R.I.P. Tweak
It wasn’t long ago that our family said goodbye to our female ferret named Pip. Well as I write this, our other sable, Tweak, is dying. With all of the commotion around here the last couple weeks (starting a new job, driving to Kentucky for a wedding etc.) I haven’t paid much attention to Tweak. He lives in his 6 foot tall multi-decker cage in my home office. As long as he was coming out to say hi and grab food, I’d scratch him under his chin and be on my way.
Well, I didn’t notice that he was rapidly losing his hair. Ferret owners know that’s the sign for Adrenal gland disease. This disease affects a surprising number of ferrets in their later years. One of our old ferrets succumbed to the disease after a long drawn out battle. Tweak however showed no signs a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, I found him in a coma, and I noticed his adrenal gland had become huge, and actually protruded from his body. At this point he was too far gone to save him, and given his unresponsive state, I decided to let him die in his own cage curled up in his own bed.
The horrible thing is that he has lasted for a day in this state, no more responsive than before. I go back and forth on whether he can be in pain, and my wife assures me that he isn’t. It’s not a wonderful feeling however. And given his state, I may euthanize him myself because I don’t want him to suffer through another night.
This sucks. Jess, give your critters a hug and tell em you love em.
July 16, 2004 @ 8:26 am
sorry buddy! that is no fun.
July 16, 2004 @ 9:20 am
Oh man, that sucks, bro. Sorry to hear that. He looked great when I stopped by last time.
July 20, 2004 @ 4:31 pm
I’m so sorry to hear about him.
We have our old grandpa, Scooter. Every time I think he’s on his way out, I give him a syringe of Benadryl, and in a few hours, he starts acting like a spring chicken again. It’s hard to see him like that, though, when he’s on his way out. He gets really thin, and won’t eat ferretone (crazy!).
But, after the benadryl, it really helps. My vet told me that trick.
I hope your little guy is doing OK. At least he’s home.
August 26, 2004 @ 6:43 pm
I’m sorry to hear about your baby. I’m going through the same thing right now.
You said that you were thinking about euthanizing him yourself. If I may ask, how? I would like to do the same. I want to be in control of when, where and how. It’s going to be hard enough and I want to take him to the mountains where my parents live to be buried, but there’s not vet up there.
August 26, 2004 @ 6:46 pm
I guess it helps to tell you who wrote it. LOL
I’m sorry to hear about your baby. I’m going through the same thing right now.
You said that you were thinking about euthanizing him yourself. If I may ask, how? I would like to do the same. I want to be in control of when, where and how. It’s going to be hard enough and I want to take him to the mountains where my parents live to be buried, but there’s not vet up there.