Well, yesterday I was busy handling a small emergency with my kids
One of the kids beloved Ferrets, their albino Ferret named Snuggles, who is usually very energentic and runs around like a wild animal having a blast whenever he gets the chance, sadly looked half dead yesterday and would just lay down and go back to sleep even when taken out of his cage.
So I went and picked up the kids and quickly took them and all three of their Ferrets (took the other two Ferrets to keep Snuggles company on the drive) to the Claremont NH Vet Hospital who nicely (at a nice cost of course) took us right in and checked him over. With no appointment and considered an emergency visit, it was alot more expensive even before they did anything. After checking him all over they then said that for Snuggles to have a chance to live we would have to go to the emergency vet hospital in Concord NH (CAVES), as they guessed that he may have just hours to live and the place in Claremont didn't have the facilities to help him. He was apparently severely dehydrated and his abdomen hurt when the vet touched it, and the vet said they didn't have any way of giving him fluids and such there. They called ahead for us and had the vets in Concord standing by for when we got their to Concord NH.
An hour and a half drive later down I-89 and off exit 14 we were at the Capital Area Vet Hospital in Concord who took us right in (at a much higher emergency visit cost as well) and then diagnosed him as having Insulinoma which is a type of common cancer found in older Ferrets. To maybe fix him so he could live a few more years the surgery, X-Rays, blood work, tests and all the estimate was going to be at least $750 dollars!!!! OUCH!!! (
Snuggles seemed to sleepily look up at us as if to say, "Please help me". The kids were crying and understandably upset and I was between a rock and a...well you know.
So, for a "smaller" amount of $162. dollars (a bit smaller OUCH!!) they did some blood work and gave him some fluids and then gave him some medicine to try and medicate him to help him hopefully get back to some kind of good health instead of the more expensive surgery. The kids were then given back thier pet Snuggles who did look a bit better and looked up at us as if to say "Thank you", and they gave us some medicine to give to him twice a day.
In a few days we have to go back to our regular vet and have him checked over again to see how he is doing.
Whoever said pets bring only joy to their owners lives never had to pay for an emergency vet visit...or two LOL

Steve, Tarrah and Jordan Kelley

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Now over 400 pics of our 18 Fieros:
http://www.cardomain.com/id/fiero5

I hear you on vet bills. Our pet Starling recently lost a toe from an infection. Our 2 cats shots, checkups, etc. ain't cheap.

Keep us up to date on Snuggles' progress.

Here are a few pics of Snuggles from a few years ago:

The kids are hoping he gets back to his old loveable self again soon

Steve

Ferrets look like fun. Bummer they are illegal in California.

They may be illegal in Cali at the moment but there are still a lot of people in California that own Ferrets.
It's a stupid law and I am amazed that it is still on the books there.

Steve

I hear ya. I had my kitten for 1 day before the dog played a little too rough with it. Took it to the emergency animal clinic to give her fluids and monitor her through the night. Around 3am the vet called me to tell me that she didn't make it. That night cost a little under $500, along with a lot of heartache.

quote Originally posted by Fiero5: They may be illegal in Cali at the moment but there are still a lot of people in California that own Ferrets. It's a stupid law and I am amazed that it is still on the books there. Steve

We have a lot of stupid laws here. That's what happens when pie in the sky, bleeding hearts run the state.

I know there are ferret owners here, and they have been lobbying to change the law. There was talk about banning other pets, including Starlings. They may be nuisance birds in the wild, but they are great pets. I'd like to see some state worker try to take my Starling.

Aww thats so sad
I hope snuggles pulls through, such wonderfull creatures aren't they.

Thanks for sharing snuggles with me
I'm glad he is feeling better.

This guy needs one of those worlds best dad coffe mugs! he does things like this, and he gives his kid a fiero and helps him work on it whatever the kid wants and spends so much time wih his sun doing it! it takes a man to be a good dad. and this guy surpass all good dads i know. I wish I could give a postive more then once to each person. cuss there has been like 5 times ive tried to rate this guy postivie when he did somthing that seemed to touch my heart and made me wish my dad was there for me, but it already says postitive everytime i try.

quote Originally posted by 84fierotrevor:

It's all part of being a dad. You are a good person too, let me give you a +

84Bill's right, it's all part of being a Dad.
If awards could be given out however, then my Dad should be awarded Dad of the Century for all he has done for me all of those years growing up and then for all the help all these past 19+ years with my own family.
If I can be even half the man my Dad is I will be very happy.
My Dad is an extremely tough act to follow.

Steve

quote Originally posted by Fiero5: 84Bill's right, it's all part of being a dad. My Dad is an extremely tough act to follow. Steve

Mine too, tough act is right, Follow.. I can't help it in many ways but I try.

Man some vets are such asses. I worked at a vet hospital for 4 years and we never charged extra for emergency visits. Hell the regular clients would just walk in most of the time. It's part of being in the business of helping sick animals.

I can't believe they said they couldn't give fluids either. What kind of vet hospital is this? Do they just board or something? I mean, it's not hard to stick an IV under the skin of a ferret. I did it 100 times. If they didn't do IVs thats different, but since they charged extra for the emergency visit I would imagine they do.

I like ferrets but can't get past the smell. If they didn't stink I would have on in a heartbeat.

I'm sorry to hear of the horrible time you went through with snuggles, but I'm glad to hear he's doing well! Keep us posted!

Black88GT-I worked at a vet hospital too, and we would almost always charge extra for emergencies *DEPENDING* what it was for...

I.E.-New client insists on coming in TONIGHT because their dog is sneezing/coughing/etc, we would charge extra
If an current client called and had the same issue, and refused to wait until first thing the next morning, the policy was to charge them a bit of a higher office rate (more or less for being so damm stubborn )
However if anyone called up with a Hit-By-Car or anything that acutally *WAS* an emergency, no we did not charge them extra.

As far as not giving the ferret fluids, that puzzels me too, but then again, not all animal hospitals are equipped for everything that is thrown at them... unfortunately for the pet and the pet owners

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Living my life 1/4 mile at a time
16.33

Ferrets can be de-funkified, but it is really expensive. Still cute...

Steve: Props to you, man!! There are parents, then there are Fathers...You taking all of the extra initiative in your children's lives proves that you are far ahead of the latter.

Dads: enjoy yours while you have him. I lost mine back in April.

Ferret: Fiero5 - how's he/she doing?

I have two chinchillias and two guneia pigs. Fortunately for us our vet is very sweet and often tells us she is chargeing by the pound today and there is no charge

Over the months she has probably saved us a grand at least!!! I do however have to take Lucky, my 6 year old grey chin into the vet tonight. He seems to have hurt his right foot. I noticed him limping today.

I hope snuggles pulls thru, I know how hard it is to lose a beloved family member. I have to have GP, one of my Guniea pigs put to sleep about 6 months ago.

I never thought I was THAT attached to him, but I cried for a week. I still get a little misty eyed when I think about him. He was the sweetest GP you could ever meet.

Get Well Soon Snuggles

There's no such thing as "almost dying"...you either die or you don't, never know if you really would have died.

Wow, paying that much to keep a rodent alive, you ove animals a lot more than I! I would have treated is as a lesson to the kids on the fragility of life. Oh, and another reason not to have a ferret.

I hope all goes well, would suck to pay that much and still have the little guy die soon.

Bryce
88 GT

quote Originally posted by Marrilow: Black88GT-I worked at a vet hospital too, and we would almost always charge extra for emergencies *DEPENDING* what it was for... I.E.-New client insists on coming in TONIGHT because their dog is sneezing/coughing/etc, we would charge extra If an current client called and had the same issue, and refused to wait until first thing the next morning, the policy was to charge them a bit of a higher office rate (more or less for being so damm stubborn )

We wouldn't. No matter what. However I can't honestly say the vet didn't pad the bill. But there was no specific extra charge.

Also, yes you can get ferrets defunkified (lol) but they still stink...

This may be purely a coincidence or indicative of what your ferret is feeling like:

Snuggles looks like Stewart Little with a hangover.

-Jeff

OK, here is an update on Snuggles.
The next day after the vet visit we went and got some Pedialyte and some canned (non vegitable) baby food.
After giving Snuggles his medicine, we let him rest for a awhile while I mixed a small amount of the pedialyte with some of the baby food and stirred it into a soup.
I then woke Snugs back up and using a plastic syringe made specially for small pets, I fed Snugs some of the soup. After a bit he started to just lick it off the syringe. I have been doing this now at least once in the late morning and then before bed each day.
Last night I didn't use the syringe and tried giving him some from a spoon and he licks it all right off the spoon.
He still doesn't have much energy and still feels thin, but he is eating something now so that is very good. The Pedialyte will help a lot with the dehydration and the baby food will hopefully give him back some of the nutrition and fats and he needs.
I also noticed this morning that he is now curling back up like he used to and not just laying stretched out flat.
Hopefully in another few days he will start to feel even better and start eating the normal dry Ferret food and start to get around better again.
We shall see.
Keep your fingers crossed for him.

Also, if you give Ferrets a bath once a week or so and keep their cage clean, they do not smell hardly at all. In fact, the cats potty box always smells and the kids keep that clean constantly so the Ferrets don't smell hardly at all and they are a blast to play with. The cats are very indepent and will come to you when "they" want to. The Ferrets on the other hand will play with you whenever you want and are so much fun even to just watch.
Ferrets are always descented before you purchase them, but will give off a bit of an odor over time if you don't wash them to help keep them clean every so often.
Ferrets are one of the best pets the kids have ever had. They are small and don't require a lot (usually ) and give so much back. The kids have had Ferrets as pets since Jordan was born

Steve

Go, Snuggles, go!

My wife read your story about Snuggles, and she wants a Ferret. I had to break the bad news about them being illegal here.

GO SNUGGLES!!!!!

We are all rooting for you!
So get well soon.

Here is a site that has some updated info on the latest attempt to get Ferrets legal in California: http://users.1st.net/hammock/ferrets/legal/california.htm

Here are some other interesting news:

http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/archives/sb55.html
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/7379/ferret.html

Steve

[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 08-15-2003).]

Prayers for Snuggles . They are fun little critters. My ferrett (her name is Scooza) loves to play with the cats. She really gives 'em a run for their money.

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Kathy
Southwestern Ohio Fiero Association
http://sofa8488.netfirms.com

I really want a ferret.... good luck with snuggles.