not that i'm complaining in anyway. it's what i signed up for. but it's something that you really never believe until you're in the midst of it. so beckah, are you waxing poetic or is there a point to all of this meandering musing? there is very much a point.
today we had an unexpected vet visit. most of my vet visits lately are turning into unexpected one. in a future blog i'll regale the tale of smokey, the bean box, and the emergency surgery. for now, back to another ferret and another health emergency. it's miss lucy-loo and the case of the ferret squashing.
last night was, for all intensive purposes, a normal night. fry and i were hanging out, the fuzzies were tearing around the house, a semi controlled chaos. we were getting ready to go to bed and fry accidentally stepped on lucy-loo. she had run under one of the poop pads and he didn't see the little tent of her hiding underneath the fabric. luckily he didn't come down on her with his full weight, but enough that she did get mildly squashed.
now, it's very easy to accidentally step on a ferret. they are small and fast and we humans are large and rather slow and bumbling in comparison. and even if you watch your feet they will, on occasion, run from seemingly no where to get in your path. i'd be lying if i said we'd never stepped on one before. we've had tails and paws under feet before. once again, not on purpose, but it happens.
but this time lucy just acted different. she wasn't in shock because her eyes weren't glassy and she was moving. but she just seemed to be off. i can't exactly explain it better than that. i think my ferrent senses were tingling. fry and i decided to put her in the cage with linus for the night so we could easily check on her.
this morning i checked on her. she was still alive *yippee* and her eyes still were not glassy *double yippee* she was aware, but also still not her usual vivacious self. typically when she's in the cage and i'm working during the day she'll wake up, scratch at the bars, chew at them a little, glare at me until i meet her gaze and try everything she can do to get the french toast out of her cage and onto mischief making. today i would take her out to check on her, give her a little ear scratch, and put her back and she'd snuggle into a hammock and go back to sleep.
so i called my vet's office, lake harriet veterinary, in minneapolis. they are seriously awesome people! they arranged for me to bring lucy in as a "drop off." so they fit her in for an exam and blood work in between other appointments. luckily she did not need x-rays because the blood work showed no signs of internal bleeding. doctor's orders are: quiet cage time for a couple days, pain meds each night for three days (with duck soup), and no more running under feet.
i'm so relieved that she's going to be okay. all day a million worries were running through my head and now i feel i can breathe easy. my little girl is home, resting in the cage, and on her way to better health.
so, what is today's price of ferrenting:
eighteen hours of worrying+three hours off from work+fifty miles total to and from minneapolis+one complete ferret exam+one blood work up+three syringes of pain meds (.24 ml total)=thank you kisses from little miss lucy-loo.
yup. it's all worth it.
this picture was taken 6/11/11. linus is kissing his big sister lucy-loo after a vigorous dooking section.
new terminology used in this post:
bean box ~ noun. an enrichment toy consisting of large bucket or box filled with dried beans for ferrets to dig and play in.
dooking ~ verb. intense ferret play which often includes a soft chittering noise and unrestrained tumbling which can result in ferrets falling off furniture causing a brief lull in the dooking session.
duck soup ~ noun. a powdered treat/food supplement. can be given reconstituted with water or sprinkled dry over kibble.
poop pad ~ noun. reusable incontinence pads we use for ferret potty spots around our home.
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