LittleWhiteGirl
6-25-1996 to 4-7-2000
| "She really stayed pretty much to herself...never was one to come out and play. But she loved standing at Tommy's feet, asking him to pick her up! :) She loved her daddy!!! Standing there, with her head craned back, looking up for her treats - she LOVED raisins and craisins!!! She was always the last one to get up in the mornings...then this little white face would come out all alone and ask for her craisins :)" |
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We got "LittleWhiteGirl", [formerly named "Chase"], in July of
1999 from a lady in Royal Oak, Michigan, along with her
'brother' [cage-mate], "Armand", who we now call "Narmy".
The couple were moving and could not take them with them... When we first got them, LWG had to prove to all the rest...I think we had 5 or 6 at the time...that SHE was BOSS!!!...she being the smallest at the time made it all the funnier!! Then came a time, a little while down the road, when the others started picking on her... That is about when I noticed the lump in her tummy...So we took her to the vet...She had an enlarged spleen...Doc didn't seem to think it was any big deal ...just said to keep an eye on her... so a few months went by with the spleen going down... then enlarging again... then her tummy started looking different, and she started staying more to herself than usual..I started getting scared that she would not be with us when I woke up in the morning... That is when a very dear, special friend of ours AND of LittleWhiteGirl's, Judy Cooke, made arrangements with her vet for us to be able to make payments on the tests and whatever turned out that needed to be done for her...so off we went to the vet...
He methodically did test after test...eliminating this and
that...keeping her there with him so as to be able to do the
next test as soon as he could...finally coming to the decision
he needed to do exploratory/adrenal surgery...the only thing
he thought was left to do... Surgery was done on Thurs.
March 30, 2000... At this point in the story I am going to insert the posts I put in the FML about what was going on with her, and what was being done...and one note from Judy from before LWG came home... On the next page I will have some Cards and Notes that friends sent to me about LWG... Things may seem a little "dis-jointed" from here on...but it was and still is a hard time...there was no "flow" to these events... Things just "happened"... |
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Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2000 1:03 PM Update on Little White Girl Just got back from the vet- I just love this guy! I had no appointment-he had 3 people in his waiting room that did have appointments, and the ferret isn't even mine- yet he took me in the back and got her out for me. He put her on a towel on a table and let me examine her and love on her. She tried to climb up my shirt and I got two small kisses. What a sweetie! He told me as much as he could without having to guess and said the lab reports will be another 3-5 days. He said that she is much stronger than he could have hoped for-she is moving around good and drinking and eating! He is pleased and surprised at how well she is doing considering what a mess he found inside her, and how long he had to keep her under! He said all we can really do at this point is pray for positive lab results!
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4-4-2000
hey Everyone... she is not eating...we are force feeding her...canned food, nutri-cal, ferretone, and a little heavy whipping cream... she is peeing, but her poop looks like nutri-cal... her body temp is low...she feels cool to the touch...i moved her carrier nearer the heater vent...and am putting a sock w/rice in it...heated up... for warmth...i have no heating pad ...also put Hope-HollyHeart in with her for added warmth... whether she stays or not is up to her...:) she is getting ClavaMox twice a day...
The test results: this is the simplified version..i asked that he mail me a copy of the report... sorry if this is rather 'clinical'... but i am scared to death ...i thought i would be fine taking care of her when she got home... but now that i have her here i am scared to death... afraid i will hurt her...will force feed her wrong and hurt her...miss something i shouldn't that would help her...do something i shouldn't and hurt her... her eyes are dull... like she does not want to live...but only i see this...tommy doesn't... he is probably being more practical than i am... i am scared to death... kat |
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4-5-00 hey all...:) well...when i got up this morning...(Wed.)...@ 7 a.m....i found LWG inside a pile of blankets...she was cold to the touch...she was still alive... still breathing...although her breathing was funny... first i re-heated the rice-sock...put it in her sweatshirt and put her on the sweatshirt... and wrapped it around her... then fixed her food... chicken baby food with nutri-cal, ferretone, and a bit of heavy whipping cream...she ate it with no problem...3 cc's...then gave her 3 cc's of pedialyte. she was still shaking and jerking although her body was warm to the touch now...her eyes were funny...they were dilated... like you could see right in if the light hit them... so i thought 'shock'..gave her some warm water with a bit of sugar and a touch of nutri-cal mixed in it... i thought that might pick her up...it did not... i just laid on the couch with her for 2 1/2 hrs till tommy got up...still no change... she was too weak to even stand... so i called the vet... he said i was doing everything that could be done...but that i could bring her in and he would see...
so we drove the hour to get her to the vet...
she could not even maintain her body heat without the heated
rice sock..i even had her wrapped in the sweatshirt and on my
lap... well...she did...he stayed open late for us...he closes at noon on Wednesdays... he came out after the receptionist took LWG back to him...he said he gave her a steroid shot... that maybe since her left adrenal, which he had removed, had been so big, and producing so much hormones, that the other one had quit working and didn't know to start working again...so she was getting none.
he said he should be able to tell by tonight if it helped and
if that was the problem... at least that gives me some hope...whereas this morning i had none... kat |
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4-7-00 Final update on LittleWhiteGirl...4-7-00 This will be the last update on LittleWhiteGirl. She found her way to the Rainbow Bridge last night. Dr. Garey called me this morning...(4-7-00) She fought for a week after surgery...but it was just too much for her little tiny body in the end... Sandee... she has no one at the Bridge... unless Marcel would consent to be her big brother and take her under his wing... she would have loved him if they had met... i thank all of you for your love and comfort and support and advice...it has gotten me thru this far and it will get me thru the rest of dealing with losing her... She was so sweet... Bye, LittleWhiteGirl, you hold a piece of my heart in your little paws....I will come to collect it as soon as I can...:) kat |
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| He did an autopsy/necropsy... whatever it is called...all he found was a "nobule" where her right adrenal was...not known if it was so tiny because her left had been so big that the right shut down...only a guess...and an infection in her body ...i believe...he really could find nothing that would have caused her body to shut down like it did... |
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After that...Judy Cooke took her home to her house and buried
her under the Apple Tree in the "Beloved Pets" area...
Now I know that she has a beautiful place to rest and I know
she is in a safe place for always... Thank you, Judy...this was a very special gift to me...HUGS!! |
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part of an e-mail between a friend, Holly, and I...with
something i was feeling after LWG's death...
[me]
[Holly]
[me]
HUGS! |
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this part of an e-mail explains the guilt I feel about the
help I received with the vet bill for LWG...it was written to
one person who helped...but goes for all that did...
[me]
i didn't ask for it [the financial help]..i never would have
...but a wonderful friend did... |
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