Hi All,

I posted a couple weeks ago asking for advice for a young ferret at
PetCo who's bottom teeth were growing outside of his upper lip. I want
to thank all those who offered their advice, it was truly VERY helpful.

I brought the little guy home, along with a female ferret, the same
age, who'd also been deemed unsellable. A customer purchased her to be
a companion for his full grown ferret, eventually leaving them together
in a cage and going off to work. When he came home he found the little
girl rolled up in a ball, screaming, hissing and peeing on herself when
he tried to pick her up. Her left rear leg was swollen and she could
barely walk on it. He brought her back to PetCo severely traumatized
and physically injured.

I learned about her because a PetCo employee had taken pity on her and
was carrying her around in a towel, trying to comfort and soothe her.
She told me the story and thought the ferret should go to someone who
was ferret knowledgeable. I called the manager to inquire and was told
the ferret couldn't be released to anyone until a vet saw her. The
PetCo vet did not X-ray her, but gave her an antibiotic and an
anti-inflammatent. The store continued to keep her in the back in a
small cage by herself and said she would be put back out for regular
price if she recovered. Policy wouldn't let someone adopt her then. The
light in the situation was that I was allowed to visit her and take her
out of the cage. That's when I saw the little guy with the teeth, who
also was being held in a small cage in the backroom. Eventually, the
store's managers decided to release her to me. I guess because her leg
hadn't healed completely and they didn't want to put any more money
into her; likewise for the boy, because of his teeth.

I took the new kids, almost 3 months old, to my vet on Saturday. They
were loaded with ear mites and the little girl's leg had been broken
above the knee. It is healing, but because it hadn't been set early on,
it's healing crooked. The only way to possibly totally fix it would be
to break it and reset it, with no guarantees. She's doing great though,
displaying little weakness in that leg now, and even showing herself to
be a climber. The little boy is also doing very well. The dents in his
upper lip are not inflamed or bothering him at this time, so we will
watch and wait. I'd been advised by a few on this list that he could
live a full life without any problems from his teeth, which is good
to know. We'll continue to watch him closely. If the time comes that
something has to be done, I know a ferret expert experienced with both
filing-and-filling and pulling.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you how wonderful it was watching the
ABSOLUTE joy of the new adopted kids when I brought them home and set
them lose with 2 rooms to run. They danced with each other, bounced
and ran around, and danced some more! I later learned that they'd been
shipped together and may even be siblings, so I think part of their
joyous explosion was not only in being let out of those small cages
into a loving, ferret-friendly home, but also in being reunited! Those
two are like peas in a pod. They absolutely love each other and are
very good for each other. Their exuberant dance of joy reminded me of
the time I'd brought some former fuzzbutts home after being with a
ferret sitter for a week. They looked at each other for a second, and
as the realization hit them that they were home, they broke into this
wonderful mass dance for joy! Perhaps even this early in their time
with us, our new kids somehow knew they'd arrived at their forever
home.

This list, and the people on it are a God-send. Thanks again!

Toni & Robert ([log in to unmask])
with Gator, Abby, Taz & Sambo
plus Diego & Dusty (the new kids)

[Posted in FML 6722]