Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ferrets, Feet and Footwork

I took the ferrets back to the vet this morning. Its funny , Wednesday I thought the one ferret wasn't going to make it. She just laid in the cage and wouldn't come out. I gave her a little peanut butter but she still didn't perk up. I took her out and she just laid there. I figured this was it. The next morning I went to check on them. I lifted the blanket they sleep under and they both looked up at me. "What, turn the light out". They both looked find. I covered them up. Last night the seemed find. Both came out of the cage and ran around. The one who kept falling over was walking fine. Weird. Anyway the other vet checked them. They ran a blood sugar on the falling over one. Her blood sugar was 25. normal is 60-125 ( I think). So she was pretty low. They said she has insulinoma. So she has to take prednisone everyday. I take her back in a week to see if her blood sugar is better. The other ferret, they think because of the hair loss, has an adrenal tumor. If its on the left,it can be surgically removed. If its on the right , they can only remove a part of it because it wraps around the vena cava and they cant remove it or you die. They didn't feel any tumors but that's what they think. And it only cost 350.00 to have surgery to see which side its on and remove it. Hmmm. I don't think we will be doing surgery. Will just have to let her live as long as she can like this and go from there. The insulinoma ferret can live from 3 months to 3 more years. They just don't know. But at least I didn't put them to sleep.
Next subject is feet. I just cant find a pair of sneaker that don't hurt my legs or feet. I was wearing Adidas trail runner supernova 5, but they don't make them anymore. Ive been buying them different places. ( I guess until they cant be found) I ordered them from a site I found them on, and they are killing my feet. I ordered the same size but they are just not right on my left foot. Maybe they only have defective ones left now. So Ive been looking for another shoe. Ive tried Nike, Brooks, Muinzo, Keen, Asics to name a few. I'm so over this and just don't know what to do. I really need a new pair of shoes. The treads are warn off my old shoes. I guess I will just keep trying.
Footwork. I work Miley a little today. We did that set up that the Agility Nerd had on his site where you work front crosses, rear crosses and serpts. Miley did really well. Then we work on tunnel entrances. Just jump to the tunnel. She did well today. Will see if that holds up. Instead of saying "in", I'm using "here". I try not to use "here" on course because I find if I'm nervous, I will say "here" and not mean to. Or use it in the wrong place. ( Just a note. On my jumpers run where Miley "Qed" and got her title. You hear someone yelling "here", that was the girl in the other ring). Also when I run at a trial, I tend to be really quiet ( again a nerve thing) so I try not to rely on verbals but in this case I'm going to have to do something.

I posted the new header. That's more realistic of my dogs. Why is Guiness's tongue hanging to the side. Because a bicycle had recently come by and Guiness was going crazy. Stephanie was embarrassed by the dog acting crazy. You know, kids never embarrass you, only dogs.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a hunch that the falling over ferret was going to be an insulinoma. Insulinomas and adrenal tumors are about all I remember from school about ferrets. I'm sorry you got both at once :(

I had a similar idea to try to teach Marron a verbal to indicate tunnel entrances. Like you, I try not to rely on verbals very much. Training the verbal didn't really go all that well, but in the process she DID learn to read the body language and we do pretty well now.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

OH man, I hate trying to find shoes, I have hard to fit feet and it is HORRIBLE once you finally find something you like and fits good to have it not being sold anymore. My sympathies go out to you, that has to not help the pain in your legs.

Hope the predisone works with the one little ferret ;-(.

Sounds like you got some fun practice, and sounds like you are coming up with some good ideas on how to improve ;-), good job!

LOVE the new header!!!!

Dawn said...

First I"m glad the ferrets are doing as well as they are...

Second the shoe thing. You could try going to a running store and having the staff there analyze your feet. Or you could go to a foot specialist and have orthotics made for your feet. Also as you grow older the feet grow so you may need to go up a half size even in the shoes you're used to wearing. As an exrunner I have had my share of foot issues! I hope you find the right shoes. Did you try Brooks yet? Or Sacuany?

I LOVE your new header!

Chris and Ricky said...

Glad to know the ferrets are home and doing some what better. At least you didn't have to make any super hard decisions with them at the vet.

Mom says all her shoes hurt her feet too - and she did go to a runner's store and tried on almost every shoe they had. It's just very difficult to get shoes that feel good! Sorry you're having that problem too.

Sounds like a good practice with Miley. We printed off Agility Nerd's sequences too and are going to try them and maybe video?

I think your new header photo is awesome!!!

Sara said...

Glad to hear the news about your ferrets. Making those kinds of decisions is so tough.

Love your new header photo. Guiness is too funny.

I don't know what your foot issues are, but Ryka makes shoes only for women's feet. All other manufacturers design for men, and then size them down for women.

Anonymous said...

I have only ever found one pair of shoes I love for agility. The Brooks Cascadia. Actually, I like the one pair I got about 5 years ago. I still wear them a lot. I bought a newer pair of Cascadias and they weren't the same. But I like the look of the newest version, I might try them again. Lately, I have been using cross country shoes for running agility because I don't like the feel of a heavy shoe on my foot. They aren't good though for a full agility day though. There is no cushioning at all.
Diane

Marie said...

I'm glad to hear that the ferrets are doing better. Also, just had to say that I love the new picture of Miley and Guiness. That tongue is awesome and they both look very happy!

Lian said...

Glad the ferrets are ok. Phew! What a worried!

This shoe thing is quite annoying. I have the same problem. I can only wear Reebok make. I think they have a rounder front or something, at least it didn't hurt my feet. I have a pair of Inov8 to run in agility, that one is not comfy, I only wear them when I run, especially when it is raining or wet.

I like Guiness, I think he is very cute!

Dawn P said...

I have wide feet and a high instep and foot issues and definitely have problems. New Balance is really good but you have to buy the expensive kind, not the ones you find in Kohl's. I've also had excellent luck with Vasque. I have a pair of Velocity trail runners and I'll only wear them at agility trials so I don't wear them out. They are very comfy and easy for me to run in. They come in gortex too. I heard that a lot of marathon runners prefer vasque.

Hang in there little ferrets.