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Hannah & Katie
• Hannah & Katie went to a Forever Home on May 14, 2011. |
May 12, 2013:
Brenda,
I hope you had a wonderful Mother Day
Sad new this morning. Hannah went to Rainbow bridge sometime early this morning. When I went down to see them, Alice, Friskie and Max were all up. Transferred them to the pen and looked for Fred and Hannah. Could see a tail sticking out of the octopus and reached inside and felt two Ferrets. Fred finally came out, but Hannah stayed put . I realized she was only a little warm and soon understood she had passed.
I want to understand and believe this is somewhat of a blessing, as I knew what was in her future, which has been troubling. But she seemed so good, on Saturday her usual self, playing and being a great Ferret.
As you can imagine, this has really been hard for Reilly. I let him pet her for a while this morning while I held her to help him have some closure, and he helped me burry her. Not sure which makes me more sad: what he is going through or not having that little Ferret here.
Time will let us remember our Ferret as the wonderful pet she has been. I do hope you are well.
Charlie
May 03, 2013:
How is Sho doing? Hannah is feeling well, acting normal. I have a email into a friend from high school who is a Vet, trying to get some advice. I don’t think I want Hannah to go thru IV therapy, as that is tough. If there is oral treatment, not too toxic that will give her/us more quality time, I think I will try. Do you think Dr. Sandra would mind if I posed this chemo question to her? Hope you are doing well and enjoying the nice weather.
Charlie
April 24, 2013:
Brenda, Hannah seems to be doing pretty well. She is fighting me pretty good to take the antibiotic she is on. Appetite is good, her energy is picking up, surgical wound and belly are healing well. I had her for the first several days in a cage with either Friskie, Max or Alice, but as of last night, she is spending full time with everyone else. Will get her out with everyone else this evening. That is when they really get goofy.
Charlie
April 18, 2013:
Hannah did good today as per the Vet, was quite perky for having surgery. She looked pretty good when we got her home. I have to tell you, when I had her in the office of Monday, then brought her home, I put her in the pen, the others were all sleeping. She crawled in the sleep box, heard a duk. I looked in and she was sniffing/licking the 3 sleeping in there. They also (not sure who) duk when I brought her home tonight, as if they were happy to see her. We will get the bx report on Monday/Tuesday, I am not hopeful. But that is ok, we just will give her extra loving and enjoy her all the more over whatever time she will have.
Charlie
April 17, 2013:
Brenda,
Had Hannah to vet. X-ray shows an enlarged “something” in her left abdomen. Possibly spleen, but did not quite match up. Also, something rather large over/in her liver. Blood work did not show much except some non specific changes.
She seemed ok last evening, this morning a little perkier. Options were to get Ultrasound, but that will take one week, or trip to Cornell, exploratory surgery to identify problem, or watchful waiting. I have elected for the surgery, she is well enough and that should define the problem and help determine what or if anything can be done. Will give you an update this evening.
Charlie
Brenda, She came thru the surgery ok, needed to stay overnight because of the anesthesia. Report not so good though. Tumor was partly result of some bleeding that took place sometime within the abdomen, it was mostly blood clot. Vet resected out a necrotic/decaying apparent enlarged lymph node, has the appearance of lymphoma. This probably caused the bleeding, which luckily clotted and stopped. The resected piece of presumed node will be sent out for confirmation. Will probably get results on Monday.
Charlie
March 20, 2013:
They are all in one cage; everyone sleeps with whichever Ferret they want. They are doing great. We have a lot of fun with them. They truly bring me a lot of joy.
It is interesting how they each have a different personality. Alice and Fred are by far the craziest of the group. Friskie is pretty laid back, but he likes to rough it up with anyone of the others. Hannah is a real sweet heart. It is hard to believe how vicious she was to Friskie and Fred, and now has no problems what so ever. Better than medications what those little Fuzzies do for me.
Charlie
December 19, 2012:
Brenda, Hope this email finds you well. Your package arrived today, but remains unopened.
Our kids are doing very well. The whole group spends some good playtime together without too many problems. Hannah and Alice have learned to play pretty good. Hannah is pretty good with Fred, but at times she still gets a little too aggressive. Fred really does not like to play rough. He will give out some hisses if someone is not playing nicely.
When it comes to sleep time, Hannah is a little bit of a trouble maker. She usually will get in the sleep area, start to play, and either Alice or Fred will hiss and come out. But at least they can run around the house playing dooking and chattering having a lot of fun. It is really cool to have all 5 playing, and it really gets crazy.
Will not be long and Reilly and I will find the need for another fuzzie or two!
Will you be around on Saturday afternoon? If you were available, would like to come out and do some work for your fuzzies, and drop off the med supplies.
Charlie
July 09, 2012:
Brenda, glad to hear you are better. The fur kids are well. Max really gets hyper when we go down and open the cage. He of course has no fear, and will just step out of the cage if you do not grab him. This morning Hannah really enjoyed a nice back rub from Reilly. She said laid there and kept moving her back to get more lovin’. Friskie of course is doing very good. They have all gotten into some water recently to help keep them cool. They sometimes will get into the shower when it is running. Hannah seems to like it the most, Max seems clueless sometimes, and Friskie is not too sure of it. Usually after they get wet, they get pretty crazy.
Charlie
April 24, 2012:
Brenda, they are doing great. We have kept them in the playpen as it gives them all more space. Friskie likes to play rough with Max and Hannah, and Hannah has no problem going after Friskie. Friskie has learned that because he is bigger, he will go at Hannah sideways, and kind of roll on her and still keep away from her bite! They really are doing very good together.
I wonder if Max cannot see very well. He has always acted just a little different than the other two. He sniffs more, he is always bumping his chin into/onto things, he looks up/lifts his head up more than then the other two. I have tried to see if he will move to my hands when they come up next to his face, and it appears he just does not see them. It is kind of curious. When he plays with a ball, he does not look down at it much, he just rolls it to his back legs a looks up.
Charlie
March 30, 2012:
Brenda, I am sorry to say that Katie passed over the Rainbow Bridge today. She was very week, was not drinking. Her stool remained black, her blood count dropped to 16 even after she had a transfusion yesterday. Her sugars were very high. The reports on the spleen gave virtually no indication to what has been going on. The biopsy on the liver also gave very little insight.
It became apparent that she was suffering, and we had nothing more to give her. Dr. DeMatos felt the only reason she was still alive was because she was such a fighter. I ask that they help her pass by putting her to sleep and they did. I had the option of going down, but I did not think I could take much more, so I did not.
They will be doing a post to try to gain some insight into what was causing all the problems. She was a great case to learn, but from a patient standpoint, it is never good to be a great case.
Reilly as am I are pretty sad and dismayed. But, I am thankful that this has finally come to a an end, as it has been a very difficult 5 months.
I will give you an update next week as to when we will be bringing the boys and Hannah for camp. Could you remind me of your schedules on Fridays so that I can start to make plans? Thank you for all your support.
Charlie
March 28, 2012:
Brenda, Down to see Katie Hannah and the boys. Katie had a bad day. Has developed some GI bleeding/black stool, they are not sure exactly where.
She received 10 mls of blood from Hannah, the count came up very nicely.
She was much more quiet today, sleeping a lot. To me she looked the worst I have seen. She seemed comforted when I was holding her, and seemed to not like it when I was putting her down (man if that doesn’t break your heart you do not have one). She seemed kind of happier when we put Hannah up close to her (she came right up, sniffed and then rested).
For the first time the current DVM (who has been one of the treating docs from the beginning) felt she might not make it thru to tomorrow, which I had to agree with. She is in an incubator as her temp has been low. She has had a fair amount of fur shaved secondary to the surgeries/procedures.
Her sugar was really high, could be due to what she was getting in the IV feedings. The sugar came down some (from 300+ to 205) after they changed the feedings, but still very high. Again, this is a puzzle.
I am hoping my cell phone does not ring overnight as that will be the bad news. They do have the liver biopsy processed and ready for review tomorrow along with the spleen. Hopefully this will give some useful answers.
They sure are getting a kick out of having healthy Ferrets there. They do not get to enjoy that very often. The boys are doing good, hopefully can get them home for a few days. They have found Hannah to be a handful, as she is really active. She escaped out the door with one of DVM’s but was quickly captured as she made her break. Now that Ferret puts a smile on your face.
Reilly was happy to hear about Clinic Day. We most certainly will be attending.
Charlie
March 27, 2012:
Katie had surgery to remove most of her spleen and also a liver biopsy yesterday afternoon. She did very well, has some bleeding but only lost about 2 mls. She had a feeding tube placed in her stomach, along with a special IV in jugular vein in her neck, to help give meds and temporary feeding. She did well overnight, in typical Katie fashion she was chewing on the lines she has in her.
She was a little better this morning, more alert, blood count was slight better at 23( had been 18 before surgery, did get transfusion during operation. Plan is to keep going with the TPN (feeding thru vein), hopefully start to use the stomach feeding tube, and hope the blood count goes up, body stops lysing the red blood cells, liver function tests turn around. Those are all big tasks, but this little Ferret has tackled a lot, so she may still get thru this.
In some respects I feel kind of bad/guilty that I have given so much to Katie, when there are people that could use assistance also. But I had an agreement that I would do whatever I could within reason to help her get better. Kind of hard to explain.
Charlie
March 25, 2012:
Brenda, I hope this email finds you and all your Fuzzies well. I do not think I have asked if our Ferrets can come to camp. We are going on Vacation, leaving here to go to my Moms in Western NY on April 6. We would be coming back thru to pick them up on Sunday the 15th. Will you be available?
Katie has had it pretty tough and we are at a major point. Her activity has been a little better, have been leaving Hannah with her and that seems to have helped. She still had some spunk last week as when I was down she bit Max on the lip! Her anemia has stayed stable somehow, even though her body is destroying a lot of red blood cells. Why that is happening is unknown, and there are a lot of Vets that are looking at her.
Her weight has dropped a huge amount, again, for unknown reason. Here weight when she went to Cornell was about 540 grams ( 1 lb 3oz, as of note beginning of January she was 1lb 10 oz ). She had been eating pretty good (minimal kibble, mainly Carnivore Care). On Friday they changed around the feedings ( I suggested needed higher energy supplement like adding Ferretone) to a more high energy food with more fat. She really did not care for that and over the weekend dropped her weight down from 510 grams ( 1 lb 2 oz) to 470 grams ( 1 lb 0.6 oz), this in about 36 hrs.
They called this morning, we talked about a consult they did with Vet in Fl who does a lot of Ferrets. One of the Vets at Cornell had worked with her, and remembered an anemia case. She said gotta get the spleen out, and really need to do it quickly. Reilly and I went down, taking the Boys back in case needed transfusion. She was up, walked around, ate a treat. Decided I/she has come this far, does not appear to be hurting or in lots of distress, So decided to do feeding tube just to get some good feeds/nutrition into her for 2 or so days, then remove most/part of the spleen.
Bad news in the process of that, a lung was punctured, she stopped breathing but came back. She was ok this evening but Dr Morrissey was pretty bummed and worried.
She has one shot, and that is removing the spleen. This will happen in the AM. If she is strong enough to get thru the surgery, there is a good chance (at least it appears so) she will recover. I do not have a good feeling as she is so small and weak, it will be difficult, but I feel she deserves this shop. But, I feel this will be the last shot this little Ferret.
The vets at Cornell have been excellent. They most certainly are hoping this special Ferret makes it, but they have been very honest all along on her prognosis. She has become pretty special there, as many of the different specialists have consulted on her case, and stumped the best. I will let you know how things turn out.
By the way, Reilly is doing pretty good. He was a little upset about having "nothing to do in the morning," as he usually gets all the Ferrets taken care of after breakfast. He appears to be doing better than his Dad!
Have a good day
Charlie
February 22, 2012:
Brenda, change of plans. Looks like Katie will be staying at Cornell at least for a few days. Friskie and Max will be staying also as likely will need transfusion in next 2-3 days. I think we will take Hannah with us. I will get the Pediapred mailed out to you. Hope you are well.
Charlie
February 21, 2012:
Hello Brenda, I plan to bring Katie on Thurs AM. What are the times you are at home on school days?
She is holding her weight, not sure if better or not. We go to Cornell this morning with the boys (Moral and Blood support!) for Blood work. I think (hope) the liver is slightly better.
Charlie
February 16, 2012:
Do you have openings for Ferrets for camp starting next Thursday. I forgot, but we are going to Niagara Falls to go to a water park. I do not know if Katie Friskie and Max will have to stay at Cornell next Tuesday/Wednesday: all depends on the labs and anemia. If all goes well, they will come home on Wednesday, and we leave the next morning.
If you are available, we would like to have them boarded with you. That probably would mean a few meds for Katie, as I doubt she will be well enough to be off from her current treatment plan.
I am considering doing a video with Katie, and posting it on U tube and Facebook. The idea is to try to get some publicity in regards to the fate of Marshall Farm Ferrets. If I could do this in a good way, with good information, it might get some much needed attention on this facility and the harm they have done and continue to do to these Ferrets. Any ideas or comment?
Charlie
February 13, 2012:
Brenda, it saddens me to hear of the loss of Possum.
Katie and the boys are still at Cornell. Tough weekend for Katie as her liver went in the wrong direction. Was better today, a little more active, gained back some weight and eating better. Blood count stable over the last 4 days. Will be decreasing her pred as this med could be keeping liver from healing up quickly. Currently it is a watch and hope setting.
I got to see all three of them this evening after work. Friskie and Max seem to be doing pretty good. They are staying there as they( Cornell Vets) would like to have them on hand if Katie needs another transfusion. I had all three out for a bit, Katie got close to Max and decided she might better let Max know who the boss was. Man, she still has some attitude!
Again I am sorry for the passing of Possum.
Charlie
February 9, 2012:
Brenda, Katie is stable/improved slightly. Last stool not black, count stable at 26. Eating ok. Friskie and Max have helped to entertain the students/Vets in the ICU today. They got to run around some, and quickly discovered the door to the outside world. I was able to spend some time with Katie and the boys this evening. The boys were again left there as may need transfusion tomorrow. Overall slight bright spot of improvement. May be able to get Katie home on Sunday/Monday.
Charlie
February 8, 2012:
Brenda, Sorry to hear about Merlin. It sounds like his kidneys were failing causing the electrolytes to get elevated. I am very sorry. As you feel, it is always sad to lose a Fussy.
Katie is at Cornell. She received a transfusion from either Friskie or Max. I left both the boys at Cornell, as they had concerns Katie may need another transfusion tomorrow. They also will be scanning her liver to see if there is anything else going on (other than medication induced liver damage). The Doc said she was perked up as she was eating and working on getting the catheter out. She is in the ICU overnight, mainly to keep an eye on her as she has a history/reputation of tearing out any lines/IV’s that need to be left in ( she certainly can be a feisty one).
They are treating the apparent ulcer in the stomach, only time will tell if we catch it quick enough. I feel a little better and relieved she is at the hospital, as they will be able to monitor and check things more efficiently than I can. Also, I have to go out of town for some training on a new medication. There was no way Gail and Reilly could do everything that would need to be done, so another little blessing that pushed me to get her to Cornell.
Will get more info tomorrow
Charlie
February 7, 2012:
Hello Brenda, Blood work worse, blood count was 29 or so about 5 days ago, this afternoon 19. She will eat, but looks pretty sad and tired. Discovered black scat when got home, that probably explains big drop in blood count. I will be headed to Cornell in AM as right now she needs more care than I can give. Did learn a new trick to give the Sub Q fluids: I give her some hard treats to chew on, she eats them will I do the fluids, no fuss at all! Thank God for little blessings.
What is the word on Merlin, hopefully better.
Charlie
February 4, 2012:
Brenda, Katie took a turn for the worse about 6-7 days ago. She developed jaundice, suspected to have liver injury from the cyclosporine being used to keep her immune system from attacking the red blood cells. She has lost quite of bit of weight, pretty weak and frail. She has started on a med to help the liver recover (Denosyl pill which is no fun getting her to swallow), decreased the Pediapred (which may actually need to be increased because of her acute illness) and of course stopped the cyclosporine. Last blood count was down just a touch at 29. Doing fluids 2-3x/day and giving her soup which now is mostly carnivore care protein.
This will be a really fine line to traverse, as she will need something to keep the immune system from attacking the red blood cells, but she also needs to recover from the liver injury, which is significant, at the same time. The cyclosporine takes a while to get out of the body, so the good news with that I hope it keeps her safe for a few weeks from the anemia. The bad news is it also is toxic to the liver, and not sure how long she can hold on before liver goes into failure (so far just looks like bad injury, not true failure.
So goes the lives of ferrets and their owners.
Friskie and Max seem for the most part to be doing good. Friskie got a little too “Friskie” tonight a couple of times. First was while we had the two of them out playing: both were pretty happy to be out. Friskie played pretty rough. Then after we put them back in the play pen, we heard some wrestling downstairs, and they were at it again. Both fuzzed, but seemed ok. They were pretty quiet after that and cuddled with both Reilly and I. I suppose this is what they do as Ferrets, as you said sometimes they play rough and somebody else does not like it. There was no explosive scat as you had asked before.
Charlie
January 26, 2012:
Brenda, Katie’s count went up to 32. Her sugar was up to 300! (that’s too high). The prednisone is probably a factor, but I have also been giving her ~1/4 teaspoon of karo syrup with her meds/soup 2x/day. She has been losing weight. I figured it likely was related to her high heart rate because of anemia. This likely is part of the reason her sugar is up, and I have noticed she has been drinking more. Hopefully knocking off the karo syrup, more of the Carnivore Care protein and the sugar will get back closer to normal. If she has to have some diabetes, no better place than the Keenen household. Thanks for the prayers.
Charlie
January 10, 2012:
Brenda, Glad you are getting better. No surprised it is taking time to recover, as your lungs were pretty stressed. Once off the antibiotics and the steroids, I expect you will come a long pretty good.
Katie was in to Cornell today. Blood count was down some from prior, but not at a critical level. We refreshed her prednisalone (Pediapred), and may have to do the same with her other current med (cyclosporine). I would not be surprised if she gets written up, as compared to the other ferret that was reported in the literature, she was far advanced (unfortunately in the wrong direction.
Max and Friskie are doing pretty good. No obvious problems. They both donated some blood today, in reference to what Pudge seemed to have. They will keep this blood on ice, and the test once they have the final ID on the virus that Pudge had. Could this be a virus that is implicated in ECE? Guess will have to wait for more reports to come.
Charlie
December 7, 2011:
Katie got some blood work, initial blood showed she was stable, the rest will take a couple of days. She appears to be doing better, is eating good, getting a little more active, but still rather tired and sleepy.
December 2, 2011:
Hello Brenda, Reilly here, me and my dad were wondering what do you put in Maxim's and Pudgey's food because we are getting slightly low on food (we have enough for about two more days). Also we are taking a little of our food mix and mixing it with theirs (about 10% per dad). Our food contains Purina one, EVO ferret, Zupreen grain free, Ultimate 8in1 Crunchy advanced. and we have marshal farms. Me and dad saw that some of Maxim’s and Pudgey’s poops are loose and liquidly. Other than that Friskie seems interested in the boys. Katie looks good and seems active, Hannah is also doing great. Hannah is very very playful. Me and dad think mom is giving in to Maxim and Pudgey (she has already made nicknames for them both). Also putting Katie’s meds in the duck soup works great she eats it up no problem.
From, Reilly and dad
November 27, 2011:
Brenda, Both Reilly and I enjoyed our time at the ferret farm today. Your advice for using soup for Katie to get her medications worked very well, no problem at all. Although, I did not give her the Augmentin because we ran out.
Both Pudgy and Maxim did very well. Both Gail and Delaney were excited to see them, Delaney even offered to help take care of them if we could keep them. Gail thought they were pretty good also. The 2 of them (that is the ferrets) had a good time in the playpen checking everything out. Pudgy looks like he could be an escape artist, because he was trying his best to climb up the fence. I will give you an update tomorrow.
Charlie
November 19, 2011:
Brenda, Katie is doing pretty well. She received a transfusion yesterday, her count stayed about 20 today and she is home! She is eating very well, and got the reputation as being completely intolerant to any catheters left in (she tore them all out, and they finally decided best to not leave any in). She will get to be home over the weekend, and then will go back on Monday morning. They will check the blood count, if too low, will get transfused. Right now she seems to be holding the blood count a little longer. Hard to tell for sure why, but it is encouraging. If they are able and the count is ok on Monday, they will wait until Wednesday to transfuse her, and then home again.
She was "presented" at pathology rounds today as she is rather unique. They have seen Ferrets with this, but not usually to this degree or severity.
They said she took her meds pretty good. I am not sure what they mean by that as she fought me the whole way on her meds tonight. Reilly has done some research and says he has an idea about how we can get them in a little easier, by using a sleeve of some kind to help hold her.
Thank you for the God Box. We will get to enjoy her for the weekend.
Charlie
PS: Hannah was excited to see her, and they have bedded down together as usual.
November 14, 2011:
Good morning, I guess we have some kind of good news. They did ultrasound this AM (Monday AM), no lymph nodes, no tumors, no ovarian remnants. Bone marrow biopsy shows no lymphoma (yeah), but she does have a pure red blood cell aplasia (well at least it is not cancer).
This is good/bad. There were a few of the pre-cursor red blood cells on the smear, but not many. There comes a time in this illness that there is simply not enough, and the meds will not start up these cells and stop the insult causing the problem (likely auto-immune, body acts like its own tissue is foreign and attacks) If there are enough, then steroids along with 2 other drugs that suppress the immune system can help. They have had some recent Ferrets that have done well on this regimen. They state getting them to take the oral medications is not so bad.
Her disease is aggressive, as her blood count/anemia went back today (Monday) close to what she was before the transfusion on Saturday. She did get another transfusion this evening from a local donor. They are starting her on prednisone along with 2 other meds. We can only wait and hope this has been caught soon enough.
They do say she still has some spunk, as she keeps getting the IV lines out. She is eating, drinking. As long as Katie keeps “fighting”, I feel it is ok to keep working towards getting her better. I am keeping in mind the overall picture, how she seems to be doing and I know this is the right thing to be doing now.
Hopefully things will continue to improve for her.
Charlie
November 13, 2011:
Brenda, Hope your day was good, was nice to have a little bit of good weather. I did lots of exercise today and that usually (and did) calms my nerves pretty good. Went to see Katie to help me feel better. Needed to leave a piece of bedding that she would recognize from us (only left one of her sleepers yesterday. They state she is eating and drinking pretty good. Got to see her, she rested nicely while I gave her a good back rub. I do believe she liked that, as she lay nice and quiet with her eyes kind of droopy but not sleeping. Will be speaking to the head people tomorrow (have had a very nice student and “Resident DVM” for the weekend). The rest of the exotic team will evaluate tomorrow. Have a good Monday.
Charlie
November 12, 2011:
Pretty long day. She ate this morning, so I called Cornell, got set up for transfusion. That went well. Friskie had no problems. They reported Katie was a little more perky, had something to eat and drink. Her count (the PCV?) went from terrible at 7+ to 14 about 1.5 hrs after the transfusion (normal is 40 or so). It will be checked in the AM again. Went back to get Friskie (they figured when I left at 2:30, it would be about 7 pm before the transfusions would be done/observation of Friskie would be complete) and left Katie in the ICU. I should have been more assertive and brought her home. But, they will get more workup done and hopefully define what is going on.
They are leaning more towards lymphoma, which now seems most likely. That being said, what has been your experience with fuzzies and lymphoma? Their experience is that Ferrets do not do as well with the chemo as dogs/cats (in general not good). If it comes down to chemo, I think the harms outweigh the benefits. I would have to guess this would not be a cure, only a suppression of the cancer. I think that would be a lot of discomfort for Katie. And the benefit of some more time with us? Not a very good trade off. But I am now projecting without any good data. Will let you know how she is doing as we go along.
Charlie
November 11, 2011:
Brenda, thanks for being there for me. I took my time getting home, stopped and just held Katie for a while.
When I got home I was surprised as she acted like she wanted a snack (which is something I have been giving her when I put her back in her cage). She ate several, drank some water and even did some scuba briefly. I thought long and hard and decided she isn’t quite ready.
I got 12 mls of Sub Q fluids in her with Reilly’s help (he is quite the trooper), and gave her another dose of the beta Hcg.
If she looks ok in the AM, I will go to Cornell to get a transfusion.
It is difficult to say what is the best course of action, but I am comfortable feeling she still has a chance.
As long as I am not doing more harm, and do not harbor false hope, I need to continue to treat her.
I thought she had told me she was ready, but I misunderstood this morning.
I will let you know are things are going. I feel better.
Charlie
November 10, 2011:
Brenda, we received the paperwork today for adoption.
Katie is hanging in there. With some patience, I have been able to get the meds into her with not too many problems. Today I was able to get a different antibiotic which replaces the medronidazole. I am very thankful for that. Will be getting another blood count tomorrow or Saturday to see how she is doing. Still not clear the true diagnosis. The more I think about it, I see it could be Helicobacter or ovarian remnant. The lymphoma seems less likely as she has no obvious lymph nodes that can be felt. It may be possible it is just in the GI track. At any rate, will just need to keep up with the game plan and hope we are correct.
I hope all your fuzzies are doing good as well as yourself.
Charlie
November 8, 2011:
Thank you. Katie had her ultrasound today (I elected to have it done in Syracuse where a "traveling Vet radiologist" some in one time per week. I felt pretty good about her expertise. Was at Texas A&M for some time which has a pretty big Vet program. Has done lots of ferrets. No adrenal disease, has some reactive lymph nodes along the GI track which could be result of Helicobacter. Maybe saw a tiny ovarian remnant but was difficult to see. Looking towards lymphoma appears where this might be going unless the Helicobacter is causing all the problems.
She will not drink Duck soup with the amoxicillin in it. I am now resolved that I have to "spoon feed," which likely will be more of a "get in her mouth quick" humane torture. I am also going to have to use the metronidazole for the Helicobacter, although there is a different antibiotic that could be used if I can get my hands on it (clarithromycin). The reading I have done suggested the metronidazle (Flagyl) is more effective with this bacteria than clarithromycin. Hopefully I will have good news regarding Katie in the near future.
Charlie
November 4, 2011:
Brenda, we have decided to get a sono/ultrasound on Katie. You had mentioned a Vet in Rochester area who might be able to do this. Could I have their name so I can call them. I have one scheduled for Monday, but not a good time for me. I have to go to Rochester on Tues, maybe could take Katie that day if they were available.
Charlie
October 26, 2011:
Got 10 mg of dexameth into her. Only got 7 mls of fluids into her as I did a terrible job (never was any good at doing IV’s!). She had a lot more spunk than I anticipated. Labs back, not enough specimen to get the most important labs ( anemia studies and adrenal panel). Other labs ok, sugar was great so that is not a problem. She did have a snack after I got the fluids in. I am hoping what I have done will buy me some time, and will get her back to get the rest of the blood work tomorrow.
Karen Leshkivich She is at the Mattydale veterinary hosp in Syracuse. X-ray showed non-specific bowel gas pattern, i.e. gas. Belly appeared a little tender. Nothing obvious on x-ray, except heart appeared large to me, she concurred may be true. Was a little dehydrated, got some fluids, on Flagyl for 10 days, blood was drawn for a few things, including adrenal disease. She is not sure, I am not sure what would be driving the suspected anemia.
Heart rate was really high at rest, which could be from the anemia, could be part of the cause? Not sure again. Giving her some Duk soup with her medication. Will keep you up to date.
Here is the link to the Vet http://mattydaleah.com/meetourveterinarians/
Charlie
October 24, 2011:
OK I guess. She certainly does not have any pep. She is eating some, drinking, her weight appears down to me. I have an appt tomorrow (tues) in Syracuse. I have a stool sample I can test for blood. Definitely has significant anemia, but what is driving it has me guessing ( I do not think it is GI related.)
Charlie
October 23, 2011:
Did some research, looks like as in Humans there are lots of reasons for anemia. Our cats/dog had fleas, have been treated, looks like problem probably gone. Kate and Hannah each were found to have a flea. They were treated, have not seen any, nor seen any of the tiny bits of feces. Kate has been itching up a storm. When out playing, she can’t usually go more than 5-10 seconds w/o having to stop and itch.
Charlie
October 22, 2011:
Brenda, Katie has been acting "tired." She stays in our arms much longer than in past. She plays less. When I compare her skin on her inner ear to that of Friskie and Hannah, it is quite pale. Her gums and tongue seem a little bit pale (less pink) also. I am suspecting anemia, likely coming from the stomach. Have not see any black stools. There has not been any obvious stress, no food changes.
Do you have any advice? I am tempted to start carafate along with another stomach pill that reduces acid secretion. Would appreciate any advise you might have. Thanks
Charlie
August 23, 2011:
Brenda, Fur Kids here at the Keenen’s are doing great. Friskie has been more “frisky” as of late. He is dancing and playing more when we bring him upstairs. His fur has become really nice over the last 2 weeks or so, and rivals Hannah’s fur. He really enjoys when he gets to get outside and run around. He generally gets a “bottle brush body” as he is so excited.
Speaking of Hannah, she and Katie are happy as usual. They pretty much go nuts when we get them upstairs. Racing around, chase a dog or cat if they are near. We recently gave them a new dig box for the playpen, with ecofriendly packing peanuts. Their favorite dig box is the plants in the living. Hard to keep them out when they decide they need to dig. Whenever we go downstairs to do something, they tease either to get out of their cage or the play pen. They do like the attention. Hannah does not mind to be held for a bit, but Katie has earned the nickname “squirmy” as she wants to be picked up to be set down.
We are looking forward to coming on Sunday, still plan to be there about noon or so. See you then.
Charlie
June 4, 2011:
Possum (Mum aka Brenda), Hope the conference was everything you hoped it would be. The girls are doing great, and what fun they can be. Friskie is doing very well also. He appears very interested in seeing them. We had an encounter today. Katie got a bottle brush tail and the two of them got a little too aggressive with the playing. Friskie did not seem to mind at all. When he and Hanna have met, Hanna is all over him, just a little too aggressive. We are going very slow with the so as to keep the stress at a minimum.
We have built, and continue to modify a nice play area for them. They take shifts like your kids do. We had to make some revisions, so they could not get in for one day. When the girls got in this AM, they were pretty crazy.
It was a great choice for us to get the girls. Delaney will even get them out to play with!
Let me know if there is anything special we can get you when we come next weekend. When does everything start?
Charlie
