>From:    Victor Williams <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: The Nightmare of Ferret Ownership?!?!?
 
hey, again...:)
 
yup...these little things can indeed be quite expensive...i imagine if i
had been able to keep my numbers at a reasonable level...it would have
been better...but i did not...a hard lesson...
 
but you know...i get so much more from them than you could ever
imagine... they fill my heart...my soul...so much love and so much
more...it is hard to put into words...
 
but it is good that you are seeing the 'downside' of it beforehand...i
did not know about that before i got so many...not that i would ever
give up any of mine..or the gift of knowing any one of them...
 
now living in california...that is a problem...personally...i would be
scared to death to live there with ferrets...they burrow so deeply into
your heart and soul...what if...? what if the authorities found out and
confiscated them?...i know many people do it...and deal with it...but
it scares me...
 
i do not know how old you are...what your plans for the future are...if
there is a chance you could/would move out of Calif...or if you are
patient enough to wait till they become legal...yes..it is stupid that
they are not...but that does not change the law or the risks to the
ferret...
 
as for vets...there are good ferret vets out there...there are even
good and inexpensive...there are also many, many vets who do not see
ferrets... or say they do, but do not know anything about them really...
and some that are outrageously expensive...you just have to ask around...
but that may not be a good idea in california...
 
Adrenal disease and insulinoma are the 2 most common things that go wrong
in a ferret...in my experience...i have had 2 with cardiomyopathy, too...
 
i have had ferrets since 1996...we have 13 ferrets right now... we have
lost [they died] 16 ferrets in the last 4 years...
 
of those 13 that are left...we have 3 in real need of adrenal surgery...
2 of those are repeats...they have has adrenal surgery before...and we
have a couple more that are beginning adrenal...one of those is a
repeat... and i expect more to go adrenal...
 
of the 16 that have died...most were for medical reasons...[ie: not old
age] we have lost them as young as 6 months old...all the way to 8 years
old...some obviously for medical reasons...a couple were mysterious
deaths...we do not know what caused them to get sick...despite the vet
care...some did not make it thru surgery...
 
with ferrets...it is total, complete love...and total, complete
devastation when they have to leave you... some say it is not worth
it...the pain of loss is too much... for me...that is not true...i would
not trade the joy of one single moment with one of my kids...even knowing
the pain that is coming...
 
what they give to me far outweighs what it cost in the end...
 
i do not know if this helps at all...but it is what ended up in this
e-mail...LOL...
 
i am just a silly old woman who loves her ferrets more than anything in
the world...
love,
kat
 
=====
KITY=^..^=KAT's Fuzzy Frenzy [+13](-16)...
Check out http://ferretlover97.terrabox.com/ for my ShelterHelp pages!!!!
"The Royal Order Of Pooper Scoopers"
http://www.kwflatbed.com/hjg/hjg2.html
 
SOS/FML Shelter and Vet List...
http://SOS-ShelterList.supportourshelters.org
 
SOS Raffles...
http://raffle.supportourshelters.org/ or
http://us.1.p.geocities.com/shelter_ferrets_in_need/SOS-raffle.html
 
When you care about others....when you reach out to others....
 ...when you give of yourself to others...YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
[Posted in FML issue 4530]