>Lastly, I can't remember who recently adopted a former breeder ferret named
>Angel, but she wrote that Angel continually turns in circles.
 
I wrote about Angel, the Circle Girl.  We just had her spayed and she's been
adopted out to her new home, with a girl that works at a local pet store
that does *not* sell ferrets, but refers people to our shelter instead.
They feel that ferrets have special needs that are better met when folks
adopt from people who know a lot about ferrets.  That's our kinda store...
 
>One thing does occur to me though-- I'm sure she's been taken to the vet
>already, who would have done an ear check, but I wonder if there's any
>possibility that she has an ear parasite or an infection affecting her
>sense of balance.
 
Nope, all is free and clear in that department, all votes here go for some
kind of genetic problem, or birthing problem.  She's a lovely gal all the
same, although she did take a rather strong dislike to the vet tech...
 
>The initial cost is $150 dollars and I am a bit short and have a lot of
>other expenses to take care of like helping to pay my way throgh college.
>Would anyone feel it in their hearts to make a small donation ?  It would
>be greatly appreciated and a good deed at that.
 
Well, I run a shelter while I work my way through university and $150.00 is
a small vet bill around here :-)
 
Perhaps an even better deed would be for you to donate some money to the
ferret shelter in question, and leave off owning ferrets until the initial
start-up fee isn't a problem for you, as well as other costs like veterinary
care.
 
(BIG - $150.00 for a pair of ferrets at our shelter doesn't even cover our
spay/neuter and vaccinations costs, so I must disagree, albeit most
cordially, that it might be considered a steep price to pay).
 
The young males we received (along with Angel) have started to turn into the
sweetest critters in the world, a far cry from the bitey snappy demons that
scarred up my hands only a couple of weeks ago :-)  Today one chomped
another on the ear and he developed a rather massive hematoma.  Since my vet
was closed we did the only thing we could ... apply pressure to the sucker
and reduce the swelling.  I was a bit hesitant to do it, because I was sure
that at the first twinges of pain the little monster would take a few of my
fingers off.  To my surprise and delight, he settled against my chest,
sighed deep and closed his eyes and in no time at all was fast asleep while
I prodded and pressed at the hideous thing on his ear.  Aside from a few
squeaks when it really got sore, he was absolutely complacent and stayed
snuggly on my lap for nearly two hours.
 
Such a delightful experience, when we can transform scared and nervous
ferrets into lovely lap animals who place their faith and trust in us.
 
Saw my first angora on the weekend and wow, was he ever different.  Such a
long coat, and such a skinny pointy nose at the end of a really broad
expanse between the ears.  If I didn't know better I'd almost swear he was
an opossum.  He's not as big as the rumours say he should be, but he's a
good size all the same.  And he's got really, really big ears...
 
Sheena - [log in to unmask]                           |To Err is Ferret  |
Director - Wherret Ferrets Halfway House & Ferretry  |To Forgive...well |
VP - Ferret Association of Greater Vancouver         |...That's Our Job!|
         We're on the Web! http://ww2.portal.ca/~cmc~/ferrets/fagv/
 
[Moderator's note: Sorry, I didn't mean to hint that $150 was a steep price
to pay for a couple of ferrets - I agree it isn't.  I just meant it was a
substantial sum of money for many to plop down - whatever the purpose.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1724]