Post by natalieoh on Jul 15, 2017 17:23:29 GMT -5
We got Atlas, our panda, at the same time as his sable brother Pluto. They were born on December 13, 2015. They came home to our ferret Ody and after a long course of fighting all of them became friends. I was always trying to protect the babies from Ody until Atlas bit clean through the pad of my finger one day and I decided Ody could put them in their place a little 😊
Atlas always seemed to be more interested in humans than in other ferrets. He played so long and so hard the other two would get frustrated with him. Atlas was always nipping my feet, especially when I was at the sink. He was a bit of a bully but so funny and energetic. We would always joke he was planning world domination because of the looks he would give you when you tried to hold him. But hold him we did, and he would give you a few moments without protest. We even got kisses from him every once in a while.
At one point he chubbed up so much, seemingly preparing for finally taking the spot as the Alpha, and when Ody finally gave in he lost the weight again. Atlas sure was a goofy one.
He loved running through tubes, loved getting into all sorts of trouble.. getting into the tiniest little slots to get under the dishwasher or the stove..
His name is also one of the only words my son (one year old) knows. One day my son pointed at him and I said "that's Atlas" and my son (who can otherwise only say things like mama and dada) said clear as day "Atlas!" He calls all ferrets Atlas (sometimes nice and clear with the L, most of the time "Atas"). But my son always knew which of the "Atlases" was the MOST Atlas, and would shout it to him while he whispered it to the others.
Atlas always greeted me when I opened the front door. All of the ferrets did. Sometimes, if they slept through me opening the door, it would take them a few minutes. But they always came to greet me. One day about 2.5 months ago, he didn't. A few minutes passed. He still didn't. After about 20 minutes, I was concerned. I searched for him and found him acting strange and like he couldn't really move too much. I instantly packed him up to take to the emergency vet. They found that his BG was so low it didn't even register on their machine (below 10).
After a few days she diagnosed him with insulinoma. She told me she could perform an expensive surgery to remove some of the pancreas and that could help, or it might not. We started him on pred. I didn't have the money for the surgery so I waited on it a few weeks and brought him to our regular vet. His BG was fine. We lowered the pred dosage, but ordered a follow up ultrasound because it seemed he had some sort of mass.
They aspirated the mass and the vet's initial thought was that it looked like an infection. However, the lab confirmed lymphoma (start of June). We re-upped his pred dosage.
In the last week Atlas had not play fought his brothers at all. He usually was up and about more than the others but would just come out for a few minutes before crawling under the futon to sleep. He dug through his food and didn't eat much.
The other two ferrets played together and didn't bother Atlas.
Atlas refused his medicine and I tried everything I could to get him to take it. He only got about half of his dosage in the last few days because I could not get him to swallow it.
Last night I laid on the ground with him for 30 minutes trying to interact and see if this was really as bad as it felt. He would walk for a few moments and stare off into the distance.. slowly lay down and then walk again. It was all very deliberate and slow. He looked so tired. He refused to eat anything, even treats. I cried and told him I was sorry. I gave him clothes to sleep in so he could smell us and feel more comfortable.
I woke him up this morning and he just looked so thin and tired, like such a shadow of what he used to be, and I knew I had to help him cross over. I couldn't let him suffer anymore or starve himself to death.
We went to the vet, and we shared a cup of water in the exam room. I held him the entire time and he went very peacefully. I held him for a while after and told him how special he was and how much I loved him.
I miss you so much already Atlas. I love you.
Atlas always seemed to be more interested in humans than in other ferrets. He played so long and so hard the other two would get frustrated with him. Atlas was always nipping my feet, especially when I was at the sink. He was a bit of a bully but so funny and energetic. We would always joke he was planning world domination because of the looks he would give you when you tried to hold him. But hold him we did, and he would give you a few moments without protest. We even got kisses from him every once in a while.
At one point he chubbed up so much, seemingly preparing for finally taking the spot as the Alpha, and when Ody finally gave in he lost the weight again. Atlas sure was a goofy one.
He loved running through tubes, loved getting into all sorts of trouble.. getting into the tiniest little slots to get under the dishwasher or the stove..
His name is also one of the only words my son (one year old) knows. One day my son pointed at him and I said "that's Atlas" and my son (who can otherwise only say things like mama and dada) said clear as day "Atlas!" He calls all ferrets Atlas (sometimes nice and clear with the L, most of the time "Atas"). But my son always knew which of the "Atlases" was the MOST Atlas, and would shout it to him while he whispered it to the others.
Atlas always greeted me when I opened the front door. All of the ferrets did. Sometimes, if they slept through me opening the door, it would take them a few minutes. But they always came to greet me. One day about 2.5 months ago, he didn't. A few minutes passed. He still didn't. After about 20 minutes, I was concerned. I searched for him and found him acting strange and like he couldn't really move too much. I instantly packed him up to take to the emergency vet. They found that his BG was so low it didn't even register on their machine (below 10).
After a few days she diagnosed him with insulinoma. She told me she could perform an expensive surgery to remove some of the pancreas and that could help, or it might not. We started him on pred. I didn't have the money for the surgery so I waited on it a few weeks and brought him to our regular vet. His BG was fine. We lowered the pred dosage, but ordered a follow up ultrasound because it seemed he had some sort of mass.
They aspirated the mass and the vet's initial thought was that it looked like an infection. However, the lab confirmed lymphoma (start of June). We re-upped his pred dosage.
In the last week Atlas had not play fought his brothers at all. He usually was up and about more than the others but would just come out for a few minutes before crawling under the futon to sleep. He dug through his food and didn't eat much.
The other two ferrets played together and didn't bother Atlas.
Atlas refused his medicine and I tried everything I could to get him to take it. He only got about half of his dosage in the last few days because I could not get him to swallow it.
Last night I laid on the ground with him for 30 minutes trying to interact and see if this was really as bad as it felt. He would walk for a few moments and stare off into the distance.. slowly lay down and then walk again. It was all very deliberate and slow. He looked so tired. He refused to eat anything, even treats. I cried and told him I was sorry. I gave him clothes to sleep in so he could smell us and feel more comfortable.
I woke him up this morning and he just looked so thin and tired, like such a shadow of what he used to be, and I knew I had to help him cross over. I couldn't let him suffer anymore or starve himself to death.
We went to the vet, and we shared a cup of water in the exam room. I held him the entire time and he went very peacefully. I held him for a while after and told him how special he was and how much I loved him.
I miss you so much already Atlas. I love you.
