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Post by FireAngel on May 18, 2017 20:56:06 GMT -5
If they already eat quail, it should be pretty easy I would think! Try just cutting it open and see how they do with it. I fins with quail, mice and chicks i do not have to gut them. As far as Gwin goes, did your vet tell you to keep him and Albie separate for a bit? 2 weeks is usually the amount of time for cage rest after a major surgery like that one. Keeping them separate will keep Albie from getting interested in the fresh wound and possibly doing damage to Gwin even if he means well. How has he eaten today? Spoon feeding him soup or even syringe feeding him if he is refusing to eat could be needed. It is very important that he eats to heal well. Hopefully the vet gave you pain meds and antibiotics for him. The pain meds can do the same to a ferret that they do to a human and make him loopy and tired and both meds could make him feel a bit nauseous. I have a small cage that I take the levels out of for recovery. The less he moves about the less chance he has of opening the wound up accidentally. Please keep me up to date here on health issues. I will be honest, I do not have a lot of time to read the other threads so I am likely to miss something if you start another thread for things. I often (usually) come in and check my switching threads and then sign off again.
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Post by marietta on May 18, 2017 22:07:24 GMT -5
No my vet did not tell me to keep them apart. I do not have a separate cage and Albie is being pretty good with Gwin. I just took out access to the upper levels of their cage so they are on one level right now. And yes he has pain meds and antibiotics as well as an anti inflammatory. I am having a lot of trouble with Gwin taking he antibiotics though. I am using a syringe but he spits a lot of it out. I may start spoon feeding him some soup if he doesn't eat much tonight.
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Post by FireAngel on May 19, 2017 22:50:16 GMT -5
Well as long as Albie is not paying any attention to the surgical site and they are not playing roughly then I suppose no harm no foul. I always feel badly when one has to be alone in the the cage for any reason but I am a paranoid momma so I don't take any risks with it (plus it was what my vet said to do and it made sense to me). Meds can be awful to try and give, I have had the most success with mixing them into a tsp or so of soup when having to give them. Depending on the med sometimes a little salmon oil mixed in the with it works also. If he is fighting a lot and you are getting scratched up etc, then wrapping him in a blanket or towel like a burrito will be helpful. I hope he is eating better for you today!
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Post by marietta on May 20, 2017 22:45:18 GMT -5
I actually talked to the vet the other day and she said to separate them since I couldn't tell if Gwin was eating and bc she didn't want them together unsupervised so we bought a small recovery cage. I feel so bad separating them. They are both sad about it. Albie is really sad. He has actually been eating quite a bit less since Albie has been away.
Gwin seems to be doing a little better everyday over all. He is eating again. He doesn't seem to want to eat anything large or bone right now though. So I am cutting meat up and putting egg powder in it for now. His incision has a lot less seeping so it is healing slowly.
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Post by FireAngel on May 21, 2017 11:30:50 GMT -5
I really hate it too, but in the long run it is what is best for Gwin's healing. Not sure if you have room to do it or have already tried but maybe putting the cages right next to each other will help with their loneliness. I'm glad he is doing better. You are doing all the right things for him so he should be great in a week or so now.
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Post by marietta on May 22, 2017 8:12:44 GMT -5
He pulled out a stitch last night 😡. Had to drop him off at the vet this morning. Hopefully things are ok.
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Post by FireAngel on May 22, 2017 18:35:36 GMT -5
Oh man, unless the spot started bleeding and the skin is seperating where the stitch was pulled from it should be fine. These guys are meant to give us heart attacks I think lol. They are so fearless it is hard to keep them safe! A sock with a harness over it to keep it in place may help if he is scratching at the site.
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Post by marietta on May 22, 2017 22:15:52 GMT -5
Sorry forgot to update. The vet said it is fine because it was a stitch that was healing well. Thankfully it wasn't the area that is still very much not healed yet. I think I may need to pick up a harness so we can keep a sock on him.
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Post by marietta on May 22, 2017 22:39:10 GMT -5
Looking at freezers. Hopefully we will have one by the end of the week so I can order some whole prey stuff and more meats in bulk.
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Post by marietta on May 23, 2017 22:04:59 GMT -5
It is so frustrating to have to keep them apart. Albie is getting so depressed that he isn't eating very much. Gwin is eating alright.
Gwin's incision is healing well over all but one area just doesn't want to heal. I don't really know why.
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Post by FireAngel on May 23, 2017 22:20:37 GMT -5
That may be the deepest part of the incision that is not healing well. If it does not have a foul smelling drainage from it, it may just need a bit more time. When are you supposed to follow up with the vet again? It is so hard to keep them separate I know. Have you tried hand feeding Albie to get him to eat a bit more during this time? I'm so excited about a freezer!! So funny what makes us happy but any good news with all the bad we get always makes me a happy camper.
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Post by marietta on May 24, 2017 14:50:12 GMT -5
I just talked to the vet. They got Gwin's test results back and the tumor is benign and it was just as infiltrating fatty tumor. So we are just suppose to keep an eye on in since it is possible it could grow back one day but the vet thinks she got it all so it may not. She also said the same thing about the incision that the spot where the tumor was is just going to take a little longer to heal because she had to take some muscle out in that area. We follow up with the vet again on June 1st. I have tried hand feeding Albie but he just takes the food and puts in down on the floor in the corner of the cage. He doesn't eat much of it. Some days he will eat about 2oz which I know is the lowest end of what a ferret should eat a day but sometimes he only eats something like 1-1.5oz a day right now. So it isn't like he isn't eating at all but I still worry about him eating enough. I don't want him to get sick.
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Post by FireAngel on May 24, 2017 21:13:44 GMT -5
Oh that is terrific news!!!!! It sounds like Albie is eating decently enough to not worry yourself silly over it, of course keeping an eye on it is a good thing to make sure it does not get any worse. You are doing an awesome job with them through this. I know how tough it is and heartbreaking it is to keep them separated but it is for the best right now and only a little longer, thankfully.
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Post by marietta on May 28, 2017 21:45:39 GMT -5
Unfortunately we may not get that freezer as soon as I thought. We aren't sure we can afford the extra expense right now. So we will have to see. Hopefully soon.
One good thing about having them separated is I can see exactly how much each eats.
This week's meals:
Sunday 5/21 AM Gwin given 2oz chicken bone in and ate 1.6oz AM Albie given 2oz chicken bone in and ate 1.2oz PM Gwin given 2oz liver and kidney puree and ate 1.6ox PM Albie given same and ate 1.2oz
Monday 5/22 AM Gwin given 2oz chicken wing and ate 2oz AM Albie given same and ate .3oz PM Gwin given 2oz Quail bone in and ate .7oz PM Albie given same and ate 1.3oz
Tuesday 5/23 AM Gwin given duck wing 2oz and 2oz eaten AM Albie given same and .8oz eaten PM Gwin given pork meat 2oz and ate 1.6oz PM Albie given same and .8 oz eaten
Wednesday 5/24 AM Each given 2oz Rabbit Gwin ate 1.6oz Albie ate 1.2oz PM each given 2oz heart Gwin ate .9oz Albie ate .7oz
Thursday 5/25 AM Each given chicken breast 2oz Gwin ate 2oz Albie ate 1.6oz PM each given quail 1.7oz Gwin ate .1oz Albie ate 1.4oz
Friday 5/26 AM Each given 2oz duck Gwin ate 1.6oz Albie ate 1oz PM each given 2oz liver kidney puree Gwin ate 2oz Albie ate .9oz
Saturday 5/27 AM Each given 2oz Rabbit Gwin ate 1.8oz Albie ate 1.2oz PM each given 2oz pork meat Gwin ate 1.6oz Albie ate 1oz
Sunday 5/28 (not sure why but they didn't eat much today.) AM Each given 2oz Chicken Wing Gwin ate .3oz Albie ate .6oz PM each given 2.4oz liver kidney puree Don't have a total eaten yet for PM
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Post by FireAngel on May 29, 2017 9:19:02 GMT -5
Always a silver lining to every cloud, I guess. Looks good though. I'll be interested to see how much of their heart meal they eat next week though. If they continue to eat less then half the meal, we may have to figure something out to make sure they are getting enough taurine. Otherwise, Gwin is healing well now?
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