*sad update* King Larry needs PT prayers.

[Casper]

Everyone here has heard of the power of PT prayers, and my very own King Larry is in dire need of them at the moment.

For those unfamiliar, King Larry is my monster-of-a-ferret. He is nearly six years old and up until the past two days he has been his normal, pesky self.

Yesterday I noticed he hadn't touched his food I put in the night before and he wasn't interested in playing outside of his cage. I decided to not jump the gun and take him to the vet right away, in case he was just having an off day. I guess its not that, as he is considerably worse today. My sister is the head tech at the vet I have been using for my exotics for years, so I called her up and asked what the doc suggests. He says it sounds like a URI, and sent some antibiotics home with my sister. If he gets any worse we will take him straight to the doc, but right now he is doing alright.

Anyhow, my poor guy would greatly appreciate any good vibes you can send his way. You can tell he is feeling so crummy, but at least he is well enough to get up when he sees me walk into the room. I let him out of the cage to walk around a bit and he had enough strength to explore for a few minutes before laying down.

He is a little dehydrated, which we are slowly fixing with the aid of Pedialyte. Thankfully he takes it like a trooper and we don't have to force it down him, all we have to do is give it to him slowly from a syringe and he swallows it willingly. Unfortunately I have only gotten one spoon of chicken-flavored baby food down him. I am having my mum pick up some canned kitten food to try out. Fingers crossed that he takes it!

He loves going outside, so I took him out and let him take a nap in the sun. Before that he perked up quite a bit and took a quick survey of his favorite patch of the yard. He is a very strong, stubborn monster, so I am trying to keep my hopes high that he pulls through this.
Its just so bizarre to see him like this. He is usually the one chasing the cats and dogs around and causing complete havoc. I miss that.

Any advice of other foods I could try with him?

[Karen]

Prayers for King Larry, and a good cuddle.

[Queen of Poop]

Sick ferrets love "duck soup". You should be able to google that. My guys all loved it when they weren't well or recovering from surgery. I pray that he is ok and it's nothing more serious. How is his coat? Nice and full? If it's thinning please get him to the vet right away, it could be adrenal disease. I lost 2 of my boys to this.

[Freedom]

Prayers from RI!

[Casper]

Thanks for the prayers. Much appreciated.

Sick ferrets love "duck soup". You should be able to google that. My guys all loved it when they weren't well or recovering from surgery. I pray that he is ok and it's nothing more serious. How is his coat? Nice and full? If it's thinning please get him to the vet right away, it could be adrenal disease. I lost 2 of my boys to this.

I'm glad you posted! I was going to PM you (as I knew you had ferrets), but I couldn't remember your username for the life of me. As for King Larry's coat, it doesn't really seem to be thinning from what I can see. I am still so scared it might be adrenal disease. I have heard of so many beloved ferrets lost to that.
Thanks for the food suggestion. I am off to google it!




Here's an update:
King Larry's condition stayed stable throughout the night. I was up every other hour to give him some pedialyte and make sure he was doing alright. We are off to the vet's office today. Even though the doc usually doesn't come in on Sundays, my sister got a hold of him and he is going to be able to come in for Larry.
Fingers crossed that all goes as well as one can imagine!

[Queen of Poop]

Fingers, toes and kitty paws crossed for you for the vet visit today.

Run your hand up his back, petting him the wrong way. Is he balding under the top fur? If not he's likely not adrenal. Prayers for you both.

[Queen of Poop]

Checking in to see how it went with the vet.

[Casper]

With a broken heart I am updating this with bad news.

King Larry didn't make it.
I took him in this morning and the doc checked him over. He suspected Lymphoma and ordered an x-ray. The x-ray proved it wasn't Lymphoma, but it showed gas in his intestines. I agreed to have the doc do exploratory surgery to find out what was really going on, though he let me know that Larry might not even make it through the surgery. He ended up finding that Larry had a pretty bad bacterial/viral infection in his intestines and had a lot of fluid in them. He got as much of the fluid out as he could and patched him back up.

He made it through surgery, but passed right before we got back for my sister's evening shift at the clinic. He was still warm and I had to give him one last farewell kiss before I went to the lobby to sit down to have my breakdown. I haven't cried this much and hurt this bad since Frisk passed away. One of the clinic cats that is notorious for being a pest with an attitude could tell I was upset and actually came up and laid on my lap. That helped more than I ever could imagine.

I came home to see his cage empty for the first time and I completely broke down again. I took Queen Jill (my other ferret) out of her cage and held her tight and basically drowned the poor thing in my tears. I think she understood, though, as she just continued to lick my face and look at me with those tiny, intelligent eyes.

I gave the doc permission to take a section from Larry's intestine to send off and have it tested to get an answer as to actually what caused all this. I am having Larry cremated.

I will make a memorial thread within the next few days. Its been such a long day and I can hardly think straight.

[Karen]

So sorry to hear, you'll be in our prayers.

[Freedom]

Very sad to be reading this. Hugs to you. King Larry is now at Rainbow Bridge and pain free. *kiss* Larry.

[Queen of Poop]

Oh, I am so sorry. Ok, tears are sort of under control. Please accept my sincerest condolences on your loss. I've asked my RB boys to please find Larry and welcome him with open arms. Hugs for you my dear.

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm sorry I missed this and even more sorry to hear King Larry didn't make it. {{{hugs}}}

[chimom]

saying a prayer now.

[Casper]

Thanks so much, guys.


I am not totally sure if it has really sunken in yet. I keep expecting to walk in my room and see Larry sleeping in his hammock, and last night was bizarrely quiet without him making his typical racket. I think it will really feel real when I get his ashes back...

I am typing up his memorial little by little. Everytime I try to work on it I end up crying so much that I can't form decent sentences.

[Cataholic]

I am so sorry to hear this news.