Dude Update

We took Dude back to the vet today. His weight was constant from 10 days ago... 1.3 pounds. (He used to be around 2.6.) His lymph nodes are still enlarged, and he has anemia. Meanwhile, his blood sugar is still high. So, we're cutting back on the pred some more, and hopefully that will help his blood sugar get under control, and it's possible his lymph nodes will shrink with fewer steroids in his system.

Meanwhile, we're going to start giving him injections of a medicine for his anemia three times a week. It doesn't seem like it'll be that hard to do -- they're tissue injections, so we don't have to find a vein, which would result in a very perforated weasel. After a month, we'll bring him back tot he doc, and hopefully cut back to twice a week on the injections.

It could be that the anemia is what's keeping him from eating. He has poor control over his hind legs right now -- a symptom of anemia in ferrets -- which makes it hard for him to eat food in its traditional spot in the cage. We've added a food bowl to the lower level, and with the shots, hopefully he'll get some strength back in those haunches.

I feel a little more hopeful* for him now than I have in the past few days. And, Kathy informs me, Dude is at the food bowl again while I'm up here typing this. Let's hope he keeps that appetite when he goes back in the cage.

Rob

*And now that I feel better about Dude, I might be able to blog again. I have trouble posting much when I'm in a funk, even though Kathy & I did something very cool last week that I've been meaning to write about here.