u/Total_Philosopher468

(TW for internal bleeding and a post-op photo at the end)

My ferret recently became a tripaw last Wednesday and I am so proud of him. He was doing okay and was of course was prescribed no/minimal activity for two weeks. I was told in a previous post that ferrets bounce back, especially because they are so light, and his movement was improving so my spirits were high. Unfortunately, I was so caught up on worrying about his incision and he was doing so well that I thought we were in the clear.

On Monday, I noticed he was lethargic and pooping black. Not bloody or anything, but definitely darker than I was comfortable with. Alarmed, I kept an eye on him and when I went to pick him up I realized something was very, very wrong.

After rushing him to the vet I learned he was in critical condition. Ferrets are such stoic creatures I had no idea how much pain he was in. He has a gastric ulcer with active bleeding, hematocrit was 17% at the vet, high blood sugar, low body temp. They got him in an incubator and pumped him full of anti-acids to help stop the bleeding. He had to come home that night because it isn't a 24/hr vet, and I was essentially told he was either going to make it through the night or he wasn't, and that it wouldn't even be worth taking him to an ER vet (for context, he is 6 years old. The left hind leg amputation was due to cancer which was removed surgically but came back, so the leg had to go).

He needed food every hour, and so I laid on the floor with him in a sleeping bag on a heating pad from 8pm to 7am, and didn't sleep a wink. Early in the night he was hiccuping, and I was terrified his hematocrit was dropping even more. He hardly ate, not as much as he was supposed to, but he survived the night. When I took him back to the vet his hematocrit was 15%, meaning he was still actively bleeding internally. I have another ferret but he was, sadly, not a good candidate as a blood donor because he is 7 years old. Thankfully, a friend who owns many ferrets brought her healthiest to be his blood donor, and after two transfusions and lots of rest he is now back home. So far he's improving, slowly but surely.

I just wanted to share his story because I am astonished at how strong he was and has been, he has beat every odd even when I thought I was going to lose him, and I am so proud of him. We aren't out of the woods yet, but I know he is giving it his all, and I am not giving up on him.

Here he (and his brother!) are immediately after the surgery, prior to his complication. They are being separated for his safety, he has his own recovery enclosure. He is a true fighter.

https://preview.redd.it/hkjbjxde9kzg1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98b395181178c653f1fc0a0fe9654d78cae55d8c

I'm not sure what to do with myself... I am struggling to cope with him having three legs tomorrow and I feel awful. I can't stop tearing up when I think about it, which feels stupid. I know he is going to do perfectly fine. For context he is a 6 years old Marshalls ferret. Two or three months ago I noticed he was walking funny and then realized he had a large spherical growth on his back foot/ankle which I swore wasn't there the day before.

I immediately rushed him to the vet who said they would have to take the mass off as soon as possible, and left him there that night. The surgeon was an angel and explained every bit of the process to me. Because the margins were so small (ferret feet are quite tiny) he said he would try his absolute best to save the leg, but might have to take it. If he could get just the mass, he was going to have to sever his Achilles tendon. I left him there anxiously and came back a few hours later, happy to see he had all his limbs and the surgeon had managed to remove the mass. The only consequence was he could no longer flex his toes, but he quickly got used to it and was a happy healthy ferret almost immediately.

A week or so later I got news that it was a cancerous growth, one that the surgeon had never seen in ferrets despite working with them for years, which was quite alarming. As concerned as I was, he assured me that he was confident he got the entire mass but that I should keep an eye out for any more.

Last week, just like last time, I found not one but two masses on the same foot that popped up quickly and aggressively, seemingly overnight, even though I had been checking daily. I went to the vet and the surgeon told me this time they would have to take the leg to be confident that the cancerous tissue was fully removed. After just the week of waiting, the masses have already nearly doubled in size.

After already coping and feeling relief the first time that he got to keep his leg, this time is hitting much harder. The risk of complication is so low and I know that it is the decision which will save his life... but I am still grieving and I feel terribly guilty. Logically he will be perfectly fine, I fully trust the surgeon to do what's best for him, and I know he has legs to spare, but I still can't help from feeling overwhelmingly sad when I think about tomorrow.

Is it normal to grieve this hard? Everywhere I look online I am told they heal fast and gain full mobility back quickly, but that isn't making me feel any better. I just wish he could have all of his legs until the very end, I wish he didn't have cancer.