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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 17:31:59 GMT -5
I am posting this even if the worst has already happened, because I remained restless ever since, still crying everytime..
I had a ferret, Ozzy, who would have turned 5 this year. I took him to the vet for a check up and vaccines and they found earmites and gave us treatment. They said there was absolutely nothing else wrong with him. He felt better after that, no more itching, he was acting absolutely normal. After months of being fine, within a week he lost a lot of weight, but he was eating and pooping normally (so no blockage)...Got a specialist appointment for a couple of days after (couldn't get a doctor until then). The day before, my husband played with him, then he went to bed, and in the morning, I woke up, he was in his cage, soup spilled everywhere and staring in blank. I picked him up, cleaned the food off him, and I noticed that he couldn't walk. Called emergency and we were heading out, but he jumped out of my arms, starting seizing and died, all within 5 min max. The vet appointment was for the next day...
What we found out later was.. insulinoma, even if he didn't show any symptoms until the last moment...
He died in april this year, and I still can't come to terms with it. IS this even possible, not showing anything until the last moment and then by the time you go grab syrup, he's gone? I just feel like we didn't do enough, that I didn't see, but, it happened so fast...
Here he is, always in our hearts..
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 17:33:39 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 17:54:05 GMT -5
I'm so sorry about Ozzy. I know how much you loved him and it just doesn't seem to get easier but you will be able to smile one day as you remember all the funny sweet little things that he did. Insulinoma is a rather quiet illness. Ponce developed it, and the first tests came back negative. He was almost seven and had started sleeping more and more. We assumed it was his age. I noticed him staring into space and blanking out. I became alarmed when he developed hind leg weakness. Our vet was mostly a dog and cat vet, the tests came back low but not positive for Insulinoma and the symptoms went away. She put him on antibiotics. The symptoms came back two months later, and hit him fast. We took him back and this time we found the Insulinoma and Lymphoma. We lost him to Lymphoma a few weeks later. By then, I had found the Forum and knew much more. It was too late to help Ponce, but finding all of you helped me. Almsot every ferrent here has made some mistakes, or missed their little ones symptoms. That's why the Forum exists. We can share knowledge, share in grief and help pass along our experiences and hopefully, help someone else avoid what we experienced. Your Ozzy was darling. Try to take some comfort that he knew he was loved and he is at peace now, over the Rainbow Bridge. You will see each other again someday.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 18:01:09 GMT -5
I'm so very sorry. I lost 2 of my babies from Insulinoma in the past 3 months. Yes, it is possible, unfortunately. Ferrets are good at hiding illnesses, and usually what makes people not realize is because all their ferret may do is sleep more and become less active over time, no serious symptoms. My Juliet wasn't obvious about hers, she had Adrenal and then 7 mo later tested her BG and it was low. She was on medicine and felt better, a couple weeks after her diagnosis, her only symptoms being tired, I woke up to her seizing, she seized for an hour before we could get to the ER Vet (it's far away). The seizure didn't take her per se, we're pretty sure she had Lymphoma too, and our theory is the Adrenal caused the Insulinoma, and that caused the Lymphoma, when she had a seizure it weakened her body and caused the Lymphoma to raid her entire body, taking over her organs and shutting everything down. She was fine on Wednesday, and on Saturday she was gone. It can happen fast and sudden, or slow and lingering... neither one is less saddening and it never gets easier.
But know that your little boy lived a happy life, he loved you and he knew you loved him, you did what you could and you will see him again one day, over the Rainbow Bridge. And do not blame yourself, you couldn't have known, it can be a silent cancer and it progresses so very fast, it's not your fault, you tried, and you were there with him and he knew that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 20:09:43 GMT -5
@poncesmom , @julesalot , thank you so much, your messages brought a little peace for me.. I know you've been though a lot, I read so many heartbreaking stories here. But I guess that is life, losing your dear ones is always terrifying. I did want to know though, even if nothing can be changed, whether that d*mn ilness can kick in so fast and so hard. And of course, now I am veeery paranoid! But I did need some closure too..
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 20:14:03 GMT -5
Usually you see symptoms, but cancer is cancer, we hate it but sometimes there is nothing that can be done but kiss them goodbye and promise you will see them again someday. My first girl had hind leg weakness, my second was just tired, the symptoms can be subtle and it's not our fault, it really isn't. If you're worried for your other(s), you can do monthly or every 2-3 mo BG checks to make sure their levels are good, I do this with mine. If you need help on it let me or another member know, most of us have done it at least once, I've done it too many times to count, actually just did an hour ago. |
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Post by unclejoe on Dec 17, 2014 21:31:39 GMT -5
I'm so sorry, that is sad. I do know at least one other ferrant who lost a 3 year old to his first major seizure. Dar and I were in a chat room with her when it happened, told her to do the karo gum rub and everything but it did't help. It was awful. We felt so helpless, but she did all she could. I think she said she saw him staring into space once a week before. We've been very lucky with the half dozen cases we've had in that we caught those subtle signs and did our own blood test right away. After the first case passed, we kept the pred for just in case. With as many ferrets as we've had, it's inevitable that there will be another insulinoma some day, and having meds on hand has kept them alive long enough to get to a vet.
A lot of ferranting lessons are learned the hard way. Please don't blame yourself. I try to comfort myself knowing that any time they have past 3 years is more than they would get in the wild, but hindsight is hard to shake, and even 7 years doesn't seem like enough time with us.
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