From:
"narcotic_future"
Date: 2007-07-04 10:53:42 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Problems with the kits
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Writting here is probably one of my last chances to understand what
is happening to my ferrets, in case I get any help from you.
Starting with the beginning, I bred my female ferret some time ago
and she had 10 wonderful kits (7 like her, with common ferret design
and 3 albinos). They all grew up pretty hard, meaning that they
started to walk a bit late and with difficulty. Initially, I thought
it happened like that because they were so many and poor Bijou (the
mother) couldn't handle it. She even had a calcium breakdown at some
point...
After they started walking, I noticed that all the albinos had
problems with their legs. I made Xrays and apparently they suffered
from rickets. Their bones practically bent, broke under their own
weight and welded in a wrong position (it's amazing, the bones
looked like halfmoons..). One of the them, Pif, is the worst. He can
barely move, not to mention walking ...
The vet performed surgeries on their bones yesterday. They are all
cut now, with canes in their thighbones. I don't even want to
imagine the suffering they go through, but I just feel I have to try
everything in order to offer them a better life. I just cannot put
them down, even though, if this fails too...I don't know what I am
going to do...
As if this was not enough, when I returned from the vet yesterday,
one of the other kits died. He just screamed in an strange way, his
gums and tongue turned white, and in less than a minute, died. I
didn't even have time to react, this is what bothers me the most. I
tried what I knew from my poor experience: massage on the belly and
heart area, even mouth to mouth breathing. I just couldnt do
anything for poor Teddy :(. After performing an authopsy, the vet
told me he suffered from a heart congenital malformation. I franckly
doubt that, I think it must have been a respiratory failure, but
unfortunatelly there are no vets in this country who know how to
deal with ferrets. Some of them even told me they are rodents, so
you can imagine how 'vast' is their knowledge in these animals.
I dont trust them and I am sure that these animals would have been
in a much better shape if somebody had known what to do from the
very beginning. 100 vet, 100 opinions. And radically different.
I noticed this morning that another female kit (one of the albinos)
have a swelling on her back, right bellow the shoulder blade. It's
of hard consistency and it doesn't move. I am afraid it could be a
tumour or who knows what else. The vet cannot say for sure...
You cannot imagine my disappointment and sadness. They are 3 months
old and they went through so many things when they should be happily
playing without any health problems. At least at this age. I gave
them vitamins and the diet is so close to their natural feeding, as
ferret processed food cannot be found here.
The vet told me now to give them Ca, Mg, B1 vitamins. I am not sure
if this is right too. Please, I need some help from you people. You
have much more experience with this kind of animal, because it's a
largely spread pet over there. Have you ever encountered a similar
case? Could it be a genetic problem? (the parents are not
relatives). What can you tell me about the swelling on the back (the
spine)?
Any advice could help me in this moment. Thank you and sorry for my
poor English.
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