My first SND moment ~ TERRIFYING!

[josiesmom]

So I had a job interview this morning at ten A.M. and of course as is par for the course while showering I've got five ferrets darting under the curtain to watch my toes retract and see the human dance a jig trying to avoid carpet sharks.

Funny how they ONLY do this when I am barefoot! And in the shower!

It wasn't unusual for Queen Faylene to be absent from the morning activities- toe chomping is sooooo beneath her!

Strategic aiming of the hand nozzle prevented the Romanator from turning me into a paraplegic. He still can't figure out how it ONLY rains on his face no matter where his face goes!

He turned his violent tendancies towards those more able to absorb such attacks- Fizzle and Bugsy!

So I fixed everyone breakfast and made Queen Faylene's separate dish and went on a quest to locate her. Found her buried inside some laundry. Usually the second she is touched she wakes with a start because of all the times Fizzle has done sneak attacks. But this morning her body lay still. No reaction at all, even as I unwound her from the clothing.

My heart jumped in my mouth. Please lord, you can't have her just yet, she has more living to do. Just six hours ago she had been wrestling with my hand, dooking and war dancing, somersaulting and bouncing off furniture.

Tears already welling behind my eyelids, I choked them back. I lifted her up, her head lolled back, her tiny tongue barely peeking out from between her lips, her eyes partially open.

I brought her to my lips and kissed her on the nose seeking that familiar response of hers to kiss me back. Nothing, her head and body inert, non responsive like an old rag.

I began to check for vitals:

First and foremost she was still warm, and I could detect a heart beat! Phew! that's a relief!

Come on Faylene WAKE UP! I jostled her. No response.

So of course I begin to think she is having an insulinomic crash. Although there is no drooling, and she definitely seems to be asleep- not spaced out. She's never exhibited anything remotely indicating insulinoma.

But I grabbed the Kayro syrup anyway dipped a fingertip and dabbed it under her nose. Signs of life! The tongue cleans the gooey stuff off the nose and the eyelids slowly open. Then BAM! she realizes she is being held and immediately begs for mom's kisses!

Talk about relief! I smooch her back, giver her some water to drink from my lips and she is immediately her normal shivery self! I hugged her and put her in her cubby hole with her breakfast dish and she chowed down as usual.

A glance at the clock reveals I only have twenty minutes to finish getting dressed put on the cycle gear and get to my interview 15 miles away!

Its a good thing motorcycles come equipped with a supersonic button! The interview went well. I spent a few hours rounding up hurricane supplies. Got back home to find everyone normal and very happy to see me!

SND - hope it doesn't hit again!

Cheers,
Kim

[Forum Administrator]

Yeah, it scares the crap outta ya, doesnt it? I've never had a ferret pull a SND until Tim (my b/f's) ferret, Mizu started doing it about a month ago. He does it all the time now, but I'll admit it still scares the pee pee outta me!

[buzzonesbirdie]

Strategic aiming of the hand nozzle prevented the Romanator from turning me into a paraplegic. He still can't figure out how it ONLY rains on his face no matter where his face goes!

That had me laughing I can picture his face when you hit him with water too.

Tootsie and Freedom do this to me about twice a month each where they do the ferret sleep of death as i like to call it. And each time i call to my hubby omg i think somethings wrong and each time they wake up and look at me like "mom is crazy we were just sleeping "

[Heather]

I hate it when they do that....Napoleon does that to me all the time, the little poop. I have 3 or 4 who sleep that way on occasion but Napoleon just loves to scare the crap out of me. He'll then open one eye and look at me as though to say Momma what's all the fuss about I was sleeping the good sleep.
I actually had one of my placements do that to their new ferrant. She phoned me just sobbing. She'd only had the little bum a couple of days and it was her first fuzzbutt. She was sure she had killed him. She said she picked him up and his head just lolled loosely on his neck and he was totally limp. Funny thing was I had warned her that it happened. It so totally freaked her out that she never even remembered that I told her about a ferrets dead sleep. So she put him down and phoned me. She was in an awful state. I went over and woke up her little fuzzy. Funny thing was I never even thought of insulinoma...I should have but it never entered my mind at the time. Little Houdini had done it once before to me. After I got him to wake up and bounce around a bit for her, I'm not sure if she was ready to kill him, me or both
Silly little fuzzbutts, they do keep us on our toes, I'm sure they like to see if our hearts are really strong and test us for heartattacks on a regular basis. I'm glad to hear that it really wasn't anything too serious.
ciao

[suds]

OMG!! I HOPE THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME .....
The way you told the story had me laughing so hard even the ferts was looking at me like I was crazy.
Its alway so much fun to read about the daily antics of ferrets

[wienercat]

hahahaha that story had me cracking up!!!!!!!

[charmantpapillon]

so... the ferts sleep like they are almost dead? i know the lady's fert acted dead but when she picked him up shouldnt she FEEL the heart beat? i mean honestly it doesnt take but two seconds to check that the heart is still beating...

[Heather]

It only takes a second, yes... but in a dead sleep the heart rate is depressed as is the respiration...think hibernation If your scared enough and you've held one of these little guys in a dead sleep and you can't see a respiration you'd understand It's just one of the horrible jokes that these little fellows like to play on us. You have to also understand that these little ones also snuff out on us on a regular basis. One minute they're with us and the next they're gone, that's not so funny and so when they go into one of these sleeps your heart stops too and sometimes your brain
ciao

[charmantpapillon]

ahh beast must ber weird then because he'll bass out on my chest like hes dead but i can always see a itty bitty rise in hischest when i look or feel his heart if i put my hand on him

[josiesmom]

Most ferrets give some kind of reaction when awakened, or just nudges in their sleep. Ferrets body temperature typically drops during a deep sleep. When they don't react in their normal fashion, and you pick up thier cool body and it is limp and non responsive- you'll be amazed at how many thoughts race through your mind in a split second! Their heart beat and respiration in a deep sleep also are very depressed. So when you are racing to the first aid station or even the phone (as some folks call the vet during an SND moment- some people have even arrived at the vet's with a "dieing ferret" only to have it awaken, bright and cheery), when you are racing to offer your ferret aid it isn't until you systematically begin to check for vitals that you can sometimes detect their faint heart beat, or their slow respiration. I too used to chuckle a bit at folks fooled by just a sleeping ferret. But until it happens to you the first time, you can't imagine the wave of panic and helplessness you first feel. It truly is terrifying!

Cheers,
Kim