Hi all,
 
Last week I had posted about a ferret found in Severna Park.  Just for
clarification, she has been found in Silver Spring (sorry--a friend found
her, I was confused).  I have had several offers to adopt her (thank you
very much, all you generous ferret-lovers out there) but as it turns out
she needs surgery so my husband and I are going to keep her so as to
prevent her from undergoing additional stress.  I hope that all of you
who offered to adopt her will go to your nearest ferret shelter and find
another wee one who needs a home..you won't regret it.
 
Baby Girl (as my husband calls her) went to see Dr. Weiss Saturday and I was
told that she had a mass on her spleen and the best course of action was to
remove the spleen.  Now, I've read the faqs and I must admit I'm a little
confused as to what this all means.  If someone who is a little more
knowledgeable about ferreets and spleens could post or email me directly I
would be most appreciative as I am concerned.  Dr. Weiss is the best and I
trust him, I would just like to know what I might be dealing with here.  She
is scheduled for surgery on June 9th.  Otherwise she is doing great, eating,
drinking, pooping, all the things a ferret should do.  She has put on more
weight and looks very good, and has a good disposition.
 
Elie Wiesel is going in tomorrow for a 2nd adrenalectomy--6 months ago Dr.
Weiss took out about 1 3/4 of his 2 adrenal glands--he thinks that if he can
get the second adrenal gland down to 10% Elie will be okay.  He's showing
signs of hair-loss and prostate enlargement so I'm afraid that I have to put
him through surgery again.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers--he
is 7 and my oldest and most favorite ferret.
 
On a lighter note, someone had mentioned making a sandbox for their ferrets
so I did that over the weekend.  I used a large translucent plastic storage
box with a hinged lid, a dryer hose, some duct tape, and a 50-lb bag of
playground sand.  I cut a hole in the side of the box about 4-5 inches up to
fit the dryer hose and attached the dryer hose with duct tape.  The ferrets
loved it and dug like crazy.  I had a little problem with sand being dragged
out of the other end of the dryer hose, so I routed it into a large
cardboard box through a hole in the side of the box.  Other holes in the box
provide entrance and exit points for the ferrets, but the sand stays in the
box (for the most part).  I guess it's only a matter of time before we have
a room-sized 'ferretrail' :).
 
Take care and happy ferreting,
 
Gail Snyder Shochet
and Elie Wiesel, Pixel, Pepe, Kiaya, and 'Baby Girl Ferret'
[Posted in FML issue 2327]