>No one wants to adopt a sick, old or disabled ferret.
 
I have to disagree with this.  Granted there aren't many, but I am
fostering one of these ferrets.  Gypsy came to me through my ferret club.
She came to me in May diagnosed with lymphoma and adrenal.  Prognosis was
unknown and I was told that she did not get along with other ferrets.
She's a little sable girl, 5 years old, pudgy and missing most of her hair
from the rib cage down.  She's also missing part of her tail after the
removal of a lymphoma tumor.  We have affectionately called her "Piglet".
The sole reason I took in Gypsy is because no one else wanted her.  As a
shelter mom I thought the experience would be good for me as well.
Letting go was something I had to learn to deal with.  Knowing that her
time on this earth was limited, I could not see her go to the Rainbow
Bridge without knowing the love she needed and deserved.  Within 2 days
she did a little war dance that brought tears to my eyes.  Because she is
so pudgy her little dance was more like her front feet bouncing back and
forth as her butt is too big for her to move that quickly.  What a sight
to behold.  Gypsy has been holding her own since I took her in and she
has the most amazing appetite.  She has even come to allow my newest fuzzy
Tucker to be her cage mate.  Tucker is another sad story and somehow I
think the two of them relate on some level.  She is on melatonin,
prednisone and Essiac tea.  A few weeks ago I found Gypsy screaming and
laying in an arched position in her cage.  I feared this was the end but
rushed her screaming in my arms, tears in my eyes to the emergency center
anyway.  It seems that she has now developed insulinoma as well.  Even
though her seizures subsided by administering glucose, the vet continually
suggested euthanasia because she would "never be stable".  I insisted
that nothing would be done until we saw Dr. Goodman the next morning.
(an angel in the ferret world in Baltimore, MD) He gave her a shot of
prednisone, and increased her dosage to a full tablet daily and our little
girl is back in action.  She sleeps alot but enjoys a quality of life.
Moral of the story?  When you adopt a disabled ferret, there is something
in it for both of you.
 
Kim Fox
Second Chance Rescue
[Posted in FML issue 3562]