Hi all, me again.
 
I'm here to warn you again that just because you think you've ferretproofed,
doesn't mean that your ferrets are safe.  Now, I have to start off by saying
this story ends happily, because a certain person on this list will panic
once she reads who the ferret involved was.  *Laurie and Slinky, RELAX.
He's FINE! :-)  * (Laurie is adopting Spaghetti and another little girl out
on Sunday.)
 
Okay, so here it is.  I went up to my ferret room to put Spaghetti, Nala,
Mookie and Michael back in their cages.  Searched for four ferrets, found
four ferrets, but there was something not right...hmmm.  Nala...HERE.
Mookie...YEP.  Michael...HI MOM.  Spaghetti...no....You're SASSY!  How did
YOU get out of your cage, and what did you do with Spaghetti???  So I looked
a minute, saw no Spaggy.  My eyes scanned the room for potential sleeping
areas, and I saw IT.  Just knew when I saw it.
 
Picture what happened, it will make more sense this way.  Against the wall
in the ferret room is a large pet carrier.  Atop of the pet carrier was a
stack of three or so Rubbermaid "litter boxes" (the shoebox size ones).
Spaghetti likes to crawl up there and sleep in them.  Well, my guess what
happened is that Sassy crawled up there and attacked Spaghetti while he was
sleeping (she does these things, <sigh>), causing him to shift in the
litterbox, and the stack of litterboxes, with Spaggy inside, slipped over
the edge of the pet carrier, towards the wall.  The boxes were pinned
between the wall and the pet carrier, opening facing the wall.  Spaghetti
was sealed tight inside.
 
I don't know how long he was back there, but when I discovered this very
very potentially fatal accident, I freaked!  I pulled him out, expecting to
see him half (or completely) suffocated.  He just looked at me with panic,
but he was breathing fine (I'm hoping air was still able to get in there).
The only thing amiss was that he peed himself (oopsie!) and there was a
little blood and scrapes around his mouth area (ouch!!) I am assuming that
came from attempting to bite his way out of his trap.  He has no cuts or
blood in the mouth, his teeth are fine, he ate food easily, and isn't paying
much attention to the scrapes so I am not worried about *that* too much.
I'm more worried that this is the second serious accident that's happened in
my ferret room, which I really try to keep "FerretProofed." The first
resulted in the death of my little Lilly-Girl.
 
So guys, let me say it again.  Ferret proofing is a never ending job.  I
have kept that stack of litterboxes there for several months now, as
Spaghetti and the others like to sleep in them.  Never even occurred to me
that it could be dangerous.  Had I not found Spaggy, .... (RELAX, Laurie,
Spaggy's FINE!  :-)
 
Okay, that's it for this time.  Kiss all your fuzzbutts for me, and please,
take a commercial break from this FML, RIGHT NOW, and examine your ferret's
running area.  Is there *anything* that might be dangerous?  Are you *sure*?
 
Have a great day!
 
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 2048]