anniversaries. Last month was three years since Ella (asleep, above) and Zephyr were brought to my home. They've been absolutely wonderful additions to my household ever since. Earlier this month was five years since Ella was first rescued by Celia Wright, their late previous owner. Ella was estimated to be one year old at the time by a very knowledgeable vet. That means her sixth birthday has probably come and gone too and she is now a senior ferret. Thankfully she remains happy and healthy so far. Next week will be four years since Zephyr was rescued. She, too, was estimated to be a year old. That means she's probably right around five years old.

How time flies...

Technorati Tags: ferrets pets old pets ella zephyr anniversaries

My Ferrets' New Favorite Treat

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:31:00 +0000

I know I haven't posted regularly about my ferrets in a long time. Time permitting I will try and keep this blog updated regularly again.

Totally Ferret Dooker Delights are the new favorite treat for all three of my little weasels. The oh-so-pickly Chin Soon loves them and Zephyr even turned her nose up once when offered her old favorite, Bacon & Beef Bandits, because she wanted a Totally Ferret treat and nothing but. Interestingly these are treats designed for ferrets with IBD and food allergies. They're healthy for any ferrets, though, and are high in protein and contain no sugar.

I may have to try some of the new turkey and venison formula Totally Ferret food as part of their food mix since they seem to love these treats so much.

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Intermittent Tummy Trouble

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:59:00 +0000

Ella has been having an upset stomach on and off for a quite some time. All three ferrets are due for annual checkups and vaccinations shortly so I will be mentioning it to her vet. I'm not expecting anything to be done, though.

Lady Ayeka had on and off diarrhea for years. Her vets never found anything wrong and any treatment that was tried had little effect. The problem always disappeared in a day or two and always came back a few days later. Ella's issue is exactly the same. Still, we'll see if the vet can come up with anything. In the meanwhile Ella is as playful and affectionate as ever and shows no other symptoms, just like Ayeka before her.

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Chin Soon at Four

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:36:00 +0000

In June of 2004 a little frightened ferret came home with my housemate. This little ferret had been owned by a Korean family and when a family member who didn't like ferrets moved into the household their pet had to go. Chin Soon was dumped at a local martial arts studio who in turn called a local pet store who in turn called my housemate. Chin Soon was 11 months old at the time.

If you've done the math you'd already know Chin Soon probably turned four last month even if that wasn't the title of this post. (I don't know her exact date of birth.) The ferret who was afraid of everything, especially other ferrets, is now a rough and tumble, oh-so-playful little weasel who enjoys wrestling with Ella and Zephyr. So far she has thankfully been happy and healthy and has been an absolute joy.

Happy belated birthday, Chin Soon!

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The Three Remaining Ferrets Are Doing Fine

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:44:00 +0000

I know it's been a very long time since I posted to the ferrets' blog. It's a long story. I will be posting again, at least from time to time. I have recently updated the ferrets' website, both text and some pictures, so a vist there may be in order for those of you who can't get enough cute ferrets stories and photos.

Ella, Zephyr, and Chin Soon are all doing fine. They are healthy and happy. I now have medical records for Ella and Zephyr from the time Celia originally rescued them. Ella is at least five years old now. She's still as bouncy and playful as ever.

I'll post more soon. For now here is a new picture of Chin Soon being a stand up ferret :)

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More Vaccinations, No Reactions, and Traveling Weasels

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:34:00 +0000

Zephyr and Ella had their distemper vaccinations yesterday, thankfully with no reactions this time. Both Ella and Zephyr were pretreated with Benadryl and they were just fine. I waited an hour and a quarter at Dr. Wolfe's office. I probably would have waited just a bit longer still to be absolutely sure with Zephyr but it was closing time by then.

Poor Zephyr hates being in the little travel cage. Ella and Chin Soon are great travelers but Zephy gets really unhappy when she's cooped up.

The good news is that I've pretty much learned what it takes to make a Zephyr-proof barrier just about anywhere. This means that the ferrets can pretty much always get a safe play time wherever we are. The bad news is Zephyr proof also means a barrier I can't get past. Oh well... it's worth it to keep the little weasels safe.

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A Very Delayed Vaccination Reaction

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:03:00 +0000

On Wednesday my three little weasels went to the vet for their rabies vaccinations. All three have a history of reactions, albeit mild ones, so all three were pretreated with Benadryl. I talked about waiting a full hour after vaccination to make sure there was no reaction. Dr. Wolfe, who is certainly an outstanding and very experienced ferret vet, thought that half an hour is enough. I still remember making a wild U-turn on Chapel Hill Road (NC 54) to get Adric back to Dr. Hudson when he reacted to his rabies shot nearly an hour after it was given. I waited the hour.

Well... after an hour Chin Soon, Ella, and Zephyr all seemed find. I took them home. Just as I was arriving, nearly an hour and a half after being vaccinated, Zephyr started vomiting. She ended up with diarrhea and projectile vomit. I called Dr. Wolfe, gave Zephyr some more Benadryl orally at her direction, and Zephyr and I headed back to see her again. Thankfully Zephy was fine after that and was quite bright and looked really good when Dr. Wolfe saw her again. We got home sometime around 7:30 that evening.

Zephyr has been fine ever since and was very much her bratty, playful, rambunctious self on Thursday evening.

Dr. Wolfe never heard of a reaction that long after vaccination. Neither had I. Next time we pretreat Zephyr with dexamethasone and I bring plenty of reading material to wait the full 90 minutes to make sure she's OK.

Why do I always have the ferrets with weird medical issues?

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Hard To Believe My Mom Sent This

caitlynmmartin@gmail.com (Caitlyn) — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 03:29:00 +0000

My mom is starting to "get it" when it comes to pets. Both my brother and I are pet owners. My brother and his family have dogs and I, of course, have my ferrets. My mom started asking about Nyssa during her illness, which I appreciated. During her visit a few weeks ago was clearly uncomfortable with the little weasels who very much wanted to make friends and play with her.

My mom really surprised me when Nyssa had an accident on me. She actually helped with the other ferrets while I got Nyssa and myself cleaned up. She kept referring to Nyssa as "the little one" and was amazed how a ferret who looked so emaciated and "pitiful" managed to play and run around. My mom saw one of Nyssa's very last good, active periods. Since then she also asked about how Chin Soon, Ella, and Zephyr were taking Nyssa's passing and sounded sincerely concerned.

This next piece, which she saw and sent to me via e-mail, shows she really is starting to understand even if she doesn't appreciate animals herself. A few months ago I would never have believed my mom would have sent this:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets
They live here. You don't.

If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "fur"niture.)

I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

When it comes to my ferrets all four of the above statements are definitely true.

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