We accidentally rescued a 1 1/2 yr old ferret name Alf.  It was supposed to
be a simple adoption of a little one who couldn't be kept any longer.  Gene
and I kept saying no but the girl couldn t find a home for him and our kids
really turned on the presssure.  Instead of an adoption it turned out to be
a rescue.  We had to wait until one parent was gone before we could take his
owner back to pick him up.  He had been kept in a Kennel Kab since he was
bought and had been left behind at her dad's when she and her mom moved out
(divorce in progress).
 
The little guy had been fed mature cat food (Special Kitty from Wal-Mart)
all his life and was not allowed out of his cage.  When we went in the
house, there was more poop in the cage then there was cedar chips.  He had
a tiny bit of water left in a large water bottle and a few pieces of kibble
left.  She hadn't taken care of him since she left her dad's house a few
weeks before.  He was yellow and could barely stand.  I put him in a
fuzz-buggy and left his cage behind.  It was horrible.
 
Alf was frightened of our other little guys.  He screamed if anyone so much
as sniffed him.  We were in over our heads and we knew it.  Late that first
night, I posted a note to a few FML ers in a panic. .  Dayna Frazier called
us immediately when she received the note.  Dayna took the time to calm us
down and to tell us what we were doing right (we needed reassurance badly at
that point).  She then gave us enough advice to get us through the first few
days.  Dayna also graciously offered us the option of bringing Alf to her if
we found we couldn t handle his problems.  She said from our description we
were looking at atrophied muscles and malnutrition.  She got us started on
woozle goo feedings and physical therapy.  It's been a month now that we
have been working with him and we have seen unbelievable progress.
 
Alf was seriously terrified of the other fuzz-butts and his screaming would
cause Bandit and Flake to grab his neck.  To combat this, I used some thick
fleece and velcro and made Alf body-armour.  It protected his neck when he
came in close (unsupervised) contact with Flake and Bandit.  He would still
yell if they grabbed him but they could only scare him and not physically
hurt him.
 
Houdini mothered Alf.  She ignored his crying and we keept the two of them
in a medium dog kennel that we moved next to the "big house".  After a few
days, Alf stopped crying when Houdini groomed him and stopped crying when
ever he saw the other little guys..
 
We instituted evening ferretone sessions where we coated all faces and necks
with ferretone.  Everyone played for about 30 minutes before Bandit made a
move for Alf.  We intervened before Alf knew something was up and Bandit was
put in time out.  We gave weekly doses of hair ball remedy because of the
licking and grooming going on during this time.
 
We gave Alf and Houdini separate play time from Flake and Bandit and allowed
Alf into the big cage whenever he wanted.  This seemed to make him more
self-confident and assertive.  When Alf tired out my husband, Gene, put him
and Houdini in the small cage for a nap and let Flake and Bandit out to
play.  Gene said his day revolved around rounding up one group and letting
out the other.
 
It has been almost two months now.  Alf is walking much better, but still
cannot sit up on his hind legs (we do not encourage this but he wants to see
what is up on the counter) and cannot climb very well.  Alf's coat and skin
are looking really good.  He still has some yellow areas but his coat is now
very silky and not coarse.  He has also gained weight more evenly over his
body and his little presents will shortly be competing for size with cow-
patties!  He is a healthy eater.  We have backed off on the woozle goo and
he is eating ferret food.  We discovered he likes raisins.  He never had one
until he came here.  He also likes Cheerios and is discovering the joys of
plastic bags.
 
Alf has fully accepted Houdini and Flake and will sleep in the hammock with
them.  He is learning to stick up for himself with little bitty Bandit and
is able to make her back off.
 
We have decided Alf s real name is Mr. Magoo.  He seems to be content now
and unafraid of his surroundings and he walks around the house talking to
himself constantly (just like Mr. Magoo and Albert Einstein!).  Every
morning he comes out of the cage, greets us with kisses and then wanders off
exploring and happily dooking to himself.  He is so loud, it's hillarious!
He still has trouble standing on tile floors and has a very funny war dance.
He becomes frightened when the others war dance.  He tries to imitate Flake
in begging but falls over.  He loves to cuddle and is definitely a lap
ferret for the time being.
 
My husband, Gene, has been wonderful in bringing Alf around.  He talked to
Alf and carried him around the house.  Gene seemed to be able to tell when
Alf wanted to be held and carried and when he was content to just wander
along beside him.  I say this with great appreciation as I was responsible
for bringing all these little furry feet into our home and he has taken on
the majority of the care, not just for Alf but for our other three shelter
babies.
 
One morning a while back, Gene started voicing concerns over Alf talking to
the refrigerator.  I told him if that was his greatest concern then maybe he
was spending too much time with fuzz-butts <BG> and should look to get out
of the house more.  Seriously, our little guys adore my husband and follow
him around a lot.  He in turn spoils them and allows them free roam of the
house all day while he is home.
 
We owe a big thank you to Dayna for being there for Alf and us.  Not many
people will give up their sleep to calm down a panic-ing parent at 2:00am,
but Dayna did.  She calmed us down and held our hand long distance that
first night and there-after.  Because of her we were able to work with Alf
and we now have one of the sweetest, gentlest fuzz-butts you have ever seen.
 
Roberta
Windham, Maine
[Posted in FML issue 2243]