Friday Ferretblogging: Puck vs. The Sick

For the record, the score is Puck 1, Sick 0.

The good news is that he has adrenal cancer. Let me say that again. The good news is that he has adrenal cancer. He got up Monday looking like he was just too tired to bother with the whole world, which concerned me, so in he went to the vet. Good thing, because the tumor growing unbeknownst to all of us (usually they lose their fur, and Puck has just won the Best Fur Ever award here in Casa Athenae) had screwed up his insides to the point where his itty bitty internal organs were all, to use a technical term, squished.

Four days of Vet TLC and lots of medication later, he's back home, still on meds that he hates, eating gushy foods with the enthusiasm of the starving. He'll need yet more medicine for the disease, but at least they know what's wrong and can treat it, which is a far cry from Tuesday's diagnosis, for the record something along the lines of "Let's try this and see what happens."

He got up this morning and bit his brother on the head, so we know he's gonna be okay.

A.

Comments

[virgotex]

Go Puck.

The Sick sux.

[liprap]

Poor baby!

Glad he's getting back to his head-biting self again. Hugs to the Puckster!

[VictoriaB]

Awww, poor little guy. And it's no fun for his peeps, taking care of him and worrying and looking for every little sign of improvement. I'd send some virtual chicken soup but I don't think it would help in this case, so here's some peace and love and strength coming to you from a friendly stranger on the intertubes.

Peace,
Victoria

[scout]

Aw poor baby. Give him a hug from Willie

[garbo]

That is good news. My two ferrety girls (Fracas and Rocket) have both been diagnosed with the Adrenal disease, but are both responding very well to Lupron shots. We're lucky enough to have hair loss as a bell weather. So glad the Puck is doing better. Friday Ferret Blogging is a family event around here!

[Athenae]

FRACAS! ROCKET!

Awesome ferret names.

A.

[garbo]

Oh, thank you! I take that as a great compliment coming from you. Rocket tends to get very wound up and launch herself off furniture with no regard for her safety - hence the name.

My girls are "free range" like yours and I feel you can't enjoy the full ferret experience unless you let them run around and follow their bottomless curiosity and scheming ways. Consequences be damned!

[spork_incident]

Poor Puck!

I hope for the best.

.

[pansypoo]

good luck. i hope i don't have any pet crisises for a while. cats gonna be 6.

[G in INdiana]

Excellent news. I think it is always easier to deal with an illness when you know what it is and your loved one (furred or otherwise) is getting the treatment they need.

I always know my pets are feeling better when they can beat the crap out of each other. Not badly, just typical dog stuff like stealing toys and them bowling the thief over with a body block.
I have Greater Swiss Mountain Dog's so that is some body blockage, think 110 to 150 pounds tricolor mastiff type dogs.

[GentillyGirl]

The Mighty Ten down here in the swamps are pulling for you Puck as am I.

Get well baby.

[The Crapture]

Me, the Hairball Manufacturing Cabal (3 black kittehs, Shadow, Tonya and Spooky - and the impending litter Spooky is carrying) all send best wishes to Teh Puck

[PurpleGirl]

Awww, poor Puck. Sending thoughts of health and love for the critter and his humans.

[mdh]

I adopted my Anabel about 4 months after her adrenl cancer surgery. She had no hair on her tail then, and had apparently been nude for about 2 months. Now she has all her hair back and is as healthy and playful as can be.

[mdh]

Friday Ferret Blogging is a family affair here too.

[The Other Sarah]

Awww, Athenae.
Hugs to you, and scritches to Puck.

Yeah. It's always good news when you find out it's something that can be treated.

But please tell me -- I don't know anything about ferrets except what I learn here -- is adrenal cancer very common?

[Athenae]

Sarah, it is very common. It, along with insulinoma (what Stripe had before he died) is the most common illness in ferrets. The thing with Puck was that it usually presents with hair loss, at the tail first and then the rest of the body, and he has this beautiful coat, so we didn't think anything was wrong until he started to slow waaaay down.

There's shots you can give them for it, as well as surgery.

A.

[Stormcrow]

Athenae, how treatable is adrenal cancer in ferrets? What's the long term prognosis?

I know next to nothing about the little guys except that I find them charming. I've been raising cats for the last 35 years. Nine in total. But I've lost two of those to cancer.

[Athenae]

Stormcrow, if we don't take out the tumor he will die of it, and even if we do take out this tumor, it's likely it will come back. But I've seen ferrets live with the disease for years. Our Fox had it for probably the last three of his seven years and it only really interfered wtih his quality of life for the last eight months or so, where he was uncomfortable.

A.

[The Other Sarah]

That you love them so!

Wist that they lived longer, that they might be so loved more.

[BuggyQ]

God, I'm glad you all know what it is and what you can do.

The worst six months of my life I spent trying desperately to figure out what was wrong with my Clio. Never, ever want to go through that hell again. I still feel like I let her down. (Damn. Five years later, and it still makes me cry.)

May all be mended with Puck so he can live a long and happy life with you.