Pertwee is a red-eyed white, but isn't really quite a true albino. If you look closely, he had a streak of silver on his tail and part of his back when he was younger. A little dark patch in his tail is all that's left, though. He also has a major streak of playfulness throught all of him. He was a wonderful Christmas present to myself, though I hadn't planned it that way. We got Pertwee at five months old, and he still has all that boundless kit energy almost all the time. In fact, he's so incredibly exuberant, Keith started calling him "Nut". I mean, which other ferret would run headlong crashing into us, and then run straight up one of us to end up perched on a shoulder?

We learned very quickly that there are a few special considerations in dealing with a deaf ferret. Aside from not startling him until he got used to us and felt safe in his new surroundings, we had to train him differently. Yelling "NO!" when he's about to miss the litter pan just wouldn't work, right? Everything had to be tactile, and we have to be right there to give him a treat when he is good. After all, he won't come to the word "treat", will he? Nor will he answer to his name, so getting him used to wearing a collar with a bell became doubly important for keeping track of him. All in all, though, both nip training and litter training took almost no time. He seems to make up for his lack of hearing by being bright. I've also been told ferrets don't have good eyesight, but he definitely responds to visual cues.

Pertwee gave Romana someone she could pick on. She may be a lot smaller than he is, but that doesn't stop her, or any of the rest of the business, from thrashing him. He let's us know, too, because, like Avon, he's very vocal. Avon dooks all the time, though. Pertwee, on the other hand, screams when he's not doing well. Still, he'll chase down the other ferts and jump on their backs and start it, so it's hard to have pity on him. He seems closest to Romana and Adric, and runs with them and plays with them the most. Besides, he's a lot like Romana, with great jumping and climbing skills, which means we find him in interesting places.

A lot of friends thought we were crazy to get an eighth ferret, but somehow Pertwee is different, and he was nothing but a joy for the first year he was with us.

What happened after that wasn't his fault, and if anything, it's made me even more bonded to this little guy. Pertwee started losing weight, first a little, then a lot. It got to, and then past, the point of alarming, and our vet did every test imaginable, and then a few more, with nothing coming up too out of the ordinary. Finally, Pertwee became incredibly wired all of the time, became aggressive, and started biting again. He drew blood on our vet and his techs more than once. One of the tests that had been done on him was an ultrasound, which required shaving his belly. The hair didn't grow back, and that, plus the aggressiveness, pointed to adrenal disease. Our vet guessed that the ultrasound was done before the affected gland was really enlarged yet, and he decided to go ahead with surgery on April 27, 2000.

Our vet did find an enlarged adrenal gland, and the pathology on it showed it to be a malignant carcinoma, in other words, cancer.

At first, Pertwee seemed to be recovering well. He was ready to run around and play almost immediately. The aggressiveness stopped, the biting stopped, and he became a sweetheart again. Only one thing is wrong: Pertwee is losing weight again. Once again, there are no other symptoms at all.

It turned out that another tumor developed in the other adrenal gland, and just five weeks after the first surgery, Pertwee had another. The recovery from this surgery was very difficult on the little guy. It took a while to get his medication right and his electrolytes in balance, so he suffered from tremors/shaking, and was weak, lethargic and debilitated. He also stopped eating, which was really dangerous for an already alarmingly underweight ferret. Finally, our vet gave him injections of vitamin B12 and dexamethasone to boost his appetite, and on June 13, 2000, Pertwee rediscovered that he liked food.

Unfortunately, it just didn't last. Pertwee was every increasingly miserable, and would lay there with his back arched, rather than flat, an obvious sign that he had abdominal pain. He starting losing alarming amounts of weight again, and two of the vets who had consulted with my regular vet voiced the opinion that he couldn't be saved. They were sure cancer had to be back. Thankfully, they were quite wrong.

Dr. Hudson continued to increase Pertwee's dosages of dexamethasone to extremely high levels and also gave him cyproheptadine, an appetite stimulant. With lots of coaxing, Pertwee ate Bob Chutch's chicken grave when we hand fed him, but any gusto he once had for life was gone. He was clearly suffering, and we started to discuss putting him to sleep. Still, with the medicine he was getting he was eating enough to put on a little weight, and my vet decided to do one last exploratory surgery. We knew that if he found anything untreatable, we wouldn't let Pertwee wake up. He had suffered enough.

So, finally, in mid July, Pertwee had his third surgery. The vet discovered that his left kidney was a hardened mass. He felt, in all probability, it was a return of the cancer, and was terminal, but still not quite willing to give up I consented to let him perform a nephrectomy (kidney removal). He also biopsied most of Pertwee's major organs, and closed him up to wait for the pathology results.

Very quickly after this major surgery, Pertwee was more alert than he had been, and everyone involved was amazed at how well he was recovering. The pathology showed no  cancer whatsoever, but did show numerous cysts in his kidney, which was far enough gone to cause him major pain. The stomach biopsy also showed lymphocytic gastritis, which, by giving him antibiotics after surgery, we were effectively treating.

What happened after that has been incredible. Pertwee quickly showed that the source of his pain was gone. Very quickly he was eating with gusto on his own, was playing and wrestling with the other ferrets, and was full of energy. He has steadily gained weight. Less than a month after Pertwee's third and final surgery he was acting like nothing had ever been wrong. He was very much the old, exuberant, nutty ferret we have always loved. He's over two pounds again, and well on his way to regaining all that lost weight.

Pertwee will always be our "Wonder Weasel", since it's truly a wonder that he's even alive. We hope to have him for many years to come.

If you are considering becoming a ferret owner, this might make you think twice. Pertwee's care has cost me over $4,200, and he is on medication for the rest of his life. I have no regrets. I love my white weasel. I just think people need to know what they are getting into, and what kind of commitment they are making, when they take in a high maintenance pet.

-Last updated August 8, 2000

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