Thursday night, I went to wake Pan up so that he would get some running
around time before we went to bed, otherwise he'd be trying to get us to
get up and play all night.  When I went into the bedroom I heard a very
odd sort of desparate grunting noise.  I located Pan but couldn't find
Seti anywhere--called in my husband to help and he found Seti wedged
down between the wall and the headboard.  We had built a sort of Trading
Spaces headboard, plywood with fabric stapled over stuffing, screwed into
the baseboard, and the plywood has been gradually warping away from the
wall.  The top of the headboard was rather inconceivably high for the
ferrets to reach.  Or so we thought.  I guess Seti somehow climbed up
there to check out some paint chips I'd taped to the wall, then fell
between the headboard and the wall and ended up wedged into the bottom
of the V-shape created by the warping plywood.  He'd been stuck there
for possibly up to 40 minutes.  Having been on various ferret email
lists and forums over the years, I am all too well aware that this kind
of thing can actually kill a ferret, particularly if they have become
wedged head-first.  Thankfully he was wedged horizontally.
 
But he was glassy-eyed and his nose was grey, and he'd pooped on himself.
We wrenched the headboard off the wall and hauled him out of there.  He
was pretty non-responsive, clearly in shock, though he did eat a little
nutrical.  We put him by the waterbowl, where he did drink a little water
and then just stuck his head under the fountain without drinking.  Off to
the emergency room we went, in terrible torrential downpours.  Seti sat
quietly in my arms the whole way there, partly wrapped in a towel, and it
reminded me so much of another big yellow ferret Cully's last trip to
Angell Memorial I thought my heart was going to crack in half.
 
By the time we got to Angell, he had perked up a little bit.  There were
three other patients ahead of us in the emergency room and only one vet
on duty, so we had about an hour's wait.  Throughout that hour Seti had
some more water and walked around a little bit.  When we saw the vet, he
wanted to explore the vet's office, which was a good sign and also
allowed the vet to watch his gait.  His left hind leg seemed stiff, but
palpitation revealed nothing wrong, and he didn't flinch or protest at
all when the leg was moved around and poked and prodded.  The vet gave
us the options of leaving him overnight for observation and xrays in the
morning, or we could take him home and watch him carefully for the next
while.  We opted for option 2 because he was perking up so much.  I had
to put him in the carrier for the trip home since he was so wiggly and
awake.
 
We got home at about 2am, and I stayed up until 3 just making sure he was
okay.  One of the best sounds in the entire world is the sound of kibble
crunching in the middle of the night, I tell you.  I stayed home from
work this morning to watch him more, and while he wasn't swinging from
the rafters or anything, he was active and curious and ate and drank and
pooped and did all the regular things a ferret should.  That back leg
looked fine, and he did some standing up on both hind legs to look at
things.  Also he gave me kisses, which is generally a sign that he is
happy with the world.  My husband is going to stay home in the afternoon
to watch him.  Hopefully we will continue to be lucky today, Friday the
13th.
 
Earlier in the evening, Seti was hanging out in the armchair with me,
just being sociable and friendly, and I was marveling at what a great
ferret he is, so interactive and self-confident and gentle yet rough and
tumble and full of zest for life.  I am kicking myself about a dozen
things I could have done to prevent this accident from happening, but
hindsight is 20/20, as they say.  The only thing I think I really can
do differently for the future, and why I am posting this story so I can
share this thought, is every now and then look at the apartment as though
I am ferret-proofing it for the very first time, to try to spot any
changes that have happened without our really noticing it, like the
headboard warping.  I do feel like we were very lucky that it wasn't
worse, and I shake a little thinking about it.
 
As a side note, I hate having to play ferret ambassador in the waiting
room when I am sick and scared for the health of my ferret, especially
when people ask "how long do they live?"  Forever, okay?  Just shut up!
 
Regina
 
Regina Harrison  [log in to unmask]
http://users.rcn.com/badriya/
blog: http://badriya-z.blogspot.com/
 
"Is that my business?  Well, what is my business?  Do I know?  Did I ever
know?  Let's not go into that.  You're not human tonight, Marlowe.  Maybe
I never was or ever will be... Maybe we all get like this in the cold
half-lit world where always the wrong thing happens and never the right."
--Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister
[Posted in FML issue 4604]