Hi Everyone,
Ok I am going to apologize first, sorry this might be a little long.  I
guess I picked a bad time to write.  I need some insight as to if my ferret
is deaf.  First off many thanks to Pam Grant & Andi Lockhart, who have been
giving me advice, it has been nice to have someone to talk too!
 
Ok on to our little ferret.  I am admitting I screwed up pretty nicely on
this one, I should not have done what I did, I do know better, so please, no
flames, we feel pretty badly as it is.
 
I bought a 10 week old kit from a breeder in Texas, she was flown to
Philadelphia this past Saturday.  She is supposed to be a black-eyed
white(more on that later, that is the least of my worries) We opened the
cage at the airport, I went to touch her and she bit me, not a nip either, I
had blood running down my finger.  I thought it is the stress of the trip,
lets get home.  So later that night I went to go pick her up, and she lunged
for me and got a very good hold on my finger, she locked down and chewed,
Mike had to pry her jaws open.  Needless to say, I had a very nasty bite.
We let her to settle in for the night, and the next day I tried again, the
same thing happand, only to the base of my thumb, I counted 14 bite marks
after Mike got her off my thumb, then she bit him.  So I called Pam, who
gave me some great advice.I gave her treats a copule of times a day to let
her know I was not some horrible person, plus I sat next to her cage and
talked to her several times a day.  I thought she was hearing what I was
saying.  She still bites, not as bad though.  So we called the breeder who
swears that the kit never bit them or the vet.  They said that they have
witnesses who can testify to that.  So on Tuesday I picked her up again, she
was better.  On Wed. I took her upstairs to the ferrets playroom, to play
with her one on one.That's when I noticed some odd.  She did not respond to
any noises, I tried a squeeky toy, shaking a bell, clapping my hands,
shaking the noise sack they have, she never flinched or turned around,
execpt if I touched her when she was not looking, then I got bit.  So I
waited till she was asleep, and did the same things, plus I screamed as loud
as I could 3 times, and nothing plus last night we banged pots & pans
together, and nothing.  Our other 4 responed to all the noises asleep or
not.  She is very quick to puff out her tail if I come walking behind her,
and she does not see me first.  Now I make a point of showing her my hands
first before I do anything.  Could she be deaf????  Some people thought it
could be a gentic or could have something happand on the plane, and that was
why she was so nasty for the first several days?  We are going to see the
vet Monday.  The vet said that there is no test to test for deafness.  I
called the breeder and asked them about it, and they offered to take her
back.  I said No thanks, we are keeping her, god knows what would happan to
her.  I won't go into what condition she was in.  So does any one have a
deaf ferret?  How did you realize that they had a hearing problem?  I feel
so badly for her, we just want to spoil her rotten like the rest of the
crew.  Oh yes, our fuzzies, are not to happy to have another sibling, the
other day Dutch bit her foot though the cage.  Any thoughts would greatly be
appreciated, including Dr Williams & Dr.  Weiss if you get the chance.  Oh
yes her coloring I almost forgot, she has a gray spot on her back and a grey
tail, but again that is not the point of my concern.  Again sorry this is so
long...
 
Thanks so much BIG for doing such a great job, I know I really appreciate the
job you are doing.
 
Please let this be a warning for everyone, make sure you are dealing with a
good breeder(I am not saying this one was bad-I have no proof).
 
On another day I'll tell of Hexy's great adventure outside.  I just got the
fuzzies pictures back, they saw Santa!  We had them made into Christmas
cards, I can't believe how cute!
 
Yes, my husband thinks I have lost my mind, and probably some other people
think so too! Gotta go. Thanks for listening to me! Hugs to all your fuzzys!
 
Michelle,Mitzi,Tara,Dutch,Hexy&?(have not named her yet, Mike has already
thought up a couple, but they are not very nice!)
PS. Cindy:Mitzi is doing great! We are down to .20 and still no signs! We go
for a glucose test this week, I'll let you know how she does!
[Posted in FML issue 1398]