Hi all,
 
A few days ago, I posted about the 8 ferrets that Scott and I transported
to a caretaker in Florida for their owner.  This posting will serve as an
update to the first.
 
First of all, Thank you to all of those of you who responded to me
personally.  I appreciated each and every one of your messages and made
every attempt to respond to each.  If I missed anyone, I apologize and it
was an oversight on my part and not intentional.
 
Now, for the update.  Scott and I went over to visit with the family and to
see the ferrets last nite.  The ferrets were all asleep in their cages and
rarely stirred the entire time that we were there.  As I held each one of
them and stroked each and talked to each, it didn't take me very long to
realize that even though they had had good food, fresh water, and plenty of
rest for 4 days, they were grossly underweight.  As I held Sneezy, I knew
that had he remained in Florida for any length of time, he would have been
the next to go.  His ribcage was very pronounced and he had very little body
mass.  As I watched them sleeping, I began to remember them as they were
when at my house before the transport.  If Scott or I were in the room (our
living room), most if, not all, were awake and ready for action.  These were
not the "same" ferrets that I turned over to the new caretaker.  Those
ferrets were fun-loving, full of life, full of spirit, bright eyed and being
typical ferrets.  These ferrets are exhausted, tired, struggling to overcome
whatever it was they had to endure and attempting to bounce back from a bad
situation.  They will overcome it, of this I feel certain.
 
It was reported to the owners that the reason for their decline was due to
exposure to ECE or Gardia.  However, as my ferrets have not been exposed to
either and before I agreed to bring the new ones into my home, I asked the
owner about exposure to ECE and was informed that hers had not been exposed,
this point is invalid.  The owner related to the vet the symptoms and how
each ferret was behaving and he advised her that the symptoms described were
inconsistent with those of ECE or Gardia and it appeared to be a case of
simple starvation.  It is felt that the caretaker was attempting to place
the fault on someone other than herself.
 
I would like to believe that this is a simple case of lack of knowledge or
experience on the caregiver's part, but in lieu of all the information
gained and details involved, it reeks of neglect.  The sad part is that
there are other animals at this location.  Let us all keep them in our
thoughts/prayers.
 
I still find it hard to believe that someone who calls themselves a
caregiver, could-would allow this to happen.  I feel that we should all
learn from this and that we should each take the time to get to know whoever
we entrust our little one's lives to.  It is so sad and unforgivable that
Rascal had to be the victim and had to pay the ulitmate price, but maybe his
passing will serve as the instrument that will ensure that another one of
his brothers or sisters does not become the next victim due to improper or
lack of care.
 
Take care
 
For the ferrets, always
 
Margaret
Scott and the 16 who are mourning the passing of their brother and friend
plus 3 new rescues
Exclusively Ferrets
 
please see our tribute site at http://www.exclusivelyferrets.com/tribute
[Posted in FML issue 2226]