Sparky was obtained by a husband as a Christmas gift for his family.
They housed him in an aquarium. After Christmas was over, the mom and
children went into hiding as the husband was abusive, and Sparky went
to live in a cage in a cat room eating cat food and getting weekly
baths until the shelter that took him in lost track of the mom. He was
an adult when the shelter gave him to us on 6/23/03. He came to us when
our own lives were difficult, and some days he was the only reason we
laughed. He helped us get through some real hard times. On 7/24/04,
Cocoa came to live with us. Cocoa was an adult abandoned by his owners
when they fled from the law. He was left alone in a flea-infested
trailer. The woman who rescued him cleaned him up for her son who soon
decided he didn't want a ferret. She tried to sell him to us for $100
but we settled for $20.

Sparky had his left adrenal removed in May of '06. Cocoa died on 7/3/06
when a tumor in his abdomen finally squeezed the life out of him.
Sparky was alone again, but he was a loner. He never really bonded to
Cocoa although he did delight in tormenting Cocoa and in finding all
the treats that Cocoa hid for him. In July of '08 we moved Sparky from
carpeting to new wood flooring. I noticed that he wasn't too stable on
the wood, but I remembered my dog slipping and sliding on wood floors
many years ago, so I didn't think too much of it. Then, a couple of
weeks ago when Sparky was out, he chowed down on several of his ferret
treats. The next day when he was out, he could barely walk and he was
kind of frothing at the mouth. And I realized then what I should of
realized long ago. The carpet hid the beginnings of his symptoms from
me because he was able to get traction from it. The hard wood gave him
no help with traction. I thought it was too slick for him when really
he was sick and had been for some time. When I finally realized what
was happening, it was too late to do more than palative care. The end
came fast. Sparky died 2/28/08. The house is very quiet now--and empty.
I have been picking up ferrety things and disposing of them. There will
be no more ferrets. My husband and daughter don't want me to get any
more, and, since I spend most of my days now at my oldest daughter's
baby sitting her kids, it would not be fair to another ferret to bring
him into my home.

I thank God though for my experiences with Sparky and Cocoa--the fun
I had with them and all they taught me. Sadly, I learned that ferret
symptoms can be so slight that you can miss them until it is too late.
Happily, Tracy, a ferret mom I met through the FML, taught me how to
make a good duck soup. Not long after Sparky's adrenal surgery, he got
really sick. The vet and I tried several different things but nothing
worked except the duck soup. For months that was all that he ate.
Finally he started eating his kibble again, but I made sure that he
got his soup once a day for the rest of his life. At the end, that was
all that he would eat.

As soon as Sparky came into my house, I realized how much I needed to
learn about ferrets and I started reading every book the libraries had
on the subject. Christmas of '03 found me reading Ferrets for Dummies
and soon after I signed up for the FML, so I'm not an old-timer FMLer.
I didn't post often, but when I did I received much needed help. I
e-mailed myself parts of the FML that I wanted to keep for medical
references and put them in my Ferret file so that I wouldn't have to
go to the archives to look things up. I thank you all for helping me
either directly or indirectly and BIG for keeping things running
smoothly. I thank you for sharing your hurts, your sorrows, and your
silly stories.

Nancy

[Posted in FML 5882]