by Laura Montana

Created on: July 05, 2010

Nursing Moose

I’m ashamed to say I waited a full three months before making an appointment with Dr. Mike, our veterinarian. I was in college and working two part-time jobs, and time just got away from me. Moose had a bump on the end of his tail. Knowing how ferrets are into everything, I thought he probably got it caught in something. The next time I noticed the bump, it hadn’t grown, but then it wasn’t going away either. The day I made the appointment I realized he was losing the hair on his tail.

Dr. Mike confirmed my fears. The bump was a tumor. In typical ferret fashino, Moose would not hold still for a blood test, so Dr. Mike decided to wait for the sample until Moose was anesthetized for surgery.

Moose had always been a very healthy, energetic animal. He was also considerably bigger than our two female ferrets, weighing in at three pounds. We were his fifth home. Each time his terrific personality won him a new owner, his musky body odor sent him back to the pet shop. For my son, Ethan, it was love at first sight. He spent all his savings to buy that ferret. Moose’s name and a stuffed bear came home with him. Over time Ethan lost interest in him, and Moose became my buddy. Shortly after Moose jointed our family, he was neutered and descented. That had been his only major medical procedure, until now.

Early the next morning I delivered Moose to the clinic. He was afraid, shaking as though he was very cold. Karla, the vet tech, held him close, talking in soothing tones. Moose is over seven years old. That’s old for a ferret. I wonder if the surgery will be too much for him. Dr. Mike assures me it will only be a ‘simple’ tail docking. No surgery is simple when it’s your baby.

I watch the clock in my office, willing the hands to mover to 11 a.m. when Moose will be out of surgery. When I call the clinic, the receptionist tells me Moose is fine and I can pick him up after five.

I’m surprised to see Moose with most of his tail intact. I was expecting something more in line with a hamster. Dr. Mike has also done a biopsy on a lump on Moose’s belly. Moose is sleepy and I wrap him in a doll blanket and hold him on my lap to drive home. That night he pulls his stitches from the tip of his tail.

When I open his cage door, he runs through the kitchen to the laundry room as he does every morning. He likes to eat and drink from the dog’s dishes. Today he trails blood. I call the clinic, they will be expecting

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