Hello everyone!
 
By way of background--some of you may remember that I posted in July about
*finally* getting a ferret after nearly 9 months of withdrawal symptoms.
Our new little guy had been named Loki, but he just wasn't a Loki, so we
renamed him Sam.  He's 2.
 
We thought Sam has felt kind of at loose ends and lonely (and yes, we wanted
to have 2 ferrets) so we had been keeping our eyes open for another one to
rescue.  We definately prefer to rescue ferrets as opposed to buying from a
pet store or breeder.  However, we were getting worried because we really
believed Sam needed a friend and we knew of no ferret who needed a home.
 
Today I just felt that we should investigate pet stores here, even though
that wasn't the route we wanted to go.  On the third pet store we went to,
we found a female ferret in a cage with the label "Careful!  She bites!".
The person in the pet store said that her previous people had left her there
3 months ago!!!  Although she has a very healthy coat, her nails were so
long they were curving under and her litter box didn't look like it had been
changed for a day or two.  There was some unspeakable looking food in a bowl
and she was sleeping in an old rag.  No wood chips, at least.  The pet store
people didn't even know what her name had been.
 
My husband and I didn't even have to consult.  Here was our rescue.  The pet
store people didn't know if they could find the papers and vaccination
record that supposedly came in with her, but they said they'd look.  We'll
see.  They also said she's had one litter, but they didn't know if she's
been spayed after that.  Nor did they know how old she is.
 
We brought her home and she began dashing around the house, leaping and
dooking and immediately playing with the dogs and cats (who no doubt thought
"Oh no, another one").  We had to go wake Sam up, but when he figured out
what was going on he enthusiastically started to sniff, roll, and wrestle
with her.  After a couple of hours he got tired and went back to bed, but
she kept exploring for another hour or so.  Then we put her in her cage for
the night.
 
We still haven't named her.  Alan, my husband, has been referring to her
as ? (you know, like "the artist formerly known as . . .").
 
I'm taking her to our wonderful vet tomorrow.  I like to make sure she's
healthy as soon as I can.  Think positive thoughts on our behalf, O.K.?
 
Amy and Alan
Sam and ?
Kenji and Zipper (dogs)
Tom, Ben, and Anna (cats)
R.I.P. Meagan (ferret)
in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
[Posted in FML issue 2067]