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Smokey, AKA Smokey Joe & Sully
• Surrendered to the Shelter on June 8, 2003. They found a Forever Home on February 9, 2004! |
Smokey and Sully came in to the shelter on June 8, 2003. Smokey was missing most of his fur, he even had a spot on the top of his head that was so bare and wrinkled that it looked like his brains were showing through. He had the surgery for Adrenal Disease on June 12, 2003.
Sully was so upset that she not only lost her human that she had known for 3 years, she now no longer had her cagemate. All the talking I did, did nothing to help her understand Smokey was going to return to her. She stopped eating kibble so I was force feeding her duck soup every couple of hours until Smokey got home On Friday morning.
Both Sully and Smokey are settled into their new home in Brighton with their new mom and dad.
September 7, 2006:
Smokey is continuing to show improvements. His energy levels are higher than they were when we brought him home. He's back to his skipping around the room and rolling on the carpet. His belly looks better. A lot of the bruising has cleared up and he isn't as hunched as he used to be. Smokey and Sully are both handling their temporary separation rather well. I'm sure it helps that they can still see each other and get nose to nose through cage bars.
August 5, 2006:
Smokey's home!!! He's doing pretty well. They did find a tumor which was removed and they extracted a tooth. Brought him home, let him out. He wasn't very interested in doing too much but he did drink water and then settled down to eat. Sully is very happy he's back.
We had to take Smokey to emergency on Saturday. I found him digging at his mouth. It appeared a tooth was bothering him. He was also very weak. My guess is that he might not be eating as much since he was in pain. The vet gave him subcutaneous fluids and some dextrose. He perked right up. His blood glucose was very low. We brought him to see Dr. Edwards yesterday and he thinks its insulinoma. However he does have a tooth that looks like it needs to be pulled. His adrenal disease is not acting up, everything is fine in that respect. He's scheduled for surgery on next Thursday. He's a bit difficult to give his meds to. Sully would just lick them off the end of the dropper. Smokey doesn't want anything to do with that. Won't eat them in soup. I feel bad scruffing him to give him his
meds, but he just doesn't understand that even though they taste really bad that they will help him. Other than that he's doing well. He was out running around and playing with Sully yesterday after his appointment.
Sully is doing wonderful. She's a little bundle of joy. She was mad she couldn't go with Smokey to his vet appointment. If she were 2-legged she would have been standing in that cage with her hands on her hips. She was very excited when he came home though. They romped around a bit then settled down for a nap in their hammock.
I will keep you posted on how everything goes. I'm not sure what time on Thursday his surgery is. We can't pick him up until Friday.
March 22, 2006:
Just wanted to let you know everyone is doing very well over here. Smokey and Sully love their play room. They're allowed to be out all of the time now. Sully enjoys climbing up on the cage and looking out the window (which is always closed). Smokey LOVES to sunbathe. He is so cute! He moves with the sun too. Early in the morning it hits part of their cage, so he'll be dozing in that corner, then the spot moves onto the floor of the room and I'll find him napping there.
October 28, 2005:
Smokey and Sully are doing well. I got a little worried because Smokey seemed to lose a lot of hair, so I thought his adrenal disease was acting up. Took him to see Dr. Edwards. Dr. Edwards said that approximately 1 in 9 or 10 ferrets that have adrenal disease will have a reoccurrence in the second glad, so the odds were in our favor that this was just fast shedding of his summer coat and told me to see how he looks in October. Glad to say that all of his hair grew back. Sully is in great health too. The two of them have become more trustworthy and we can leave them out while we're not home. What I find funny is that very rarely when I come home do I see them out of their cage. They're always zonked out, curled up in their hammock.
August 18, 2005:
Smokey and Sully are doing wonderful! We got a new CD rack and they love the empty box. I cut holes throughout it and all you see are ferret heads popping in and out all over the place. It's hysterical. They got new rugs for their cage and a new hammock to add to the rotation. Smokey loves hiding in the box, flipping on his back and batting at your fingers as you search for him. Recently Sully has been enjoying playing with blankets. Fling them in the air and she goes pouncing after them. Yesterday she was bouncing all over the place after the blanket then attacked an unsuspecting Smokey. You'd never know that Sully had surgery, she's back to her old self. They had some company this past week, Aaron had some family come into town and the rugrats were a hit. Everyone was still talking
about how cute they are at dinner. Glad that things are going well at the shelter.
March 31, 2005:
Last night Sully gave us a bit of a scare. I went to let her out of the cage and she just stayed in her hammock. Didn't really acknowledge I was there. Smokey bounded out without hesitation. I picked her up (she was awake) but remained limp. I held her for a bit to see if she would snap out of it.
She was drooling, which she's never done before. I tried to get her to drink some water by dipping my finger in their dish so she could lick it off. She wasn't interested. I put her down to get the Ferretone. She just laid where I placed her, didn't read just herself at all. She didn't want anything to do with Smokey. She did lick up the Ferretone without hesitation and was standing, but then fell over. She tried to hide and didn't want anything to do with anyone. We took her to the emergency clinic last night (which doesn't specialize in ferrets). While in the waiting room, she began chowing down on her kibble and digging to get under the rug in the crate. The tech let her out and she was running all over the place.
A complete turn around from just a few minutes before. We brought her back home and she ate, drank, and went to the bathroom fine.
We have an appointment with Dr. Edwards to get her checked out for insulinoma and for the two of them to get their vaccinations. I'm leaving work early to go back and keep an eye on her. She seemed back to her old self this morning. Was eager to get out of the cage and romp around a bit.
Before I head home I'm going to stop at the store to pick up some honey in case she appears to be
hypoglycemic again.
Just wanted to keep you up to date on what was going on.
February 08, 2005:
I can't believe we have had these guys for a year already! They bring us such joy and entertainment. We just sit back and watch them as they wrestle, run, and jump with each other. I'm still amazed at the variety of sounds that they make. Sully found a new favorite spot, in the pocket of my bathrobe. She just hangs out and looks around.
I love waking them up after I get home from work. They'll both just keep laying down, sometimes with their eyes closed, then slowly start moving.
They both give lots of kisses. It was kind of funny because the other day I was petting Sully and Smokey was giving me kisses. Then I started petting Smokey and Sully started up with the kisses. I usually scarf Sully up and hold her for a bit. She'll yawn and stretch and eventually start wandering around. Smokey meets me on the floor and I'll pet him, usually on his stomach since he enjoys laying on his back so his paws are free to bat at my fingers.
That's pretty much our routine from day to day. Time flies when you're having fun.
February 02, 2005:
The rugrats are doing great. They're so funny, they just crack me up.
Sully reminds me of a wind up toy sometimes. I'll pick her up and hold her for a bit, then when I put her back down she starts bouncing and running all over the place. They kind of remind me of popcorn the way they bounce up and down. Smokey doesn't want anything to do with being held, but does enjoy finger wrestling. He'll lay on his back and bat at my hand and fingers. Grabbing on, twisting, rolling, and pouncing.
March 10, 2004, from their new mom:
I think Sully and Smokey are in their glory. They play for hours on end.
Each has their own wonderful personality. Sully is definitely the trouble maker. The more she tries to get into, the more fun she has. Smokey is a sweetheart. I'll be studying and he'll run up to the couch and stare at me.
I always scoop him up and let him wander around in the blankets and pillows. Then he lets me know when he's ready to get back down and resume playing with his sister. Sully has made it very clear that she doesn't like me studying. She climbs up onto the couch goes into my book bag, digs in every pocket she can find, and ends by trying to steal my highlighter. She cracks me up. The two of them are wonderful. Thank you for letting us have them in our home.
Sara