In 2001, I took in a ferret whose owner was in an unfortunate situation and could not get her to a vet. She reported that the ferret's foot was injured. Long story short, the foot was well beyond saving and there was an infection present. It appeared that something had probably become wrapped around the foot, such as some bedding, depriving it of blood supply for a long period of time. It took a couple of weeks of wound care, antibiotics, fluids, pain meds, and general nursing to get Nana ready for surgery. The foot had to be amputated; when I picked Nana up, the foot was already dry and hard, like a piece of wood, with exposed bone and dried tendons. There was no blood supply left and even the pads of her feet were black. Here are some pictures:

• Nana upon pickup, just before the trip to the emergency clinic. The ooze from necrosis (and probably some diarrhea) is visible, and the foot on top is the one that was dry and hard. Her back legs were actually glued together with dried ooze. The necrotic smell was unreal.

• Here are two fairly low-quality closeups of the foot during the time we were cleaning it twice a day. You can see the slime that built up between cleanings and the tissue damage. You can also start to see the very clear line between dead and still living tissue in these pictures. first pic, second pic

• Here is a full shot of Nana, just a bit later than the two close-ups. The good/bad tissue line is becoming clear. The leg is in thirds: perfectly healthy closeset to the hip, damaged/infected but healing, and then just hopelessly dead at the foot end.

• Here is the last close-up of the foot I have from before we were ready to amputate. You can see the new healthy tissue granulating in above the dead part. Note the black foot pads. Nana's overall condition was much better, the damaged but still viable parts of her leg had healed well, and it was clear exactly what part had to be amputated. The dividing line is crystal clear. This clear margin all the way around the leg makes me think that Nana probably became entangled in something that cut off her blood supply - maybe a string from her bedding.

• Here is a full shot of Nana. You can see how much happier she looks here. Her foot stayed wrapped except when we were working on it.

• Nana's amputation went fine. Her foot was amputated at the ankle (knee?). We thought about amputating the whole leg at the hip, but she does use the stump as a peg-leg. Nana's doctor made a fat and skin "pad" to protect the end of the stump from trauma, but unfortunately, the pad died during recovery. She needs a bandage on the stump to keep from ulcerating it since the bone is close to the surface. However, she tolerates the bandage just fine and doesn't bother it. She needs a new one about once a week - it falls off on its own. It's 3 years later and she is fat and has a lot of senior ferret issues, and I am not sure she could get around without the stump.

• In a cruel bit of irony, in November 2004, Nana was diagnosed with cutaneous lymphoma in the skin of her remaining rear foot and leg. It has responded beautifully to Accutane (isotretinoin) and the skin once again looks normal. Here are two pictures (1, 2) showing her skin before we started the Accutane. You can also see her stump without its bandage in these photos.

Direct questions to Pam at pjdutche@email.unc.edu. Last updated December 2004.