Cliff Bull wrote:-
>Ms Crompton asked me if I would take an injured kit from her because
>she was going away on the PR trail for a few weeks.  I made arrangements
>to go and collect the kit along with Diane.  When we arrived we were
>shocked at the condition of this very sick albino kit that Ms Crompton
>claimed she had had handed in that morning.
 
The ferret was brought to me in the afternoon on the 21st August, and I
phoned Mr Bull within 20 minutes to ask for his help.
 
>The poor thing's jaw was just a mess, very badly broken (photo
>attached).  [Photo not attached on the FML] Ms Crompton explained that
>she had been trying to feed the kit watered down ferret food but said
>he just wouldn't take it.
 
Liar.  I did not try to feed the ferret.  I put water in the cage and
left it at that in case Mr Bull's veterinary surgeon would be operating
that day.  Incidentally I don't do watered down ferret food... has Mr
Bull never heard of "duck soup"?
 
>Ms Crompton went on to explain that she thought its jaw was dislocated
>and tried to show us how to pop it back into place.  Not wanting the kit
>touched there and then I insisted that a qualified veterinarian should
>be the judge of the kit's treatment.  Ms Crompton went on to explain
>that you just push your thumb deep inside the ferret's mouth and push
>down firmly.  I checked the kit as Ms Crompton had sexed the kit as
>being a jill.  It was very clear it was a male with testicles.
 
I explained that I did not know if the jaw was dislocated or fractured as
I had not examined the ferret.  At no point did I try to show Bull how to
reduce a dislocation.  I contacted Bull, and now I wish I hadn't but had
taken it to my own veterinary surgeon and left it in the hospital for 10
days.  I assumed it was a jill owing to the size of ferret - I had not
realised that it was a young kit of around 8 weeks.  As far as I was
concerned the ferret was injured and the less handling it was given the
better it would be.  With an injured animal the last thing on your mind
is what sex is it.
 
Testicles on a kit of that age - I thing someone is indulging in a flight
of fantasy here.  Come on you are lucky if the testis have descended
enough to be felt at the beginning of November.
 
>We set off towards home with the boy and phoned the vet on route who
>was waiting for our arrival.  Our vet wanted to x-ray but was unable to
>do so because the poor mite would probably not take the anaesthetic.
>Unfortunately he could not be given any pain relief because he was so
>young.  We took the kit home on the vet's advice, and made him some
>watered down warm ferret complete.  Funny, because the kit that hadn't
>eaten was on a mission to drink the food.  After the weekend he returned
>to the vet and had his x-ray confirming his badly broken jaw, but the
>vet again would not risk an anaesthetic due to the kit's weak state.
 
Before Bull and his wife left here with the ferret he explained that he
already had the ferret booked in with his veterinary surgeon.
 
>A few days later and Luky, as he was then named, was able to take the
>strain of the operation and his jaw was fixed back into its rightful
>place.  Luky was still generally weak for a considerable length of time
>but his jaw fully healed and he was eventually rehomed to two of our
>friends.  He's now living a life of luxury as a very spoilt house
>ferret.  Luky had no problem trying out his new jaw on his new friends
>and is a cheeky boy.
 
I phone Bull on my mobile on the morning of the 22nd to find out how the
ferret was.  He said that the ferret was hob kit.  OK fair enough, at
least that bit is true.
 
>Some weeks later Ms Crompton posted on an internet message board that
>she actually had the kit with her in that condition for several days.
 
If the ferret had arrived here before the 21st Bull would not have seen
the kit as it would have received treatment from my own veterinary
surgeon.
 
>Here are Ms Crompton's own words, "I got a very malnourished ferret in I
>checked the ferret out and no male sexual organs were visible.  He was
>here for just over a week before it became obvious it was a hob." Ms
>Crompton revealed in this posting that she was quite aware that the
>ferret was injured - "if my failing to ascertain what sex an injured
>hob was".
 
Oh dear, Bull, is awfully confused.  That ferret was Kelley (a poley
mitt), he had been handed in at The Lane Vet Clinic, Moston, Manchester
in 1997 and was brought to my vets' main surgery in Bolton where I
collected him - BTW that was years before Bull even started running a
rescue.  Kelley was not injured when he arrived here.  I do believe that
the veterinary surgeon who handed him to me would have commented on it
if he had been.
 
>Having read this at the time I immediately contacted Ms Crompton and
>asked her about this and was horrified to be told that she never took
>Luky to see a vet in the time he was with her knowing him to have a
>broken jaw and then watching him slowly deteriorate because he couldn't
>eat.  And then sshe dumped him (thank god) on somebody else just so that
>she could raise a few pounds.
 
Once again Mr Bull is indulging in flights of fantasy.  As I had stated
previously if the ferret had arrived here before the 21st he would not
even have seen the ferret because it would have received treatment from
my own veterinary surgeon.
 
BTW all this stuff has been going around on the UK boards since the
beginning of the year and not many folk have given his story much
credibility then... why has he waited so long before bringing it up on
the FML?  We are talking about a ferret that I took in for a few brief
hours on the 21st August 2003.
 
--
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare
 
Declaration Day Quote of the day from Vini Faal, "Alun Michael is
to animal welfare what King Herod was to baby sitting".
NFWS web site http://www.nfws.net updated 18th Nov 2004
 
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge:- Jill, Deanna Troi, Cameron, Carnath, Button,
Bill, Bobby, Jasper, Inga, Holly, Fergle, Amanda, Sparky, Daniel,
Blackie, Marvin, Claude, Bumper, Kurt, Tasha Yar, Larry, Lily, Ben,
Fritz, Dax, Kelley, McCoy, Brock, Snowy, Dumpling, Buddy, Stumpy,
Treacle, Max, Scrap, Vanessa, Sarek, Paw Paw, Badger, T.D, Spooky,
Stanley, Tara, Oliver, Alfie, Sindy, Beano, Lulu, Scully, Brecon,
Lady, Tuppence, Casanova, Beverly, Geordi La Forge, Piper, Phoenix,
Tiberius & Twiggy.
[Posted in FML issue 4716]