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Post by lizra on Mar 29, 2011 16:27:51 GMT -5
Hi,
On Saturday Izzy, our 2 year old female ferret, fell from her cage and hurt her back. She can't move her back legs and the X-ray revealed that one of her vertebrae is out of alignment, but her spinal cord seems to be intact. She does have feeling in her back legs (the vet pinched her toes and she tried to move them away) so that's a good sign. We have been giving her Anti-inflammatories twice a day to reduce the swelling from the injury and hopefully she'll get better.
She has been going to the bathroom on herself when she falls asleep so we've been cleaning her every few hours. We gave a quick cleaning yesterday with the shower hose on her bottom end and she started to kick out with her legs and move her hips. It was scary in the sense we thought she'll hurt herself, and exciting in the sense she is getting better.
We are planning on taking her to the Vet again this Saturday to get another X-ray to see if any changes are present.
Has anyone experienced this before? Is there any chance that she could recover fully?
Thanks,
-Worried ferret owner
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Post by shilohismygirl on Mar 29, 2011 17:09:26 GMT -5
I don't have any experience, but I do want to say, I am so sorry that your baby is hurt. There are a few who will have great advice for you. But, I do offer my support. I'll keep your little one in my thoughts!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2011 17:11:36 GMT -5
my gosh! How scary that must be! I haven't personally had to deal with any back injuries, thankgoodness, but there are a few with experience. I'm sure that when Heather gets back on this evening she'll be able to help you out. There are threads...somewhere that have info on physical therapy to help strengthen the hind legs and one that has instructions on how to make a "slider" kinda like a ferret wheelchair but not quite... I'll go hunting and post them ASAP!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2011 17:22:32 GMT -5
I'm so sorry your baby got hurt - you sound like you're doing a great job My prayers will be with you baby, hoping she can recover some movement
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2011 17:31:44 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Mar 29, 2011 17:36:58 GMT -5
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Post by tinytippytoes on Mar 29, 2011 19:36:10 GMT -5
OMG so sorry that had to happen. Not any help here but saying prayers and sending good vibes for the 2 of you.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 29, 2011 19:41:52 GMT -5
Hopefully once the swelling is reduced, the muscles will start pulling the vertebrae back somewhat. I'd wait til the next xray before trying any of the physio, just in case. If it's still swollen, working it could exacerbate the injury.
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Post by Heather on Mar 29, 2011 23:42:42 GMT -5
I agree with Sherry. Don't do anything, until the vet clears the little one for physio. Let her rest, let the anti-inflammatories work, and don't allow her body to hang, always support her back. She will have movement long before she gains control over her bladder and bowels. Don't just rinse her off. Right now, she's in a very fragile state. Let her heal, follow the vet's directions as closely as possible. All things being possible your little one could heal with little long term damage (my Porthos had a fractured lower spine from being flung against a wall by his previous person) and was able to live quite comfortably with his healed injuries. You have to be careful though. You can have further damage occur if this hasn't healed properly. ciao
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Post by lizra on Mar 30, 2011 22:11:23 GMT -5
Thank-you for all your support. I really appreciate everyone's suggestions and comments.
Izzy is doing much better. She now has full control over her bowels and she tries to get to a corner to relieve herself. Her voracious appetite is back and she's bright eyed once again. She can place her legs underneath herself but she ends up kicking them out to the side, like she can't coordinate them properly. I try to stop her from moving, but she has so much energy now and she sometimes wakes up when I leave the room to do chores. I also notice she is able to curl her toes and it seems she has full control over her legs. (I used a wet rag to clean her feet and she curled her toes over my fingers).
I will update this thread once I get more information from the Vet on Saturday. My fingers are crossed!
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Post by Heather on Mar 30, 2011 22:16:57 GMT -5
It certainly looks positive. Please keep us posted, it does indeed look that you're seeing huge improvements. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2011 22:27:45 GMT -5
Sounds like hopeful news! I'm keeping your baby in my thoughts
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Post by lizra on Apr 3, 2011 11:46:14 GMT -5
Hi,
The Vet examined her and the swelling from her back was gone, but she showed no discomfort at being felt along her spine or even her insides. Izzy couldn't tell if her bladder was full which it was extremely full at the time nor did she show control over her bowels...she just moved away from it when she woke up. She was already showing signs of urine scalding on her legs...she just dribbles urine out and have jobs that we can't be there for her to clean her up. She would have had a very high chance of urinary tract infections and I coudln't let her live like that. We made the painful decision to euthanize her.
I'm sorry to share such bad news. She is missed terribly by my husband and I. We gave her a good life. We had four ferrets she could play with, two males and two females. Our oldest female , Cleo, passed away in February so she will be reunited with her. We still have our two males and I hope they stick around for a while.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 3, 2011 14:01:17 GMT -5
I am so very sorry for your loss.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2011 15:16:17 GMT -5
D.I.P. little one
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