On Labor Day I went to pick up a ferret that someone was givng away because
they were moving and plus he was so aggressive that they can't put a hand
in his cage, blah, blah, blah..
 
Upon arriving my friend put on gloves and reached for him to place him in
a carrier, he tried to bite her but couldn't get through the gloves.  We
loaded up his large, homemade wooden cage, 1 story, filled with shavings.
He had some food left but no blankets, towels, hammys, nothing.  No
litterbox either.
 
The cage opened from the top. When I asked the name of the humongus male,
(neutered). The man did not know, they just called him Mean.
 
Off we went.
 
Upon arriving at the shelter, we took him out, with gloves, to check him
out.  He was so frightened he just cowered, not trying to bite us at all.
I trimmed his long nails, no problem.
 
We let him down to play, well he had no clue.  He hid behind the cat box,
and ran if anyone got close.  BTW he is only a yr old, and we named him
Apollo, for the first step we believe taken on a floor.
 
When I trimmed his nails we noticed his pads were thin and moist, paper
like with slits in them.  I don't know from what.  Probably never will.
He goes to the doc next Mon.
 
This is the gross part.  We took his old cage out back,and put him in a 4
story, no shavings, lots of bedding cage!
 
I went to clean out is old cage, and found a pile of poop sky high, with
bugs, worms, maggots etc crawling all over the place.  I almost lost it.
Everyone did.  What a distgusting mess.  Just when you think you've seen it
all.  No wonder he was so nasty.  He should have taken their heads off.
and, this cage was in their living room to boot!!!!!!
 
Gotta follow me here.  I have a 14 yr old son with a friend also 14, he
is kinda homeless right now.  Awful story, won't go into the details out
of respect for him.  Devon is a sweetheart, helps with the ferrets and
critters, he loves our old gal JB and hand feeds her duck soup daily.  He
is living here until ????  He is my second son now.
 
Whats that have do with Apollos story? I'll tell you.
 
Devon carries Apollo around and hugs and kisses him, he wants to keep him
and he is taking full responsibility for him.  I explained to him that all
the ferrets here are up for adoption but I'm sure Apollo will be here
awhile ;).  Apollo bites Devon but not bad, Devon justs cleans out the bite
and continues on, he loves Apollo.
 
He told me the other night, "Apollo is like me, unwanted, angry, but really
not bad, I can relate to him".
 
I was speachless, still am.
 
Things have a way of mending that we have no control over, I believe Apollo
and Devon will help each other in many ways.
 
I look at them and I hope they both will mend and be ok with their lives.
Devon wants to adopt Apollo (working off the adoptin fee), but not knowing
his future situation I told him we'll see.  But I'll tell you one thing,
while Devon is here, Apollo will stay.  What else can I do?
 
Please say a prayer for them both and wish them luch on their lives
journeys.  I will never forget them, ever.
 
Peace,
CJ
24 Carat Ferret Rescue And Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 2799]