Hello All!
 
Wow, guess that is a lot to list huh?  Been a little too busy to spend much
time on the puter.
 
First, back on Sept. 12.  I got a call from Laurie Long, "The Raisin
Retreat" Shelter, she got in an old unaltered female, in heat, with no fur
on her legs, tail, or belly.  (If there were a contest for rat tail, Witch
would win.  No blackhead, just skin), and she was in heat.  I told her
bring her to me.  I'll take her.
 
After hearing how the woman would bang on the "cage" (a carrier that she
was kept in with 2" of cedar chips) when she wanted out, used a Q-Tip to
bring her out of heat, fed her cheap food in little margarine containers,
and a water bottle that would leak all the water out into the cedar, I was
shocked Laurie kept her composure and didn't beat the hell out of the
woman.  (She couldn't afford to bring the ferret to a vet, but she could
afford a new Camaro)
 
Witch indeed had no hair on her legs, had crud so bad in her ears I was
amazed she could hear, was very much in heat and when I scruffed her to
look at her teeth, I could have cried.  They are so badly stained you
really cannot judge her age.  I cleaned her ears, and we clipped her nails,
all of her rear nails had at one time or another been torn out.
 
We got her set up in a cage (I threw the carrier out), hammock, crock of
food, and a crock of water.  We sat in amazement as she drank the water,
and then would step away, go back and look at the water, smell it , and
then taste it, as if she couldn't believe she had fresh water.
 
She got a bath, and started to eat the good food, she picked out the crappy
stuff and left it on the floor of the cage.  She had no concept of a litter
pan, and would sleep in her own urine and feces.  This is what she had been
used to.
 
She learned what a hammock is, and is doing better with the litter box.  I
got the shot to take her out of heat, I want to keep her on duck soup and
good food for awhile before having her altered to build her up.  And she is
now starting to grow hair on her legs.
 
Witch was an abused ferret, if not physically, she was abused mentally.  In
my opinion, it was both.
 
Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails, understanding that I wanted
to stop sheltering because it has gotten to be too much.  But since then I
posted that I will be a shelter for elderly, handicap, and emergency cases.
I have been asked why I changed my mind.
 
Thank you to those who offered to adopt my old, and handicapped babies.  I
am sorry I haven't emailed all of you, but I don't get allot of time to
write letters.  ( Ask my Marine son in Japan - he told me he was going to
grow a tail, and fur with a mask so I would write to him more.) I do not
ship ferrets, and most of the old sick ones or handicapped one deserve to
stay in one spot for whatever amount of time they have remaining.  Being
brought to the shelter was tough on most of them, and now they are settled,
I do not want to get them upset again.  But I do adopt older ferrets that
are healthy, (they get to see the vet first.)
 
I worked very hard in this area to get the local authorities to recognize
me as a shelter, not some nut case, ok - let me rephrase that sicko, ok you
know what I mean.  To my amazement, there are people who know about the
shelter I never spoke to in other cities, there are also human societies,
and vets who readily give out my name and number to ferret turn ins.  At
this point, even though there is a financial strain, I can't stop, at least
not until I get the other shelters in the area known.  I have taken in 10
ferrets since I said I was quitting, one is old and blind, the other just
plain old.  Some said they would rather take the ferret and have it put
down, if I couldn't take it, the Animal Protective League has too many good
things to say about the shelter, or the human officer said to contact me.
Besides, I have the word SUCKER tattooed on my forehead.
 
Jean
Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter
Home of Trooper, Semper Fi, and Melt Down, II
[Posted in FML issue 2445]