Yes, I have had a ferret that depressed. Yes, you are probably never
going to be able to adopt out Max. I believe some ferrets, like Sara
and Max, are far more fragile emotionally then most other ferrets.
I was Sara's third owner. In her short life she had lost a brother (I
heard) to distemper, then given to a different owner who kept her in a
cage pretty much full time. We won't even discuss her diet.
When I got her, she didn't move. No matter what position Sara was put
in, there she would stay. She was so quiet it was scary. I thought she
would die.
Here's what I did with Sara.
I carried Sara everywhere I could, I would put her in a pouch, next to
my heart where I knew she could feel and hear it, and took her with me:
cleaning the house, car trips, sitting outside - where I went, Sara went.
I fed her by hand. I held her upside down and massaged her, telling her
what a wonderful, beautiful ferret she was and other nonsense. I offered
her treats.
The first time she staggered out of her pouch, I almost cried.
It took almost a month, but she's a real ferret now. A pissy, cranky one
prone to irritable shrieking if one of the other ferrets somehow offends
her, but a real ferret nonetheless. She plays and dooks and eats her
craisins like the shark in Jaws ate people.
And I wouldn't give her up for the world.
anne
[Posted in FML issue 5065]
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