I've been putting this off, but I think it's time I share my "it could
never happen to me" story.  If it helps just one person going through a
simlar experience, then it's worth it.  This is long (two parts), but has
a happy ending.
 
A couple weeks ago I was outside working in the garden.  I could hear my
teenage son inside the house yelling, "Stop that!"  I figured the ferrets
were trying to dig under the plexiglass divider.  I didn't give it much
thought, except to wish that he had more patience.  It is very simple to
pick them up, give 'em a little loving and distract them with something to
do.  Yelling at them doesn't teach them to stop digging, and just gets
the human all upset.  A little while later, I heard the front door close.
Again, I didn't pay much attention.
 
I was up late working that night.  By the time I stumbled to bed, I didn't
see any ferrets to put away.  I didn't worry.  I thought that Natasha
finally let Jewel crawl into her special drawer.  I imagined them snuggled
up, sleeping together.  Natasha gets to sleep outside of her cage on some
occasions, but I had never let Jewel do this before.  On this night I was
very tired and decided to make an exception.
 
The next morning, Natasha came bounding out to greet me as usual.  The
moment I saw her without Jewel, I panicked!  Jewel is always right at your
feet!  She is a foot ferret (the kind that likes to walk over, under, in
front of and between your feet while you try to walk).  While searching,
calling, squeaking the toys, jingling bells, and shaking plastic eggs with
rice in them, I tried to recall the last time I'd seen her.  It was before
I went out to work in the garden.  Then I remembered the yelling and the
door slamming, and I asked my son what it was all about.  He said that she
was trying to climb the screen door and had even ripped holes in it, so he
finally shut the door.  I don't know why he had the door open, I run the
a/c all the time.  But that's okay, I thought.  We have a storm door behind
the screen, so she can't get out, even if the screen is ripped.  But when I
looked, it was gone!  My son had removed the storm window a few weeks ago
and failed to mention that fact.  And there were huge holes in the screen,
plenty big enough for a ferret.  Josh must have inadvertently closed the
door with the ferret already outside.
 
So we began the calling, squeaking, jingling, shaking routine outside,
hoping our neighbors didn't hate us because it was 6:30 in the morning.
No sign of her.
 
I had to take my son to school.  Ten miles in, then another ten miles back,
crying practically the whole time.  But I still had hope that I would find
her when I got back.  She probably just crawled under something.  I looked.
I called.  I walked through the house again, listening.  Hoping against
hope that she had just found some new place to crawl into and would be
scratching to get out.  Nothing.  I finally made up some flyers, passed
them out to a few neighbors, put food and water in a pet carrier outside,
and went very late to work.
 
It was the one of the worst days I can remember.  I was wracked with guilt.
If only I had come inside as soon as I heard Josh yell at the ferret.  If
only I had noticed that he'd removed the storm window.  If only I had
warned Josh even more about being careful.  If only I had taught him to
be more patient.  And, as hard as I tried not to, I blamed my son.  He's
almost 16.  He should know better.  He should have been more careful.  He
is my child, and of course I love him more than a pet, but on this day it
was very hard to feel that love.  So now I felt even more guilt, for
finding it so difficult to forgive my own child.
 
When we got home, the search began anew, but this time, with very little
hope of finding her.  It had gotten very hot that day.  The neighborhood is
full of cats and dogs and speeding cars.  There's a creek and woods for her
to get lost in.  I wandered the neighborhood, squeaky toy and ferret-treat
in hand.  I talked to everyone I saw.  Especially, kids.  They are closer
to the ground and outside more.  I figured if anyone would find her, it
would be a kid.  I felt guilty.  I always warn kids not to talk to
strangers looking for a lost pet.  It could be a trick.  I did it anway
and I met a lot of neighbors.
 
I had called the humane society, put up flyers, searched, squeaked, asked
around, finally realized I should have called the newspaper right away,
searched some more and emailed a ferret knowledgeable friend.  After all
that, I gave up hope.
 
At last, I went to bed.  I don't know how I slept.  Not knowing was the
worst.  I kept picturing her dying some long, slow, painful death, and me
not there to help her.  I would have rather held her in my arms and know
that she was dead, than for her to be suffering and confused and die alone.
 
The next morning, the weather forecast was rain.  This brought my tears
all over again.  Now I pictured she'd be laying near death, and on top of
everything, get soaking wet.  All hope of finding her was gone.  It was
time to walk out the door for work when Josh yelled, "Mom, come here!  I
found her."
 
(continued next post)  [posts combined.  BIG]
 
By this point it had been almost 2 days, and knowing ferrets need to eat
every few hours, I asked, "Is she dead?" I couldn't believe it when he
said she was not.
 
Jewel was inside the stove.  Thank God I don't cook!  I have no idea how
she got in there.  Josh said he heard her scratching to get out.
SCRATCHING!  I'd been walking around listening for scratching for two
days!  We couldn't lift the top like you can on some stoves.  Josh ended
up pulling it out from the wall, unplugging it, unscrewing the top, and
reaching his hand through some tunnel thing to pull her out.
 
I couldn't believe she was alive!  I expected her to be near death from
dehydration, but she seemed fine.  She drank.  She ate tons of ferretone.
She even pooped and started eating kibble like nothing ever happened!  I
called my mom, who is very experienced in animal rescue and rehabilitation
(and much easier to contact than the vet at 6:30 in the morning).  She
assured me that the vet would have just rehydrated her, probably with an
IV, but that if she was eating, drinking, pooping and acting fine, then
there was no need to stress her out further.  She also talked me out of
taking her to work with me.  I didn't want to leave her, but Mom was right.
She would be much more comfortable in her own cage than in a hot, noisy
environment and tiny pet carrier all day.  So after staying a while longer
to make sure she was really all right, we left, even later than the day
before, but much happier.
 
Some good came out of this situation.  I met some neighbors.  My son and I
had some really good talks (he had to forgive me for being so upset with
him and it brought out other issues).  I learned to listen to people who
say the house is never truly ferret proof, and I thought, "Mine is!" I got
some wonderful advice back from my email friend.  And I learned how much I
really love that little stinky girl!
 
Now I'll share some of the advice I was given and stuff I learned the hard
way.  Hopefully none of you will ever have to go through this.
 
* If you can, put a chip in your ferret.
* Teach your children to be very careful.
* If your ferret disappears, don't give up hope!  Some have been found a
  week later!
* Let other ferret people know!  They can help a lot (Thank you, Jan!)
* Post on the FML (I didn't do this because I didn't think there's anyone
  locally, but that could be wrong.  Anybody in Union, MO?  Email me).
* Call the newspaper and humane society or other local shelters right away.
* Let local authorities know she's a pet so they don't release her into
  the wild.
* Set her cage outside with food and water.
* After you search inside, do it again, and again.
* Train ferrets to come to a squeaky toy.  Then when you're feeling like a
  fool walking around the neighborhood squeaking it, you can feel confident
  she'll come if she can.
* Most of all, try not to get too upset.  You can't help your pet if
  you're panicked and not thinking clearly.  Easy to say.  I didn't
  follow my own advice very well.  I know that I was very, very lucky.
 
Best wishes to all!
Jodie
 
P.S.  I tried to respond to Scott at [log in to unmask], but mail was
bounced back.  Can you post again or email me?  Thanks!
[Posted in FML issue 2696]