Ferrets and kittens.
Jan. 22nd, 2007 05:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mad_andyJust got back from the vets, and Djinny is booked in for her spay. Hurrah! (Because nothing says 'neuter the cat' like a couple of entire toms just mooching around the garden, keeping an eye on the place...just in case...)
Everyone was very pleased to see me, and I've even been invited to one of the vet's birthday 'do's next week. *Feels loved*
Very weird to be a paying customer, coming in the front door and everything.
Anyway, what with poor Foggy passing away last week I was absolutely dreading taking Thoth to see the ex-boss. Fluid filled abdomen, soft lumps in the neck, sluggish...? I was thinking kidneys, perhaps heart, or maybe even something horrible like lymphosarcoma. I was somewhat afraid I would be coming home with an empty box.
Thoth, it turns out, has Cushing's disease. AKA Hyperadrenocorticism. Only in ferrets, it's caused by a tumour on (usually) one of the adrenal glands. (Rarely, it's on both. Usually it's only on the left one, which by happy accident is apparently the easiest one to get at.)
In dogs and cats you have to go through a long process of blood tests to get the diagnosis, but in ferrets you tell by having an ultrasound scan (which Thoth had today, and didn't enjoy much) and by the clinical signs.
The ex boss (who I saw, as I trust him with ferrets) said he always remembered the Cushing's signs from a friend of his that he trained with--fat, bald and lazy! Thoth doesn't have fluid in his abdomen, it's just lots of squishy fat. That news alone is so good I could have cried. But you can't diagnose Cushing's in ferrets with a blood test, so we don't have to go through all that palaver.
But you can't treat it medically (ie with pills) which is no bad thing--on the dosages for weight it would have meant crushing the pills and dividing them up (best done with a razorblade and a mirror, I shit you not)--but that's not a very clever thing to do with cytotoxic drugs...
Anyway, Thoth is going in on wednesday to have his adrenal tumour removed.
Yes, it's going to be a big op for the chap, and if there's tumours on both glands then Tim will remove the worst one (you can't remove both of them or you get the opposite condition, Addisons Disease, AKA Hypoadrenocorticism!) and I'll just keep Thoth comfy until, well, until I can't keep him comfortable any more.
But it's a pretty positive outlook, considering I was fearing kidney disease, heart failure and/or lymphosarcoma.
The only minor 'hmm' is that this'll be the first time in over five years any of my babies have had anything done when I'm not there to help with the anaesthetic!
Oh, and Axl is apparently as happy as larry up at the kennels. He's not at all interested in people (!) but loves being with other dogs. It's a relief to know he's doing well!
Everyone was very pleased to see me, and I've even been invited to one of the vet's birthday 'do's next week. *Feels loved*
Very weird to be a paying customer, coming in the front door and everything.
Anyway, what with poor Foggy passing away last week I was absolutely dreading taking Thoth to see the ex-boss. Fluid filled abdomen, soft lumps in the neck, sluggish...? I was thinking kidneys, perhaps heart, or maybe even something horrible like lymphosarcoma. I was somewhat afraid I would be coming home with an empty box.
Thoth, it turns out, has Cushing's disease. AKA Hyperadrenocorticism. Only in ferrets, it's caused by a tumour on (usually) one of the adrenal glands. (Rarely, it's on both. Usually it's only on the left one, which by happy accident is apparently the easiest one to get at.)
In dogs and cats you have to go through a long process of blood tests to get the diagnosis, but in ferrets you tell by having an ultrasound scan (which Thoth had today, and didn't enjoy much) and by the clinical signs.
The ex boss (who I saw, as I trust him with ferrets) said he always remembered the Cushing's signs from a friend of his that he trained with--fat, bald and lazy! Thoth doesn't have fluid in his abdomen, it's just lots of squishy fat. That news alone is so good I could have cried. But you can't diagnose Cushing's in ferrets with a blood test, so we don't have to go through all that palaver.
But you can't treat it medically (ie with pills) which is no bad thing--on the dosages for weight it would have meant crushing the pills and dividing them up (best done with a razorblade and a mirror, I shit you not)--but that's not a very clever thing to do with cytotoxic drugs...
Anyway, Thoth is going in on wednesday to have his adrenal tumour removed.
Yes, it's going to be a big op for the chap, and if there's tumours on both glands then Tim will remove the worst one (you can't remove both of them or you get the opposite condition, Addisons Disease, AKA Hypoadrenocorticism!) and I'll just keep Thoth comfy until, well, until I can't keep him comfortable any more.
But it's a pretty positive outlook, considering I was fearing kidney disease, heart failure and/or lymphosarcoma.
The only minor 'hmm' is that this'll be the first time in over five years any of my babies have had anything done when I'm not there to help with the anaesthetic!
Oh, and Axl is apparently as happy as larry up at the kennels. He's not at all interested in people (!) but loves being with other dogs. It's a relief to know he's doing well!
