Gizmo was our first ferret. She was found by my Dad, who works the graveyard
shift at a local corp. yard. He said he originally thought she was some kind
of rat (hey, what can we say, this is CA after all). He saw her come into the
shop and curl up in a clothes locker. After donning some gloves, he picked
her up. She was so cute and freindly and fell asleep again in his lap!
 
He called my Mom and asked if he could bring a "furry" home. Mom, a sucker
for these things, said yes...even though nobody knew what it was. Dad always
got home just before we left for school, and I remember him backing into the
drive way (we had a pickup with a camper shell) and seeing this adorable
ferret peeking through the glass!
 
I knew what it was only because Evening Magazine had a segment on them a few
weeks before. Needless to say, she became our most beloved pet (much to the
dismay of our cat, Patches). My Dad built her a three-story cage of 1/4"
mesh...sleep on the top, play in the middle, potty & food on bottom. Since
then, we know that this was not a perfect cage, but we WERE flying blind
here.
 
A trip to the vet confirmed it was a 2-3 year old ferret. However, that vet
did not know about whether she was altered. We quickly figured out she was
when she went into heat (actually we didn't know it was heat until her vulva
started to swell and she started acting funny). The vet this time knew about
ferrets and knew about ferrets dying without mating (something plastemia,
isn't it?). Hormone shots took her out of heat and she was fixed...Gizmo's
first brush with Death. BTW: we DID name her after the Gremlins character.
 
Next came pneumonia. We never knew they caught human colds & such, and she
managed to develop pneumonia. It could be we were unsure of the climate
needs. Heck, we only figured out by trial & error that she liked dry cat food
(we know know kitten chow is better) and we also fed her small amounts of red
meat (another no-no...live and learn). Anyway, we spent weeks "steaming"
Gizmo (so much for the bathroom paint).
 
Our ignorance was not for lack of trying, but ferret info in CA is hard to
come by. It took my Mom YEARS to get our current collection of we think is
almost every mail-order book on the subject.
 
Our ignorance finally killed her though (the vet was amazed she lasted the
first two times...advanced heat and pneumonia, we are told, kill most
ferrets). One day when leaving her cage, she tripped and hung herself by her
foot. When examing for cuts, we noticed she was very skinny! We rushed her to
the vet (my Mom was crying at this point, and I was scared to death) and they
found a adrenal tumor. The vet recommended immediate surgery, but said we'd
have to try an fatten her up first. We tried for a few weeks and made some
progress before the vet said it was dangerous to wait any longer (it was a
large tumor). He gave Gizmo a 50/50 chance.
 
Gizmo survived surgery, but died painlessly at the vet in post-op from
complications related to her poor health.
 
We know she was someone's pet, because she was litter trained from day-one
(no matter WHERE we put the pan), and REALLY enjoyed "shoulder sitting". She
would also jump 1-2 feet from the top of her 3-story cage to my shoulder! She
also played soccer. If you rolled a ping-pong ball, she would chase it down
and and roll it back to us with her nose!
 
If you lost a ferret in the San Jose, CA area (or know someone who did) and
this sounds like your ferret, we are sorry you lost your friend. We had no
way to let you know she was found. Gizmo, or whatever you call her, lived the
best life we knew how to give her, was spoiled silly with attention, and was
a loving companion to everyone in our family (even the cat played with her).
 
To this person, let this be a joy to you--Gizmo got us "hooked on ferrets."
She had a companion late in life (Melony) and died at approximately 6-7 years
old and enjoyed every minute. Melony had never been alone and sulked for
weeks at her loss....Sarah cheered her up though.
 
To this person, thank you. Your Gizmo would have made a great "ferret
abassador." I'd like to her from you if you're out there.
 
Great, I'm crying again. Losing a family member like Gizmo and Daisy is hard,
these darned ferrets are so easy to get attached to :(
 
MH7
"In memory of Gizmo, our first."
 
[Posted in FML issue 0735]