Last night, Lennie the ferret needed emergency surgery for a suspected bleeding mass and severe anemia. He needed more blood before even having a chance of surviving surgery. Luckily for us, Willie the ferret was a guest at the Avian and Exotic Inn at that very moment-and Willie's family happily consented to the transfusion.
Lennie had a 4 inch diameter mass involving about 6 inches of intestine. The mass and affected intestines were removed, and normal intestine sutured back together. Lennie did very well and Willie's blood help keep his blood pressures stable during surgery.
Fun Fact: did you know ferrets have no known blood types? Any ferret can donate to any other ferret! Another benefit of being a ferret!