I gave our ferret mouth-to-mouth
Lorraine wasn’t going to let their beloved pet slip away… Lorraine Chircop, 47, Toronto, NSW
Winding down at home after a busy day, I suddenly had a realisation.
‘I haven’t seen Trixie,’ I said to my 16-year-old son, Xavier.
We’d adopted our beloved rescue ferret two years ago. But I wasn’t too worried. Uncaged, our girl had free range of the house and loved curling up for naps in my undies drawer!
By 10.30pm, I was watching Netflix in my jammies.
Just then, Xavier yelled, ‘Mum… Mum!’
Racing out of the bathroom, with his arms outstretched, the blood had drained from his face.
He was holding Trixie… Wringing wet, her little body was lifeless.
‘Mum, she was in the toilet! She’s not breathing,’ Xavier choked out.
Grabbing my dressing gown, I wrapped Trixie, who was icy cold, in it.
Drying her saturated fur, there were no signs of life.
She’s gone, I realised, devastated.
But I couldn’t just give up! While Xavier rang our vet, I tilted Trixie so that the water she’d swallowed could run out of her mouth.
I knew how to do CPR on a human.
But a ferret?
Placing my pointer and middle fingers on either side of her ribcage, I started compressions.
She’s so little, I thought, as I tried to pump the life back into her.
Just then, our vet Dr Mark’s voice blared on speaker.
‘Lorraine, put your fingers in line with Trixie’s elbows,’ he coached. ‘Fifteen compressions, one breath,’ he added, as I pumped.
Putting my mouth over Trixie’s, I blew a quick puff of air and saw her chest inflate, then go down.
‘Don’t go Trixie, you’ve got to come back,’ Xavier pleaded, breaking my heart. ‘Come on, Mum, we can do this!’ he said.
But, after three tense minutes – nothing.
‘Xavier, go and get a hair dryer,’ Dr Mark said.
We had to raise Trixie’s core body temperature.
Flicking it to the lowest setting, Xavier blew warm air onto our bitterly cold girl, while I breathed more air into her lungs.
‘Touch the side of her face, near her eyelid, to see if you get a reaction,’ Dr Mark said after 11 minutes of CPR.
Incredibly, Trixie’s eye snapped shut on its own.
‘It moved!’ Xav yelled. It was hope!
‘Come on, missy moo, come on my girl! We can do this,’ I coaxed Trixie.
Twenty minutes in, Trixie sucked in her first breath, and I could feel her heart begin to drum beneath my fingertips.
Petering out, it would stop, then burst into life again.
As the heat began to seep back into her body, Trixie’s muscles started to twitch.
Half-an-hour in, our precious girl was taking gasping breaths on her own!
‘Bring her into the clinic, Lorraine,’ Mark said.
Xavier microwaved a heat pack, and placing Trixie on top, he cradled her in his arms as we raced to the car.
Twenty minutes later, we ran inside and Dr Mark whisked Trixie away to examine her.
Waiting in the foyer, I glanced down at Xav’s feet.
‘You’ve got socks on,’ I said. But he’d forgotten his shoes!
‘Her heartbeat is irregular… but she’s back!’ Dr Mark told us, grinning, five minutes later.
‘Yes!’ Xav and I exclaimed, high fiving.
Still, it was touch and go. ‘There’s a possibility of brain damage,’ Dr Mark said.
Also, after testing her eyesight, Trixie hadn’t responded.
She could be blind…
Dr Mark would need to monitor her overnight.
Saying goodbye to Trixie, who was in a humidicrib-like machine, Xav and I reluctantly left.
Back home, we were too worried to sleep.
Then, two hours later, my phone buzzed with a text from Dr Mark.
Opening the video he’d sent, it was Trixie!
She looked like a drowned rat – but she was walking on very wobbly legs! Will she remember us? I wondered as we drove to pick up our girl the next day.
When we arrived, Trixie was squirming in the nurse’s arms, trying to escape.
As soon as Xav took her, she nestled right in, content.
Better yet, her eyesight had returned!
We couldn’t thank Dr Mark enough.
Six weeks on, Trixie’s completely bounced back.
If anything, the second chance has given her even more zest for life!
‘Mum, are you serious?’
Xav roused on me recently, gesturing to the loo.
I’d forgotten our house’s cardinal rule – the toilet lid must always be shut! I won’t make that mistake again.
Miraculous Trixie is more than just a furry friend – she’s family!