Sandee,
 
Please keep a lookout for "Fuzzy", a big lt.  Sable male with a very
fluffy coat.  He left us very early on Christmas morning, despite almost
hourly efforts by shelter mom.
 
His story began about 4 years ago when he was bought from a pet store,
and 3 years later, was left in an apartment when his people moved.  He
found his was into the hands of a single man who said that he would keep
Fuzzy until he found him a home.  He lived with this man who admittedly
knew little about ferrets.  He kept him in a fair size wooden/wire crate
that resembled a lobster trap.  He used cat litter in the bottom of the
cage, but did give him a ratty old hammock to sleep in.  He was feeding
him cheap cat food, and what looked and smelled like rabbit pellets.
 
We received a call from this man, stating that he was moving over-seas,
and needed to get rid of Fuzzy.  We made arrangements to drop him off.
When he arrived, on the 22nd, we were surprised to see a seemingly
healthy and happy ferret, with the most beautiful fluffy fur.  He had
dirty ears and bad teeth, but other than that, he seemed fine.  The guy
knew nothing of his medical history, and had never taken Fuzzy to a vet.
 
After letting Fuzzy run around for several hours, we put him in the
"quarantine" cage for 24 hours to evaluate him further.  Being so close
to Xmas, we couldn t get him in to see the vet right away, so we just
kept an eye on him.  The next day, everything seemed well, no diarrhea,
seemed to be eating, etc.  That next day, we let him play with the other
shelter kids, and other than a few minor skirmishes, they seemed to get
along fine.  That night, we put Fuzzy in with the less aggressive cage,
and he seemed to fit right in.  He ate, drank and curled up with Zoe,
who gets along with anyone.
 
The next morning, while doing feedings, shelter mom found that Fuzzy
seemed "out-of-sorts" and appeared to be trying to vomit.  Thinking that
he had an upset stomach, she gave him something to quite his tummy, gave
him some duck soup, and he seemed fine.  When we got home from work, he
still acted like he was sick.  Again, something for his stomach, duck
soup and fluids to prevent dehydration.  We kept this up all night, with
mom getting up almost every hour to give fluids and comfort to Fuzzy.
 
Sometime between her last check, and when she got up for the day,
planning on a Merry Christmas, Fuzzy left us.  Mom found him curled up,
looking like he just drifted off to sleep.  At least he had part of a
Christmas with people who cared for him.
 
Fuzzy, we will miss you.
 
ps; Sandee, please tell Oliver, Fiona and Leo that we miss them and still
love and think about them.
 
Jim Kennedy
Ferret Rescue of Maine
A State licensed, Not-for-Profit ferret shelter.
Donate to rescued ferrets by clicking
igive.com or use Paypal
[Posted in FML issue 4008]