Ferret Aid Society

Bandit

His name is Bandit. He is a 6.5 year old sable male. He has the biggest eyes I have ever seen on a ferret. They beseech you to hold him, cuddle him, save him. Bandit came to the Ferret Aid Society as a result of his owner claiming she could not afford his vet bills anymore.

This was after she had taken Bandit to three (3) vets for opinions. What she spent on the other two vets could have easily been put toward further vet bills. She owned and lived with Bandit for 6 years then just dumped him off like yesterday’s news.

I had been informed of Bandit’s story and after all this time of being involved with neglected and abandoned ferrets and volunteering at the shelter, I thought I had learned how to disconnect a bit and fight the desire to take them all home and nurture them. Bandit reminded me that my heart is just mush.

I saw Bandit for the first time on Wednesday of last week. I was with a friend who was visiting from the states and had never been around ferrets until she came up here. We were in the back room letting ferrets out, scooping litter boxes, playing and feeding. We were laughing and having a blast. Randy came to the gate with Bandit in her arms.

When I looked at him I gasped! My friend later told me she had to turn away and go back into the room because she could not deal with what she saw. Bandit is a ferret who was declawed when he was young. His feet are swollen to approximately 4 times their normal size and do not even resemble ferret feet. They are devoid of all hair and look shinny like burned skin does. I expected at any moment for the skin to just burst. Bandit’s ears are also swollen to about 3 times their normal size and are red and shiny as well. He has very little fur on his tail or body and looks like a ferret who obviously has Adrenal disease.

I could not take my eyes off those feet. One foot looks like it is almost the size of my wrist. When I looked into those big eyes of his I wanted to reach out and hold him. It was all I could do not to cry. Since Bandit is in quarantine and I had been playing with ECE exposed ferrets I could only look back at him. His illness must have been going on for a long time. Feet do not swell like that overnight. Hair loss does not happen overnight.

Thoughts went through my head that his owner must have been hoping he would just die. How could she live day in and day out, looking at this ferret getting sicker and sicker and just ignore it? I don’t know and I will never know and I choke on these thoughts. I cannot get this little guy out of my mind. I cannot stop seeing those feet and those eyes.

Bandit’s feet have been biopsied and we are awaiting those results as well as other test results. Randy will move heaven and earth and leave no stone unturned in her effort to save this ferret. He wants to live, he tries to walk but he may not be long for this world. Randy suspects he also has Lymphoma.

Randy stands there at the gate, Bandit in her arms and before me is a woman with long hair, big doe eyes, the kindest smile and softest voice. But she is a warrior princess in her heart, and will fight tooth and nail for the ferrets and if love and hugs and cuddles could save Bandit…he would live forever. Some call her a fanatic, some call her obsessive and she probably is all of these things, but I would not want the job she or any other shelter person has. It is thankless, it is heartbreaking and it is a hard life. I sometimes wonder where her breaking point is and I hope she never reaches it. Who would save the Bandits then?

I, at least, go home to my happy, smiling crew every time I am there. I can leave the shelter behind me most times. Randy gets up everyday and hand feeds the sick ones, deals with more and more dumped and unwanted ferrets and takes the ones like Bandit and his poor sick body into her arms and cuddles and holds him. He must be so scared. He lost his home of 6 years.

So even though we have all heard it time and time again, please cuddle your own ferrets a bit tighter today. Kiss them and be grateful that you will probably never have to see that look in their eyes. All the shelter moms and dads give yourselves a pat on the back. Everyone else give yourself one for the good lives you give your fuzzies. It is way too short. Please think about Bandit today and send good thoughts. We are pulling for this little guy but it may already be too late.

– Cindy

November 11 1998
Bandit was in High Park today for some more tests. Lymphosarcoma. is still suspected, but not a major concern at this point. I’ve fallen in love with this little helpless bundle. Still awaiting pathology reports. RB
November 20 1998
Bandit’s test results still have not come back. They were temporarily lost in the mail, but have now found their way to Dr. Williams. We should have results early next week. For now, his hair is growing back (probably due to the good food) and he seems to be holding his own. He’s not out of danger though. RB
November 21 1998
Today I have noticed a skin tumor on our Bandit. It’s awful and I’ve never seen anything like it before. It looks like a big, bruised pimple. I’m waiting on a call back from the vet. RB

Pathology report in letter from Dr. B. Williams:
Randy – of course the sample arrived the day I left for St. Louis – well, it looks like a few days delay won’t really make any difference overall. I’ve appended the letter at the bottom, but the upshot is that you are dealing with a rare form of lymphosarcoma which occurs in the skin. I’ve only seen about 4 cases, including Bandit. With the skin form, it doesn’t metastasize very quickly, and one of the case that I saw, when the lesion was completely removed, the animal lived on to die several years later of something completely unrelated. However, judging from your clinical history, it looks like the disease has progressed too far to consider surgical removal at this point.

There is really very little information on this disease, so the question of treatment is still open. It doesn’t appear that strong protocols offer any better hope of recovery than palliative steroids. These cells don’t really respond to well to chemotherapy, so I think that your best best would be prednisone orally and topically – I’d start with 1mg/lb orally twice a day, and topical steroid cream on the affected areas. An additional problem is that the neoplastic cells are breaking up the hair follicles, and the release of hair shafts into the dermis is causing additional inflammatory problems. The steroids should help that a bit, as well.

Honestly, this is probably going to be a long downhill slide, even with good nursing care. However, I’d go with whatever food you can to keep weight on- ferrets with lymphoma, even localized, tend to lose weight. Wish I had better news.

All the best, Bruce.

I guess this means if Bandit’s owner had been nice enough in the 1st place, he’d have a fighting chance. At this point I guess all we can do is keep him comfortable and hope he remains painless…. I’m so sad. RB

December 10 1998
Bandit has now been on the Pred cream and oral Pred. His feet are actually getting smaller! I do believe this is working. Bandit continues to kiss my face raw and loves to be cuddled! RB
January 1 1999
Bandit is not doing so well today. He’s very slow and I fear my worst nightmares will come true shortly. He’s not himself today. Paige and Cindy are over and they too can see the difference in him. His feet are a bit smaller, but are cracking and a bit bloody. RB
January 3 1999
Bandit seems a bit better today. He wants to play and is squirming to get out of my arms and investigate his surroundings. We now know he’s completely blind. As long as he wants to be here, I’ll keep him. RB

January 18 1999
This morning when I woke up, I looked in on Bandit. When I saw his eyes, I knew it was time to let him go. He stared at me blankly and didn’t bother to exchange kisses with me like normal. With a heavy heart, I made the appointment to take him to the vets and help him cross the Rainbow Bridge.

Bandit was treated with chocolate cake, ice cream and lots of sweets today. What could it hurt, here on his last day with me. He lapped up the soft ice cream and enjoyed the cake and sweets. It even looked as if he was smiling at one point.

At 5pm, Bandit and I embraced and I let him go. I will never forget the pain in this decision or the anger I felt for Bandit’s real mom. I longed to see him better and prayed to see him dance. I never got that day, but I did get his love.

Good night dear Bandit. I love you my boy.