Hi, everyone,
 
Something very nice is about to happen in our home next month.  We'll
celebrate two years with Podo and Kodo.  I want to share their story
and I also want to vent a little about what makes me angry about it.
Hopefully some good will come of it.
 
Podo and Kodo were picked up by a wonderful woman who used to do rescue
work in our area.  She was moving and had 10 other ferrets to deal with,
so we were glad to pick up a pair of happy, healthy two year olds, foster
them, get them checked at the vet, and adopt them out.  We had done it
before, and we've done it since.
 
Well... we brought home two big, beautiful, chocolate sable ferrets.
They had ear mites and fleas.  They also didn't seem to be two.  The
local shelter mom guessed their age to be five.  Our vet put it closer to
seven.  A little hunting, digging, asking questions, and doing research
made it pretty clear our vet had it just about right.
 
As it turns out, Podo and Kodo were med school lab ferrets.  After that
they were adopted out, probably around age four.  They had three owners,
each of which let them go after about a year.  I've talked and exchanged
e-mails with the owner before us.  I think she cared about them but
simply didn't know much about ferrets.  She also didn't have the level
of commitment to find a way to keep them when she moved.
 
As it turns out, she broke up a foursome, and two of the four, including
our Podo, really were quite upset and depressed in their new surroundings
in homes with different ferrets and people.  Kodo was very playful,
fought his way to a comfortable spot (probably third) in the pecking
order, and quickly decided that he was part of the business.  Podo was
timid, afraid of everything and everyone.  We thought that was just his
personality.  He warmed to Keith and to me over the first few weeks, and
after about a month both he and Kodo decided that the cage with the big
hammock filled with the other ferrets was THE place to sleep.
 
Still, it would take months before we got to know the real Podo.
He's incredibly playful, loves to wrestle, and he and Kodo have this
incredible simultaneous bounce they do when they feel good and are happy.
By giving him up Podo's previous owner unwittingly put him through MONTHS
of depression.
 
We love Podo and Kodo.  We invested in adrenal surgery for Podo about
nine months after he came to us and insulinoma surgery three months
later.  He probably is close to nine now, and he doesn't know he's old.
Sadly, old age and insulinoma are catching up with Kodo.  He had surgery
about a year ago and can't tolerate another.  With pediapred he finds
about 45 minutes of energy for play on a typical night, but he sleeps
most all of the time.  He's incredibly affectionate and still seems
happy, so we let him be.  We probably won't have another anniversary
with Kodo, but Podo has other friends now, so we hope he will.
 
What angers me is that three times people dumped warm, affectionate,
loving, beautiful animals which had become inconvenient to them.  I
wonder how many times Podo was unhappy and for how much of his life.
Ferrets typically live seven to nine years, but I know at least two who
saw their 13th birthdays.  You have to figure that you might just have
them that long, and they are not disposable.
 
Podo and Kodo, our "Dough Boys" have a happy ending to their story.  We
have rescued or fostered three ferrets who didn't, and who died because
their previous owners ignored medical conditions for just too long.  In
one case, a five year old named Shillelagh died during adrenal surgery.
She came to us about completely bald and emaciated with a hugely swollen
vulva.  She had such a great personality that Keith, Mr. "No More
Ferrets", had decided to adopt her.  He never got the chance.
 
Neglect kills.  Lack of commitment kills. Too many people, mostly ones
not on this list, just don't know what they are getting into.  I wish
I could do something to prevent unnecessary deaths like Shillelagh's.
I wonder what would have become of Podo and Kodo if our friend hadn't
picked them up.  I think about these things and I get angry.
 
I hope everyone here hopes that any ferret they add to their home will
be with them an incredibly long time, and will take care of them in the
good times and in the bad.
 
All the best,
Cait and the non-stop nine
[Posted in FML issue 4218]