This post is directed to "Annoyed"
 
A ferret lover is a special being.  As a dear FML friend wrote to me "A
dog or cat can steal your heart, but a ferret steals your soul....( o.h.)
I do not mean this in a mean way, but this mailing list is for those who
love ferrets.  If you think we are fanantical, then just don't read it.
 
If you think other posts from ferret lovers are to the extreme, then you
will think that I am certifiable.  3 days ago, I rewarded my big 4 yr
old boy, Sammy by letting him walk around the living room.  He had taken
his med. for an eye infection so nicely I wanted to give him something
special.(usually the only place they go to play and run around is in the
ferret proofed kitchen)  There really isn't anything he could have gotten
into in the living room so I felt relatively safe to go out to the mail
box(takes about 3-5 mins)  When I returned my eyes went directly to the
fireplace.  There was Sammy making choking noises and spinning try to get
free.  In 7 years of being owned by ferrets I have never had an accident
like this!  I tried to put my hand down the space(bigger at the top, very
small at the bottom where his hneck was stuck.) I wanted to scruff him so
he'd relax and I could pull him out but my hand wouldn't fit!(and I have
small hands)  Suddenly, he went completely LIMP!!!!!..I screamed his name
and jammed my hand down the space regardless of how much it hurt.  I
grabbed him by the back in case his neck was injured.(Actually I thought
he snapped it).  I got him out, screamed his name again, nothing.  I felt
his chest, he had a heartbeat but WAS NOT BREATHING!!!!  His nose and
gums were DARK blue.  I didn't think at this point, I just acted.(and
herenis where you will think I'm fanatical.  I plugged his little
nostrils, opened his mouth and started rescue breathing.  I gave him 2
little puffs, nothing, I gave him one more little puff and his foot and
chest moved!!!  I yelled his name and he opened his eyes and just looked
at me, completely dazed.  I grabbed my keys, got in my car and ON THE WAY
to the vet's office I called them and told them that I was on my way and
what had happened.I laid him across my lap, where he laid pretty still.
I had to be able to watch his breathing and keep him from moving his
neck.  He was rushed to the back upon our arrival, checked out and......
Thank God he was fine.  He got steroids for swelling of his neck, and
bedrest for a mild concussion.  Mam, I woke that ferret up every hour ALL
NIGHT LONG.  When the vet was told that I had done rescue breathing on
Sammy(which by the wat I WAS concious of the fact I could pop his tiny
lungs)he told me that that was the exactly correct thing to do and that I
most likely saved his life.  He did not call me fanatical, or said I'd
gone overboard for an animal.  He said I did a great job!  BTW I have had
ferrets for 7 years, nothing even close to this has ever happened.  I
always watch them, and am very careful.  I quess they never grow out of
being curious.  It only takes once and it only takes a second.  NEVER
AGAIN.
 
We ferret lovers are enthusiastic because of the love that these little
creatures give us.  It is like no other.  The bonds we share with
all(almost all) the readers of the FML keeps us going during the hardest
of times.  We have never met , oh maybe we've met one or two ferret
friends, but we are family.  We laugh together, we cry together, and we
support each other.
 
So, if you don't like ferrets and the attitudes that ferret lovers share,
just don't read the FML.  Seems simple enough to me.
 
Sicerely,
Sue & Crew, Princess, Sammy, Nikki, Chance, and Annie
Watching from the Bridge, Smokey, Bandit, Boots, Teeny baby Lucky, and
too recently, my Tori
[Posted in FML issue 3906]