I took Lucy, Roscoe, and Dusty to the vet today expecting to sit there for two hours while Dusty donated blood and Lucy recieved it. Before we started the process the vet drew some blood to check the red cell counts…and it DOUBLED over the weekend! This is such awesome news! She’s not out of the woods yet, even though she produced more cells on her own her count is still very low. Instead of have 1/4 of a tank of gas she’s up to 1/2 a tank. She goes back on Wednesday to have it checked again. Hopefully we’ll get more good news.

As far as her medications go…we’re lowering the dose of cardiac mecidation by 50%, she’s still taking Prednizone twice a day, she’s still betting heavy duty vitamis once a day, and we’ve added some antibiotics just to be safe.

She looks perkier today than she did on Thursday and Friday. She’s lost a little bit of weight, though, so I’ll have to fatten her up with Duck Soup. She likes to eat it off a spoon.

Keep your fingers and paws crossed!

My poor Lucy-Goosey. I’ve noticed for the past few weeks that she doesn’t quite seem like herself. She seems to be really tired all the time. But…she’s four years old and that’s considered “senior” for a ferret…and every time I got to thinking that she was acting a little “off” she would hop up and run around and play. That, of course, made me second guess myself and decide that I was just a worry wort.

Until last night.

All of the other ferrets were playing in the playpen and Lucy was just laying there looking like a speed bump. I picked her up and although she was responsive with the upper half of her body the bottom half stayed kind of limp. I checked her skin to make sure she wasn’t dehydrated, which she wasn’t. The next thing I knew to do was check her gums to see if they were pink. They weren’t. They were pretty white.

I called the Ferret Rescue Director and told her what was up…and let her know that Lucy was eating some duck soup. She told me that she didn’t think Lucy needed to go to an emergency vet since she was responsive and she was eating but that I should get her in to the vet today.

First thing this morning I made an appointment and met Dr. Amy, the best ferret vet in the area. She’s a very nice lady and explains things in a way that’s easy to understand. She agreed that Lucy was anemic and felt around for adrenal tumors. She didn’t find any but as soon as she put the stethescope up to Lucy’s chest she said “Oh, no”.

Lucy has a pretty significant heart murmur. Any murmur is bad for a ferret since their little hearts beat so fast but Lucy’s is bad enough that her red blood cells are about 3/4 of the way depleated. I have to give her cardiac medication, prednizone, and some iron fortified vitamins this weekend, then go back on Monday prepared to do a blood transfusion. Dusty will be the donor.

If we’re lucky we’ll be able to manage Lucy’s condition for eight months to a year. Possibly longer though it’s not likely. She won’t be dying peacefully in her sleep either. As this condition worsens she will gradually feel sicker and sicker until she’s just completely miserable. We will do the kind thing and let her go before she gets to that point.

Since she’s Amber’s ferret I’m preparing her for the end. I’ve explained that Lucy is sick and that she’s not going to get better but that we can make her feel a little bit better by giving her medicine. I also explained that Lucy isn’t allowed to play with the other ferrets for the time being but that she can still be snuggled and carried around.

It’s a sad day at our house but not as sad as it will be when her time is up. Wish us luck.