Dear Ferret Folks-

Thank you for the many kind notes I found in my e-mail box since my
"Butter Butt" post. Yes, I am feeling much better. Things were flat
out *bad* for a while, but like I said that August/September time is a
time when I have one foot in a mental home anyway every year. I've been
feeling loads better since I was able to drop my med dose, and my hands
stopped shaking. Very annoying! And very hard to type. Now I can pick
my nose again with precision.

I so appreciated all the cards and gifts that kept showing up in my
mailbox. They helped me get through some very dark days.

A-
*************************************************

Todd and the Trooper.

Once I decided that I was going to have Todd as a singleton for a
while, I realized that I had to do things to enrich his life, to make
his world and experience broader. It wasn't enough to sleep in the
cage, free roam for a few hours twice a day. Plus, I was trying to
balance his need to have an interesting life with my dog's needs.
Understandably, Allis will never be trusted with a ferret again. Free
roam for Todd is supervised time for Allis. However, this is her home,
too. Allis in one hand, Todd in the other. Both deserve the best.
Finding the right balance is my responsibility.

What to do, I mused. And then the answer hit me in, of all places,
Ocean State Job Lot. We have a chain of these in New England and they
are wonderful places. They sell lots of goods that were slow sellers
somewhere else, or are about to go out of legal date, or come from
some factory in China where all they know about Americans is that we
like plastic garden Gnomes that may or may not sing when you walk by.
I can spend an hour in each "Job Lot" visit. Think "Yankee Cheap."

In the pet section (a must, every visit) I walked by a row of what at
first looked to be over-sized, very ugly ladies purses. They were
maroon, rectangular with two large handles, and had a paw print
stitched onto one side, made I think of "pleather." They were hideous.
But then again, I have seen pictures of over-sized ladies purses in
Hollywood that cost $25,000 and are equally hideous. But a close look
showed me why these maroon monstrosities were *different.* Each purse
had mesh panels that were pretty discrete, and inset into the front and
rear sides. Somebody small traveling in there would have plenty of air,
and a way to look out. They would ride atop a fleecy rectangle loose in
the bottom of the purse. It came out for cleaning. The inside of the
hideous purse was water-proof and cleanable. There was even a leash
fixed inside, about ten inches long with a clip.The top had all manner
of zippers, velcro, and a snap clip. In short, this was a discrete
little dog carrier. Worn o ver your shoulder, it was merely a hideous
purse with a big pocket on each side. You had to get a front-on view
of it to see anything different, and you had to be paying attention to
see anything different.

AHA! A Todd Tote. I bought it, and a box of safety pins, and a bag of
puppy training pads. When I got home I wrapped the fleecy bottom piece
in a puppy pad, taped it on with duct tape. I put in a sleep sack. I
put Todd in his H-harness, clipped it to the internal leash, (To his
back, not his neck) put him in and zipped it up. Veclroed the strip.
Clipped the outside clip. He scratched at the top for a minute or two
because, well, he *is* a ferret. Then he calmed down, and looked out
through the mesh, curious.

I said to my sister "This will never work the way it is. He will find
a way out, and he'll do it in the car." She agreed. She knows about
ferrets. So we decided to bring him along while I drove my sister home.
It was her job to catch Todd when he got out, and to figure out how he
beat all the zippers and velcro and clips. We brought along the box of
safety pins, for the inevitable.

Off we went. We got to the highway in about two minutes. Todd was
halfway out of the bag approximately thirty seconds after we got on
the highway, his head and front legs protruding, paws madly scrambling.
I immediately pulled over into the breakdown lane. My sister was
simultaneously trying to subdue Todd, who is a BIG ferret, and figure
out what part of the containment system had broken down. We were
sitting in "Park" with my blinker on, and I was assisting as best I
could. We were completely engaged in the struggle.

That is when the Massachusetts State Trooper knocked on the front
passenger window.

More Tomorrow.
Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6124]