Cujo the Wonder Ferret has surprised us again.  I got up this morning
(Sunday) about 3:30 am to feed him.  He was fine, but looked and acted like
he has been since his surgeries last Monday and Tuesday.  Sort of "out of
it." When I got up at 8:30 to feed him and give him his anti-biotics, I
decide it was time to take the plastic Elizabethan Collar off.  This must
have the signal to him to return to his former self.  I set him down on the
floor with my legs around him while I got some of the Science Diet a/d out
of the can to feed him.  He promptly hopped over my leg and headed for the
clear plastic drier tube that he loves to play in.  By the time I got there,
just his tail was sticking out!  I held the tube up so the slid out.  What a
change!!  I'll admit to a couple of misty eye episodes over the last few
days.  This morning was the pay back.  Big grins, laughter, and a rain of
Cujo kisses on my cheek.  I fed him and hugged him and finally put him back
in his "infirmary" cage.  Before I could get the door shut, he took off
across the floor again.  I am amazed.  What a tough little guy.  Can't
imagine why I was so worried about him.  I told my wife, "I'm sure glad Cujo
has more faith in himself than I had in him." Of course, he didn't have to
look at the stitches and cuts on his little body.  He didn't have to see the
half-closed eyes, with some of the spark missing.  This morning, the eyes
are wide open and the spark is back.  He spent a half hour licking and
biting and scratching himself with his back feet.  All things he couldn't do
with the collar on.  WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!!
 
To all those who wrote e-mail and posted on the FML, thank you for caring
and sharing.  To BIG, thank you for the FML.  It is crutch we lean on
heavily at times.  I must also thank Debbie Coburn of the Central Florida
Ferret Friends.  She runs a ferret shelter in Orlando, and we have been
going to the meetings for about six months now.  There are only about 8 or
10 of us, so Central Florida ferret owners, COME ON DOWN.  Debbie is always
there when we call and headed us in the direction of the vet who operated on
Cujo this last time.  That vet, by the way is Dr. Jeffrey Shaffer of the
East Orange Animal Hospital, 11937 E Colonial Dr in Orlando.  He is ferret
friendly and ferret knowledgeable.  If you are in the Orlando area and need
a vet, I highly recommend him.  It is 40 miles from our home to his office,
but that's where we are going from now on.
 
Charles, Agatha, Donna, Cujo, Bandit and Snowball
  In our present joy for Cujo, we pause to remember Kodo.
[Posted in FML issue 1988]