# Worst Rescue ever today...not rats...need Ferret advice



## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

So today I get a email thinking ot was someone wanting tonadopt one of my fosters but it was someone wanting to know if I would take in 2 "Free" Farets ya thats right "Farets....I knew they may need help when the Owner couldn't spell Ferrets. I reluctantly said yes...its busy around here lately. She lived about 20 minutes from me. She sent me these photos....she said they wete both girls but the white one was NOT spayed or decented and the White one was 5 and the Sable was 4. Then she said oh you can have the cage for $150.00 I told her I didnt need one. I knew the apayed/decented thing was wrong too.So I went to pick them up. They wheeled a very gross cage out and pulled out 1 active but Thin Ferret (Sable-Bella they said) and 1 Ferret I thought was dead. The boy stuffed them in my carrier saying jewles ) white) (they can't spell that either) was very lazy all the time. She said that they got them from someone and didnt have time for them anymore. House looked horrible kids dirty. ..was horrible. And she had Kittens. She wanted me to take them but I told her I couldn't as my cats at home weren't friendly. I told her I could call spca to come getthem as I knew someone...she siad ok. I called my friend and explained conditions she was gonna pick up kittens tomorrow and I told her to bring backup and it may be abuse case. I told her I would update her on Ferrets. I rushed home and the White BOY not even a Girl was alive but barely. Extremely Thing. And Dirty..covered in Fleas. Bite wounds from fleas and loaded with flea dirt....and names overgrown. PICs very Graphic. I got some good canned food in Him and He purked up a Bit. But not mobile. He moves his legs VERY little and he is stiff alot. Cannot get around...he urinates where he Lays I havent seen him have BM yet.I cannot get him to vet this later this week. I literally syart a new job Monday and have no idea my schedule. Vet closed tomorrow and no close ER vets. Both had NT, Bath, Flea pill and good food and water and warm blankets. I hope they get better. The Sable one is active but thin. Not as many fleas or dirt. But I forgot to check the Sex but they finally got to sleep and I didnt want to disturb them.Any ideas on what could be Wrong with the Boy.I havent screamed at her yet necause my denied from SPCA is suppose to go tomorrow and save the kittens im afraid she wouldnt give kittens over if i screamed at hrr....otherwords she would have gotten a piece of my mind. I cannot belive the condition they were in. Poor poor babies.







These are the pics they sent me


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Ah when I first looked a couple pics before reading the thread I thought you posted pictures of a dead white ferret. Poor thing  Good thing they contacted you so you could save them.


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

My first three ferrets came from a similar situation. They were in a dirty cage (a cage i wouldn't even put my rats in) on a porch. The people were feeding them meow mix. All three of them were skinny but Meeko, one of the boys, looked exactly like your white ferret. He was skin and bones and his hair was thin. I switched his food to something better and also supplemented with something called duck soup. It's great for malnourished ferrets.


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

omg.... those poor babies! maby someone near you vould get them to the vet the whites back lookes broken from the way he is laying


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

ya I odered some of that. I hope He pulls through. He looked a tad better after nath was hold himself sternal anyway.


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

darkiss4428 said:


> omg.... those poor babies! maby someone near you vould get them to the vet the whites back lookes broken from the way he is laying


Nope He isnt broken He can move his back end alittle and He has feeling. I think he had either a stroke or seizure. He is very malnurished and was been eatten by fleas. Im gonna try to get him to vet asap or find someone to take him. His spine and Vertebrae are all alines and no protruding or seem out of place I can do basic car here as I have attensed Vet Tech school and worked for a vet for 8yrs until recently when I returned to achool for nursing.


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

Guess its time for bed...I cannot type anymore....ill keep updating.


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

i still feel bad for the poor babies, i really hope that he pulls through


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

He did pull him self up into basket today and under blanket not much of a BM just a little Black under his tail and in Blanket. He did urinate though. Trying to get more food in him. He is reluctant to eat on his own so I have to help him and he doesn"t eat much. He does look around at me when I come to cage but lays right back down. 
I know whem he eats he clicks and grinds his teeth and his eyes litterally sink in his eye sockets. I have a video but cannot post that.

The Sable Is a Girl. Im trying to find a name for her as I have a rat named Bella and the sable girl doesnt know her name. I can not even believe they didnt notice the onw was male I mean come on. Honestly Penis...no Penis


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

Try giving him chicken baby food. Preferably the one with no flour/just chicken and water. Most ferrets like it thin and warmed. Try and get him to eat a little every few hours. Have a vet run a glucose check on him. Ferrets have fast metabolisms so feeding every few hours is a good idea. I'm also guessing he may be insulinomic, which is why I recommend a glucose test. He is in very bad shape. You should see a bm every few hours. I would not be surprised if he had a seizure-if he does give him some kayo syrup to get his glucose up and then follow up with something high protein as soon as he comes to so he doesn't crash again. 

Is he grinding teeth at all? Has he pooped yet and if so what does it look like? 

Both ferrets are very thin. I would not be surprised if both have some health issues that will need to be looked at. Please make sure both are eating and pooping regularly. If they are not they really need to be seen as soon as possible. Ferrets can go from bad to worse fast.

I'm very sorry to see this. I am grateful you have taken them in and are willing to get them the help they deserve.


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

Yes He does grind his teeth reminds me of a horse clicking and grinding his teeth and when he does his eyes sink into his sockets...ya I picked up Chicken baby food and im gonna syringe feed him as soon as Im home, some pedilite too the vet recommended. I think she fed them really cheap cat food. The sable is urinating/BM drinking and eating well.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

The grinding teeth means he has an upset stomach. Most likely uclers. Ferrets tend to get them from any number of ailments, including malnutrition, disease, stress due to the bacteria helicobactor which under this situations goes crazy. His situation pretty much covers all of that. Watch his stools, if they look blackish/tarrish it means there is blood, caused by bleeding ulcers most likely. It's really important if you think he has ulcers to try and keep him as comfortable as possible, stress is going to be very bad for him. You might add a little nutrical if you have something like that handy to the chicken baby food. It will add some more calories to it which he probably needs. Keep it all simple though, nothing that will upset his tummy. The pedilyte is a great idea, dehydration is likely. He may need to be on medication to get the helicobactor under control. If it doesn't turn to bleeding ulcers, though, hopefully you won't have to resort to it. The meds used to treat helicobactor ferrets hate and I've yet to find any way to hide it, which tends in to add a lot of stress that may just make the problem worse.

Now, if he comes back with low glucose and the vet decides to put him on predisone, don't worry though. Even though steroids are harsh are on our human stomachs, for some odd reason this does not seem to effect ferrets in the same way. I've never had a bad effect from pred in ferrets. The pred would be to keep his glucose levels up. diet may help control this as well. Keep it high protein, and no sugary, carb filled foods. Only use sugary stuff as an emergency measure if he were to have a seizure due to low glucose.


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

how are they today?


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

He does has black Tarry stool which I knew was due to.blood in it but didnt know the ulcers. The thing you said he may need meds for Heliocabator what meds do they use for that. My dog is on Pred and Metro FULL timendue to black yarry stool from stomach ulcers the meds do wonders for him but I adopted him that way hes been on it since I got him. He has starting drinking water. And I syringe fed him Duck soup when I got it. He took it well and even was looking more alert and stuff after avout 45 minutes. But he still cannot walk. I have to keep him clean he urinates and deficaes all over himself.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

the meds would be the same for the ferret usually metro (flagyl) and amoxy. amoxy they take without issue usually it's the flagyl they hate. THey usually need both, flagyl is to actually get the heliocobactor in control and the amoxy for secondary infections which usually coincide.

You really want his glucose checked. If you can afford to do a full blood panel, there could be a lot going on-kidneys is another issue that can coincide with the rest. But if not at least run a glucose check. That is inexpensive and will give an indication of insulinoma. Pred would be for this issue, which is separate from the ulcers. Insulinoma can cause a lot of hind end weakness, sometimes they get the stop and stares (which is really a little seizure from low glucose). With him being in as bad shape as he is you just want to know what you are dealing with. chances are highest of ulcers and insulinoma, however he could have lymphoma, kidney issues, or something else.


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

Iresearched that Gasto disease and the symptoms etc are Exactly like his. I will call my vet. I worked for them for 8yrs. I have Metro and Pepto here and possibly amoxi too. I will discuss this all with her until I cam get him into vet. I Can check his BG myself. Hopefully I can get him Turned around. Also they now have Names Gavin and Sage. Sage is doing good. Already putting on weight


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

If you do a home glucose test. Do a few at different times a day. Anything under 90 be suspect of. Anything under 50 you can be pretty certain of the issue. Between 50-70 you can very possibly control by diet, if you have the time to make sure he eats every couple hours. Anything below 50 needs meds and/or surgery. Anything below 40 i consider fairly alarming and will give some kayo syrup followed by chicken baby food after the glucose levels come up. 

If you are able to do them at home, it's handy to just keep a chart. You'll find with ferrets with insulimona are all different. Some can stay in the 60ish range and do well, where others start to show bad symptoms at that level. If you keep a chart you can figure out what to really watch for. 

With Gavin, my worries are we don't know how long he has had symptoms. We don't know how they first looked. So we are guessing a bit. I'm hoping for his and your sake it's not kidney issues. That can be painful and just miserable to try and help. Insulinoma isn't pleasant, but even if t hings look terrible, they have a good chance of being stabilized and allowing him to live a happy life if treated.

Give Gavin a big hug from me. My heart is always with the oldy ferrets. when I ran a rescue I was part of a network and I handled most of the old and permanently disabled ferrets by choice. These little guys if given a change can surprise you and really turn around and live a good life. You just gotta help them get the will to fight for it.


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## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

Did they manage to go back and get the kittens? I feel so bad thinking that these horrible people might have other pets in the same condition...


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

Yes my contact did get the kittems they had rehomed 1 so thete was only 4 left. Covered in fleas amd skinny. URI with them too but leukemia negative.Gavin is taking the duck soup amd chicken baby food well. He eats about 9 mls or so at a time. He dripples about 1 ml out or so. He is having for bms now. They are small, black amd Tar like. I have to bath him often. His whole body is always so stiff like if you pick him up his body will stay in the side laying position not the normal Ferret flop as I call it. But he did move his hind leg on his own last night.


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## RadiantRatties (Jul 28, 2014)

Are they doing any better?


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## KrazyKritterz (Apr 26, 2014)

Gavin passed the Bridge this morning. He has been at the gets for 2 days on IVs and meds. Dispute there help he kept seizing. After a long discussion with my vet we agreed that it was time. I went to be with him and He passed quietly. 

Sage is doing well, and putting on a little weight. I adopted a friend for her from our SPCA yesterday when the vet prepared me that Gavin was turning for worse (Sage was really sad not as active do I knew I needed to get her a friend) she was cleated by the vet 2 days ago, needs more weight but BW was all good on her..... They are getting along but panda the newly adopted girl isn't used to other ferrets so she is taking time to get used to Sage whom wants to cuddle she misses Gavin..

I'm really sad but I know he is in a better place with no suffering.


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## Hey-Fay (Jul 8, 2013)

I'm so sorry he passed, but at least you were with him and helped him over. It's a heck of a lot better than if they'd have never came into your care. I'm sure that in the end he knew he was loved.


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## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

Thats just so sad. I am sorry that happened on your dime but at least he is in a better place and he didnt suffer for long in your care. Im glad the girl is doing well and she should be ok with time. Its not like they can bulk up over night from a neglect situation.


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