Surgery for Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack had his surgery this morning.  I dropped him off at the vets at 7 am.   Dr. Garman called me at around 10:30 to say that he was resting post surgery.  It was then that I found out there was bi-lateral involvement, both of his adrenal glands were enlarged.  Sigh....

The left gland was removed completely and part of the right was removed as well.  We plan on putting him on lupron to help with the situation.

I brought him home this evening.  He has a recovery pen set up in our living room so he can rest peacefully away from the others.  This also limits his mobility, while he heals.

I offered him food, and he willingly ate his soupie!  We continue to offer supportive care and making sure he has soupie and water every two hours.

Tonight I will be sleeping in the living room on the couch next to Cracker Jack.   At first my Husband didn't like this idea, until I asked him if he really wanted to hear an alarm go off every two hours.   I will need an alarm to make sure I wake up and check on Cracker Jack regularly.

Bath Dance

A week ago, while cleaning the ferret room it dawned on me the ferrets had not had their spring baths. It is not necessary to bathe ferrets often, in fact if you over bathe them it strips the oils from their fur which is not good. I  bathe my ferrets twice a year, during the spring and fall sheds to help remove the loose hair.

For some reason I had not done this yet, so I decided no time like the present to get this done. I felt that it was the perfect day, not too cold plus Grammy would be ferret sitting the following day so we could call her and tell her they took their baths just for her!

I started with trimming their nails, I typically do this once every 1-2 weeks.  They don't seem to mind this too much and it helps keep their nails from splitting and getting caught on things.

When the nail trimming was done, we did full body massages. For the ferrets I imagine the experience is similar to that which we humans experience, they feel pretty darned good. From my perspective it gives me the opportunity to feel for any lumps or bumps and check the over all condition of their coats and bodies.

Then it was treat time! I gave them all some vaseline. Yep you read that right, I said vaseline. They think it's a treat and gobble it down, what are really doing is lubing the tubing to help make sure hairballs don't get stuck where they shouldn't be.  

Then one by one we visited the bathtub for a bath.  Since I am the only human involved in the bathing process, I can not take pictures as I don't want my camera anywhere near a wet ferret in the bathroom!

We towel dry, and then set them loose!  Mojo will demonstrate for you, how he finishes his drying process.  Enjoy....

Cracker Jack - My Buddy

Cracker Jack has long been called my Buddy Boo, he is such a happy little ferret and joy to have in the family.   Cracker Jack joined the family in 2006, and he is just about 3.5 years old.  He loves to dance and cuddle in his Mom's arms.

For a few months now I have suspected Cracker Jack of being adrenal.  For those who may not have a lot of ferret knowledge this means I suspect he has  Adrenal Gland Disease.    He has started to show a few of the clinical signs, the most obvious being some patterned hairloss, inlcuding his tail, tummy, chest and shoulder blades.

We have consulted our vet, and even waited awhile just to make sure we weren't dealing with a seasonal shed.  My buddy's hair just isn't growing back.   His tail is practically bald these days.

March 2009

May 2009

Additionally he is showing some uncharacteristic agressive behavior with the others.   After additional discussion with his veterinarian we have decided to move forward with an adrenalectomy (surgical removal of the affected adrenal gland).  

Cracker Jack is scheduled for his surgery May 22, 2009.  We ask that you keep him in your thoughts and wish for an uneventful surgery along with a speedy recovery.  

Ricebox?

Ever wonder why this blog is titled "Tales from the Ricebox"? If you are a ferret enthusiast, your answer is probably no. For those who are new to the world of ferrets or just curious....

It would be an understatement to say that ferrets like to dig and burrow.  They will dig just about anything if given a chance.  To enrich their lives and allow them to do something they naturally enjoy doing, many ferret owners provide dig boxes.   A common filler is rice,  ferrets will lose their minds digging in  rice.  Very entertaining for the humans too!   It is important to note that it should be long grain rice, NOT instant rice for the ferrets safety.  

I decided rice would be a good idea, as it was much easier to clean up after.  I tried shredded paper once.....it wasn't such a good idea!   Sure they fling the rice out of the box from time to time as they dig.    My favorite is tunneling into the rice and then bursting out in a blast of happiness.   The rice really flies then!

We've always kept our posts to be about the ferrets on the blog, so we wanted the title to relate to the ferrets somehow.  The Ricebox seemed to suit us.

The photos feature BenBen playing in the rice, not really digging just playing.

Tornado Warning

Last weekend we had our first tornado warning of the season.  My husband and I gathered the ferrets into their carriers and took them to the basement.

Mind you they could care less about the sirens going off, and were oblivious to the potential danger they were in.  They were however very excited to be going somewhere.

Imagine their surprise when the arrived in the basement, and placed into a cage.  They were not happy and were pretty rowdy for awhile.  They did eventually settle down.

Here is a picture of them waiting on Mom to decide it was safe to take them back to the ferret room upstairs!

Photo's from the ferret room!

A few recent photos of the family for your enjoyment...

Ozzy celebrating his 3rd birthday playing in the tubes!

Mojo, checking out the world upside down..thinkin' he's pretty darn cute!

Cracker Jack posing handsome for the camera!

Moki demonstrating how to REALLY relax!

Ben Ben "Tastes Like Chicken Poofer" sneaking up on someone....

Bobo, playing with her new favorite toy she got for Easter.

Luna says "This is the face you get when you take pictures of my while I'm sleeping"

No wonder they never have any toys to play with...who put them all under the cage?

State of the Ferrets

Today was Spa day in the ferret room!  Everyone had pedicures, their ears cleaned, their teeth brushed, we brushed coats to pull out loose hair from the spring shed.  We also put everyone on the scales to see how much they weighed.  Paying attention to weight fluctuations in ferrets helps a ferret parent know when something might be amiss.

For the curious of mind here is what the scales said:

BenBen 1360 grams

Ozzy 1350 grams

Mojo 1189 grams

Moki 1081 grams

CJ 989   grams

Bobo 796   grams

Luna 795   grams

Nothing out of whack there, it is important to note that Bobo officially has junk in her trunk.  We are so happy she is back at weight.  In March when she had GI issues she very quickly dropped down to a low of 622 grams.  She has gained and maintained her weight.  Yeah!

As for the overall state of affairs with the family, well it could be worse however we have somethings to keep our eye on.

Cracker Jack- has lost the hair on his tail with his seasonal shed and it has not grown back.  We suspect Adrenal Disease in him and will give him a few more weeks to see if any hair grows back.   We are waiting in part because there is nothing that puts him in immediate danger and I will be traveling for work the first week of May.  Daddy and Grammy would not be pleased if I left them with a convalescing ferret to take care of.  

Mojo- Appears to be happy and healthy.  He has a full soft furry coat that makes him look much bigger than he really is.  I suspect he will be shedding this soon.  Mojo had his rabies vaccination and annual exam last week.  The vet felt a lumpy mass in his abdomen, so we will need to investigate this.  Mojo will have an ultrasound in the next few weeks, since he is otherwise healthy and does not act like he doesn't feel well we are going to wait until he goes back in for his distemper vaccination unless the situation changes.

Moki-What can I say about our kamikaze ferret?  Crazy as can be and appears to be happy and healthy.  He seems to be doing well with his IBD as longs as we provide him with some daily soupie to supplement his regular food.  He is a happy boy, and we humans could learn a thing or two from him in his enjoyment of life!

Bobo- The Princess is doing quite well now, as mentioned earlier she went through a bought of GI issues at the beginning of March.  The road back to health has been long, and filled with yucky medicines.  We are now done with the medicines and she is back to her royal self again.  She is in the middle of her shed, and looks so darn cute with her short coat.

Luna- She's doing well, and there is nothing of note to mention about her health wise.  She is our little "pipster", and enjoys playing with her family daily.  One of her favorite activities is climbing on Mommy, sometimes if she is fast enough she can even make it to the computer desk from Mom's shoulder.

BenBen- Poofer Dude, seems to be happy and healthy as well.  He is typically the 'last man' standing in the ferret room and relies upon us to play with him long after the others have settled down for a nap.  As with Luna there is nothing of concern with his health.  We'll be scheduling him for his distemper vaccination soon.  We do not look forward to this, as he has a history of reaction.

Ozzy- Just after Thanksgiving Ozzy experienced a urinary obstruction.  Ultrasounds showed that his prostate and left adrenal were enlarged.   He did have an adrenalectomy, poor fella.  His internal sutures came undone and a week later he had a second surgery to replace those sutures.  He has been doing well, we will need to look at a follow up ultra sound to ensure the prostrate shrank after the diseased adrenal gland was removed.  The Oz Man has been a little sleepier these last couple of days, so we are keeping a close eye on him.

So there you have it, lots of things going on for this family of ferrets.  I think I need a second job!