Marlin & Titus, AKA Diggery & Weezely    • Marlin, AKA Diggery was a DEW male. He left for the Rainbow Bridge on May 30, 2009.    • Titus, AKA Weezely was a sable male.

November 16, 2009:
  Sorry this took a while to get to you but Doc G was out of town and I had to try different meds for Ron, still waiting for him to call me about where to go, but he does NOT have cancer!!! They believe bowel and perhaps ulcer. But the meds aren't doing a whole lot. They had him on Pred then added carafate, amoxi drops and a metrodi... something or other. He started that other stuff last week on Tuesday night. only had 1 green diarrhea but he's still sleeping almost all the time. he is bright eyed though when he is awake. he actually came out for almost an hour on saturday when the rest of them were out in the house. other than that he's asleep. I wake him in the am to give meds and end up waking him again in the afternoon for meds. I've seen him eating and going potty ok, drinks allot too after he gets up. So as soon as I hear more, will let you know.
  Thanks,
  Kristie

October 27, 2009:
  Hi Brenda. Sorry haven't updated recently, spent last week in Cali at the conference and am trying to catch up. You know about Diggery (Marlin) and here is what's up with Weezely (Titus):
  He's lost weight and has brown stuff around his nose still. Pee and poo are fine and so it appetite, just s little slow. not sure if it's coat change so I am taking him to the vet this afternoon to get checked out. Will let you know the outcome.
  Kristie

May 30, 2009:
  I had to put Diggery (Titus) down Thursday night. Doc G said it was time. He was just going to progressively get worse. It was peaceful and Weeze (Marlin) was with him.
  Weeze (Marlin) is good, no reaction to his shot and all looks good.

February 10, 2009:
  He came home. On Moxy for a week to see if he feels icky and grinds cause of the helicobacter. If not then it's the tumor. It's right adrenal (I thought it was left) so surgery is trickier. It sits right on his liver and next to his kidney. Not sure what I will do yet, but I'm inclined not to do surgery cause it might be a waste of it has gone into those organs. Don't want him to have it then get sick again, there is a great chance of that. Don't know yet.
  Will keep you posted. Thanks!

February 9, 2009:
  Diggery (Titus) is at South Towne with Doc G right now. I took him in as an emergency this morning. He has been losing weight and less active for about a week. Last night I found a huge lump by his stomach. I thought it was a blockage. I did not isolate him cause he was very stressed out already (grinding his teeth real bad) and I found no awful poops or vomit. But I was not sure is he was even pooping. I probably should have isolated him to tell but I knew he was going in to the vet today so I let him stay with his family, they are all very close.
  The lump was not his stomach after all, he has a massive tumor. It's actually bigger today that last night (about the size of a plum Doc says). The cells he took tell him it's more than likely a carcinoma. He suspects it's an adrenal tumor. He says it's possible it has spread to a kidney or his liver, wont know till they go inside. If it's adrenal, at this age (3), Doc says he has a 50-50 chance to get it in his other adrenal gland. He cannot tell me for sure they can even get all the tumor out. They may have to take part of his liver or tie off his vena cava.
  I have NO problem spending that kind of money on him but Doc cannot tell me if I do that if he will be ok and for how long. I just don't want him to suffer anymore or to have to go through this again in 6 months or a year.
  He also says more than likely the teeth grinding and sleepiness are signs he has helicobacter in his tummy. They are starting treatment for that today. I told him not to do anything else, but he has taken blood and done an ultrasound.
  I am very torn on whether to put him through this. I don't want to let him go but if he can't live a good healthy like for another 3, 4, or 5 years, do I put him through this, just so I can keep him around. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. (a private reply email was sent from shelter mum.)

September 23, 2008:
  Both boys are doing great. It took about 2 1/2 months for them to be really comfortable in their new digs. It wasn't until they were really "at home" when I introduced them to the rest of the business. Boy that didn't take long at all. About 1 1/2 later they moved in to the fert room with the others. They all sleep and play together now like they've been together forever. Titus has his winter coat already, Marlin is a little slower for that part. Been to visit Doc and they are healthy little dudes he says. We actually get kisses now too. They are such a great addition to the Harmony House business!

March 27, 2008:
  But I don't want Titus to be an unhappy mess either. Very hard place. I don't care if he bites me, I only care that he is happy. Abe bit me for a while too and he turned out to be a happy little dude in the end. Took a few months though.
  John and I were thinking that it might help if we let them have free roam during the day. Not yet at night cause he got under the covers yesterday while John was still asleep and bit his leg bad. So, if they are out and free all day and only go into the cage when we are asleep, maybe that will help. We are going to move the dresser so they can't get on it and jump over the door barrier, then they can stay out while we're not home. We'll try that for a bit and see how it goes. He is letting me love on him more when I wake him up and last night when I put them to bed, I sat with my arm in the door and pet him and he really seemed relaxed and enjoyed it. I talked softly to him and just kept telling him I wanted him to be happy and that I loved him so very much. He even closed his eyes. as soon as I stopped petting he looked up at me, when I started again, he lay back down. He is weird about his toys still, like he thinks I am going to steal them from him. So I told him again last night that they were his and I would not take them. I said "I gave them to you, they are yours. I wanted you to have them cause I love you and I will never take them away from you."
  I don't want you to be all worried about him. If you want them back, tell me please. I want to do what's best for them both, which right now seems like two different things which makes it so hard. I don't want to give up. He is eating and pooping good so doesn't seem to be under stress.
  Sunday they finally all came out together. I opened the whole house and they (all 10) ran about together for almost 2 hours. They did great. No fights and lots of butt sniffing. No one seemed upset or bad at all. the boys were much less frightened too, since they have been having little meetings with everyone. Marlin actually went about a lot on his own. They had never been in the ferret room before so they found it fascinating. They were in their room too when the others were investigating it and there were no issues. Most of the time the other kids were in the boys room, the boys were in the ferret room so it worked out well. my others live to play in he tub so they did that a bit too. Titus was not bothered at all by them being around his toys cause none of the other kids even touched them so it worked out well again.
  I really want to make them happy and have them be a part of the family. It's just going to require more time than the rest of the kids took. You warned me this might happen so I am fully prepared.
  The biting hard has always been there so I really do not think it's cause of the big outing. If I stick my arm under the bed, he attacks it like I'm going to take from him. He is fearful of losing what he has for some reason.
  I have seen an improvement on the he "let me pet you" side though, especially last night at bed time. It was awesome. I do that when they get up too. SO now I will plan to stroke him for a few minutes more at night when he goes to bed. Like he was a baby!! He really seemed so content, it was awesome. Gave me faith that there was hope for him coming around. All I need is time and good quality touches. He only seems to like the petting at wake up and go to bed time, so that's what I'll focus on.