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WARNING! This page contains graphic images which are not suitable for children and some adults. Please leave this section immediately if you are concerned that you may find these images disturbing.
The ferrets at our shelter have seen many days of hardship. Some are a product from cruel homes and others just get sick. This page is dedicated to the ferrets at our shelter who have had obscure illnesses or surgeries.
:: SALEM :: MIK :: BANDIT :: DR. PURCELL'S VISIT :: BOO :: KEN :: DINO :: TIKA ::
TIKA
In this photo, we see Tika's HUGE lymph nodes. They were the size of grapes. Her spleen was invaded by 100's of tiny white tumors. Sadly, Tika didn't make it. We decided against waking her up after seeing the extent of problems she suffered.
 
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DINO
Dino had tumors on his prepuce. Here we see the doctor using radio surgery to remove the purplish tumors. In the other photo, Dino has a catheter in place before the final cuts to his prepuce are made.
 
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KEN
Ken was thrown off a 5 storey balconey several years ago by his first "family". While his partner Barbie showed immediate outward signs of damage, Ken only recently began display symptoms of leg/hip trauma. He was taken to the wonderful specialists at Guelph University March 17 2004 to have his hip fused so that the broken bone won't cause him such grief.
 
 
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BOO
Boo was a sweet boy the shelter took in shortly before Christmas 2003. He was not in the best of shape and his belly was HUGE, full of tumors. He went in for emergency surgery on the 22nd. The doctor found a HUGE masse in his abdomen, attached to his colon.
 
 
Dr. Karen Purcell visited the shelter and donated her time and energy to perform surgeries on many of the ill shelter kids. Boo was one two of them. When Dr. Karen opened him up, she was originally really optimistic that she could remove the tumor. Then she saw the tumor (which was the size of a baseball) had grown straight through the entire vena cava (main heart artery). The tough decision was made not to wake Boo Bear up and he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
 
 
 
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DR. KAREN PURCELL'S VISIT - January 2004
A visiting Dr. Purcell helping out with a few Adrenal surgeries (pictured with Barbie) |
Here we see an enlarged right adrenal gland. It looks like a small pea, closest to the right of the photo. |
Dr. Karen Purcell (Manchester, NH), Dr. Karen Regan & Dr. Al Moroz (both of the Animal Hospital of High Park) |
The Dr. Karens |
vena cava adrenal- the pea like tumor is pictured here attached to the vena cava. |
The tumor was successfully removed and Billy is doing well! |
Many ferret owners confuse the "blue" ferret as a sick ferret. |
Here we see Dee growing back her fur after a successful surgery. |
Blue ferret- The bruise like appearance of the "blue" ferret shows the hair follicles beginning to grow. |
During surgery, ferrets must have a tube placed into their lungs to prevent them from swallowing liquid, should they vomit during the surgery. Here we see Boo being "intubated". |
Here we can see the difference between a healthy, nicely formed spleen (above) and the mis-shaped, very large and unhealthy spleen (right) of a ferret with lymphoma. |
Unhealthy spleen |
Adrenal |
Barbie post-op |
Doctors at work |
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BANDIT
Bandit was brought to the shelter by his owner in October of 1998. He was a 6.5 year old declawed male. His ears and feet were red, fur free and swollen. He couldn't walk very well due to the swelling on his feet, but he was a happy boy.
Soon after we got Bandit, we decided to run tests to find out what was ailing this little boy. Biopsies were taken and sent to Dr. B. Williams. When we received the results, we were surprised to say the least. Bandit was diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphosarcoma that only affected the skin.
Bandit died in February of 1999. Sleep well our sweet boy.
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MIK
Mik (Mick) came to us as a 4 month old. He had abscess on his back and on his face. They were removed and sent to Pathology.
In March of 1999, Mik began growing a mass on his throat. The mass occupied his whole neck and compromised his breathing. He was taken to The Animal Hospital of High Park where a fine needle Biopsy was performed. The results from Cytology were plain blood, no cells, so a Biopsy was performed 2 days later.
During the waiting period for the test results from the Pathology lab, Mik's throat began to swell. It looked as though he had swallowed a golf ball. His insition site began to open. He began draining pus that looked like yellow-green phlem. Another trip to the vet and we found that Mik had a new abscess. It was drained and the site left open to continue to drain.
Mik's Pathology results came in soon after. He had an infection and his mass was a lymph node reacting to the infection. We still couldn't figure it out and he was put on 2 different antibiotics.
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SALEM
Thymoma is a rare disease in ferrets. The Thymic reign (in the chest cavity) is a very sensitive place for surgery. Salem began to show signs of illness in Nov. 1998. X-rays showed the beginning stages of Cardiomyopathy and a tumor in the chest cavity that was pushing on the lungs, heart and wind pipe of this 5 year old ferret.
Surgery was performed on Salem at the University of Guelph Small Animal Clinic & Teaching Hospital. His ribs were sawed and his chest was opened. A 2 cm x 2.5 cm mass was removed from Salem's chest cavity. Pathology at the University showed a Thymoma. This was confirmed by Dr. B. WIlliams of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
Salem crossed the Rainbow Bridge in February 2001.
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