Mushu came to me almost two years ago.  She and her sister Ping, were
sold to me as Pandas and both looked it at the time of purchase.  Mushu
has since lost most of the look of a Panda and has retained only a few
smatterings of her blaze but remains white through out except for a dark
band across her back and dark front legs and having the dark end of her
tail.
 
It took me four days to realize Mushu was deaf.  She was my first deaf
ferret.  In the beginning she was my little dragon.  She turned into one
of the sweetest, funniest, most cuddliest and cutest ferrets I have ever
had.
 
She is the only one who collects metal things like knives and tin cans and
lids.  She is my metal magpie.
 
I don't talk to her any less than the other ferrets even though I know she
can't hear me, but I know she can read how I feel by the look on my face
and how I hold her in my arms and by the touch of my hands.
 
I lost her earlier this year for two days and almost died knowing she
couldn't hear danger coming.  I cried for months after her return thinking
of all the things that could have happened but thankfully didn't.
 
She is my princess who loves to lie on her back and pose like a nude
model... "take me, I am yours", she beckons.
 
Do I care that she is deaf?  Only when I lost her.  Otherwise, life is on
par with the other ferrets with only a few minor modifications: I try not
to surprise her by suddenly appearing out of nowhere, and I always make
sure she knows I am there before I pick her up.
 
She is my precious one without whom I would be lost.
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur
For the Love of Ferrets...Missing Bear
[Posted in FML issue 3115]