Hi all,
I am finding it extremely hard to type this because I cannot stop the
sobbing and all the pain that I am in right now, however I felt that It
is very important for all of you to listen and maybe learn from my
devastating lesson.
 
A few days ago on my home from work at the animal E.R where I work I
stopped for coffee.  Being it was 7 in the morning I was tired but a
sound caught my ear and after much searching found a 2 1/2 week old
kitten that I brought home.  He was doing great, vet checked and all.
And I had sat my kids down to explain to them that although we have
cats with ferrets, those cats are older and can defend themselves.  I
made sure to repeat that to them a million times a day, for obvious
reasons..We all know our ferrets as loving house pets, but the truth
is that they are also predatory animals by nature.  That should not be
denied.  I made sure never to let the fuzzys out when I had the baby out
to feed him or to do anything with him, just in case.
 
Well, this moring I gave Gremlin his morning bottle and I sat with him on
my lap and listened to him purr, what a truely beatiful sound.  The burns
on his face were healing...When I found him his whole face and back had
been burned and in one eye the cornea was singed and he was blinded.  I
am unsure as to how that happened but in the area that he was found a
bunch of derlict kids hang out with a passion for shooting animals with
bb guns, and various other forms of torture.  By the way, even after
constant complaining by most of the neighborhood about this group of
kids, nothing is ever done.  Nice huh?  And he was way to small and
weak to climb up into a car...who knows.
 
Anyway, after feeding my sweet little man I set him down on the bed to
turn around to grab a towel to clean his face when I hear my son
scream"They Got Him!' I had my back turned for ONE second!  But I thought
who got him because the ferrets were in their cages... Well it turns out
my son had let them ALL out of the cage without telling me and they
waited for their chance and grabbed him.  In a split second they had him
under the bed and I kept on trying but I couldn't reach him...I kept on
trying..  They all piled up on him and wouldn't move, finally I reached
him but it was too late.  He took his last breath in my hands.  What they
did to him honestly made me throw up over and over again.  They almost
completely severed his head from his body, and tore out chunks from his
belly.  It was so awful and I will never, ever forget that or forgive
myself for that as long as I live.  All that happend in literaly less
than 10 seconds, but if felt like an eternity.  I have no idea why my son
let them out after he knows he is NOT to touch the ferret cage without
permission.  The one day he decides not to listen and this is the result.
 
It was horrible having to clean up my ferrets after what they had done,
but I cannot be mad at them.  They did what comes naturally to them.  I
know my son never meant for that to happen either, although he is
punished.  And I am in a state of shock and total grief that it feels
like it will never lift.  I just feel so bad because I let that poor
kitty down and he didn't deseve what happened to him.
 
PLEASE..the reason I posted this horrible story is just to remind you
that if you have smaller animals in the house PLEASE watch your ferrets
around them.  My SWEETEST ferret was one of the most damaging ferrets so
you cannot tell by personality alone whether or not they would harm
another animal.  Just please be aware of their capabilities so that this
type of horrible tragady never has to happen to you.
 
Rest In Peace Gremlin
Kathleen Homan
[Posted in FML issue 4490]