I don't think anyone will ever want to adopt Coco.  She's a
happy-to-be-alive little worm who knows her name & listens to your every
word.  She's an animated, high energy, gotta-go sweetheart w/a real lust for
life.  She's very neat in her cage & always *goes* on the paper during
out-time.  She never nips.  How could no one want to adopt a sweetheart like
this?
 
Well, maybe it's because she's not much to look at right now, she's a victim
of adrenal disease.  She was a convenience surrender who came to me w/fur on
her tail (of all places), & a few scraggly tufts on her legs, face & neck.
She resembles corrugated drainage pipe w/all her ribs sticking out, & w/the
size of her vulva could pass for a male at 1st glance.
 
I hope we can fix this when she undergoes surgery on Thursday.  If all goes
well she'll recover, grow a beautiful coat & be irresistible.  Then someone
won't be able to resist adopting her, right?
 
Probably not.  She's 4 yrs old.  She has 2 strikes against her when it comes
to being adoptable.  As adorable as she is, she's not what most people are
looking for.  Most of us doing foster work can attest to the fact that the
majority of potential adopters want a young, healthy addition to their
family.  Who wouldn't want a little one who will expectedly have a long,
healthy life?
 
We refer to our unwanted ferrets as unadoptable or permanent residents, but
they don't have to be.  They don't know they're medically challenged or
"older."  If you didn't know any better they'd be just as enamoring as any
other ferret.  They only know that they want a loving, permanent home.  We
so often describe their personality as that of a 2-year-old, so I'll compare
them to any other orphan.  Do you think a child would fair better w/a family
in a secure home or in an institution w/new faces coming & going, if
abandoned by his/her parents?
 
Consider that your kit will one day grow old, possibly debilitated or sick.
Imagine what life would be like for your little one in an unfamiliar place
being handled by strangers, where everything smells different & nothing is
the way it's supposed to be.  Our special wards might not be around as long
as you'd like, then again, what fuzzy ever is?  You may have to nurse them
at the end, just the way you would for any in your care.  And yes, when it's
time for them to die you will hurt, the same kind of agonizing grief you
will feel w/any ferret you love.  They are the same ferrets you've grown to
cherish, they just didn't find you when they were young.  We as caregivers
do the best we can.  But we can never take the place of a real home -- only
you can do that.  Please search your soul to find if you are that unique
person who can make a difference in the life of a special ferret in need of
a home.
 
This post is not intended to offend or provoke guilt.  It's my attempt at
bringing to light the plight of our, & other devoted shelters',
less-than-physically-perfect foster ferrets in need of a home.
 
My fosters & I thank you for permitting me to ramble on again.
[Posted in FML issue 2231]