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| Zippy |
| Zippy passed away September 5, 2003. He was 6 years old He is a very sweet boy who will give kisses. He is a single ferret. He likes to snuggle once in awhile and he loves to play in plastic bags. He also loves ferretone and hammocks. However, his favorite thing in the world is to go outside for walks. He really enjoys that special time and it helps him keep moving and "smiling". We ran a test for insulinoma shortly after arriving here because he seemed to get tired quickly. His blood sugar was 42 (Low). We tried to run another blood test without much luck. He was off his medication for 2 days and he was very lethargic. The vet said that because of his symptoms now, she was almost positive that it was insulinoma. UPDATE August 28, 2003 Hello everyone. The other day I posted to some boards talking about our permanent resident Zippy. http://www.picturetrails.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2684479&uid=421224 He was outside walking in the evening with me on Monday. Then yesterday with Shawn. At about 11:30 pm last night I got him up to let him run around and get his baby food and medication into him. He ate all of his food and was wondering around. I got ready to go to bed and wanted to say good night to him (Shawn was staying up). I couldn't find him at first. Finally we found him in the tube under our futon. Upon pulling him out I noticed that he wasn't moving. Thinking he might just be doing the dead ferret thing on me I looked for breathing....I couldn't see it... then I saw his mouth... open.... not breathing. I looked at Shawn and was scared.... I don't have a clue as to what I said, but Shawn took Zippy and felt for breathing and a heartbeat. He had a heartbeat but was barely breathing and was unresponsive. Then Zippy stopped breathing. Shawn started CPR while I ran and got some gateraide an also the kyro syrup. That didn't help at all. Since he was not breathing on his own he was also not swallowing on his own. I rubbed some syrup on his gums with a q-tip (learned that from Ferrets for Dummies). Shawn continued to breath for him and I called the ER Vet. The vet (not our normal one) said that she was over 30 minutes away and might not be of any help. I hung up and called our vet at home. She wasn't home...I left a message. Shawn was still working on him. After about 3 minutes I called the ER Vet back and told her that we needed to bring him in. Now, this is NOT our normal vet, nor our normal clinic. This vet tried to explain to me that what I was asking would not work. That he was old and would not make it to the vets. Trying to be nice... to a point... I explained that about a month ago I was at another shelter in Tucson and saw this same thing happen to another ferret. They had oxygen and sub-q fluids on hand there and were able to keep the ferret alive and breathing - then we rushed him to the vets. That ferret is fine now. I explained that I needed...no, I had to try, I couldn't just sit here and watch him die. So, she explained how much it would be for the ER visit (let's not go there) and I said fine. She said that she would have her tech meet us there and give him a shot of dextrose (I think that is the name) in his stomach and put him on some oxygen, but if he wasn't breathing on his own in 15 minutes that was all she would do. She didn't want the vet tech to stay out there all night. (SCREAM!!!!) So, I drive while Shawn continues to do CPR on Zippy. I thought we had lost him during the drive. The clinic is about 20 minutes away. About 3 minutes out, he started convulsing (this is my first time with it and let me tell you what... I don't ever want to go through that again!). Once we got there the tech put him on oxygen and gave him the shot. Then she explained that he might need to go to Tucson for 24 hour care. Tucson is about 65 miles from here. So, while she went and did the nice bill, Shawn and I talked. Zippy must have heard us cause he stabilized and woke up some. He stopped convulsing and was breathing. We decided that we wanted our vet to look at him in the morning. The vet tech gave Shawn another shot of the dextrose to take home in case it happened again during the night. After paying the vet tech and thanking her for her time we left. Shawn drove home and I held Zippy. CPR no longer needed and I have stopped crying... Shawn was up most of the night with him. I had to get some sleep because I had to work today. I called the vets office at 7 and they got him in at 10 am. Now... let me tell you, when I left this morning and went into Shawn's room where Zippy is at, Zippy looked perfectly fine. Walking around, wanting to play. Like nothing happened! At his appointment today (Shawn took him) the vet did x-rays along with feeling his belly and stuff. She said that the CPR work and can't see any brain damage (he looks and walks fine). After his tests results she said that he needed surgery. Appears to have an enlarged kidney or something growing on his kidney or near it. His spleen is a little enlarged and he also has enlarged lymphoids. She doesn't want to do the surgery until next week. She put him on antibiotics and up'd his prednisone to 3 mg. a day. She wants to make sure he is healthy enough for surgery so we don't put him at another risk. September 5, 2003 8:30 am Today...he is in for surgery to see what is wrong. I am asking for prayers and healing thoughts for him. He is such a sweet boy and is only 6 years old. Anyone who meets him would know that. Tracee got to meet him last night and she fell in love with him. I am afraid. I worry that they are going to open him up, find a bunch wrong and then call me to let me know that he isn't going to make it. The tears roll.... I should hear from the vet in about 2 hours. Or at least I hope that is all it takes.... These little ones steal so much from us... but mostly our hearts. September 5, 2003 ... 11:30 am Spoke to the vet. Here is what she said... first off... Zippy is recovering ok. He had an enlarged spleen but nothing to really worry about (within range). His pancreas had 2 nodules on it. One was very small, and the other one was the size of her finger tip. She removed both of them. He had one enlarged adrenal gland but she did not remove because it was too close to the vein. His left kidney looked abnormal. His lymphoids were enlarged from what she could see also. She is sending out tissue to see if he has lymphoma or anything else. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and wishes. September 5, 2003 ... 2:38 pm The vet just called. Zippy started bleeding. They started to work on him again to stop the bleeding and he stopped breathing. They couldn't get him back. Zippy passed away. I picked up Zippy and Shawn and I buried him next to our other babies. Mommys' Shadow will forever be in my heart.... |
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