hi all,

I've been away from the forum for a while but now I have a huge problem. My ferret Nito (5yo F) has been acting tense for the past couple of days - her legs would be tensed up when I took her out of her cage and her tail was bottlebrushed, but she didn't seem ill. Tonight I went in to let her out and she came right out of her cage when I opened it. At first I was relieved, thinking she wanted to come out, which would be an improvement over the last couple of days. After observing her more closely I realized that's not the case. She seems very disoriented and uncoordinated. I don't think she can stand. She lifts her head but it doesn't seem like she can finely control her movements very well. I picked her up. She feels skinny and her fur around her backside is dirty, her paws were a little dirty. This ferret is never dirty, she grooms meticulously. I was honestly shocked because last night I held her in my lap and petted her for around an hour (it's not uncommon for her to sleep on my lap) and she didn't feel very thin and her fur wasn't dirty at all. Her nose is sort of red and seems like she may have some congestion, but she is not mouth-breathing so at least there's that.

Every time I opened the cage she tried to flop out so I figured she wanted some privacy, as my other ferrets have when sick in the past. I set her up in a small backup cage in another room and covered it with a sheet. Besides, this way she doesn't have to traverse ramps. I already made up a soup that's about 50% her normal food (in porridge form) and 50% turkey baby food. I fed her a little bit but I want to see if she holds it down before I feed her more (didn't notice any vomit in her cage but can't hurt to be safe). 

She has adrenal disease for which she has an implant, but it's not due to be replaced for a while and I haven't noticed any symptoms of adrenal. She has an ongoing ear infection that we've tried 4-5 antibiotics on, to no avail, but I don't think that's relevant... I guess it's probably insulinoma? I already have one who takes meds twice a day for insulinoma so it won't be much of a problem. Anyway, is there something I'm missing here?  I'll get her straight to the vet when it opens in the morning, but I'm worried about getting through the night. Something else it could be, anything else I can do? I can't totally tell if she's in pain, she made some groaning-like noises when I was holding her to feed her...

Poor NitNit :(

Shit. Is it possible that the ear infection spread to her nervous system? I just realized that when she does move, she keeps going to the left side. Turning in circles sometimes. Oh god :(

She's gone. I don't know why.

I am so sorry for your loss.....fly high little one.

i'm so sorry.  It's possible she had a stroke, followed by another one.  DIP Nito.  

THE DOOKS OF HAZARD