Hmmmm, never even dawned on me that our deaf ferret, Harmony, is
defective!..  Then again, neither was Arnie.  Both deaf... Arnie (Gone
many years past), was an absolute goofball who felt Xena was his
personal drag toy.
 
She'd get so upset that she'd do her Don Knott's impersonation of
agitation and jump him, only to have him roll and pin her (He was 3
times her size).  He was my Sultan, spending hours on my lap getting paw
massages, and total body rubs, only looking up when I'd stop, and laying
back down (belly side up) when I resumed paw rubbing.  Totally tactile.
He was before I discovered the Shelters, before FML... you know...
stupid!  A Canadian babe, maybe 6 weeks old, one in a box of many..  they
were all beautifully colored, cinnamons, champagnes, BLAZES, and all busy
lil squirmers.  Why did I pick a plain old white one?... he was the only
one looking at me... staring actually.  Took him home, then off to the
Vet's for a well baby check and shots.  The Vet didn't notice his
deafness, or note that his coloring might be indicative of 'a defect'.
After about a week, I noticed he was different.  Didn't run when the
microwave buzzer sounded, didn't startle at loud noises, and he used his
eyes a lot more than Freddie had.  I did the deaf test of sneaking up
on him and banging on a pan... yep, deaf.  In no way did we see him as
diminished... perhaps working in a hospital had made us both aware that
losing one sense does not make one less than perfect!  And he was
perfect... for 2 years.  He died so young, of liver cancer!!!  Is that
one of the maladies that befalls to our hearing impaired neural ferts?
 
Now we have Harmony... a shelter rescue... age unknown.  She had indeed
been abused, along with her albino 'sister' who hears just fine.  Both
were terrible fear biters, and were terrified to be picked up, both
splaying their legs and tensing up.  Now they're just family... both
still bite a bit hard with playing, but no more blood, and it's done
with dookin and no fear.
 
Deaf Harmony seems to be the 'healthy one'.  Her nickname is 'Tank'.
all muscle, great coat, and no symptoms of cancer or system failure.
Her 'sis' Beauty, is so delicate, and skitters on tippy toes about the
house.  Adrenal, on Lupron, and Insulinomic on prednilisone.
 
So..... what lays ahead for our Tank, our perfect little girl, who cannot
hear?  What can we (all who have deaf ferrets) do to prolong their lives,
to keep them as healthy and happy as possible?... Nothing more than love
them as they deserve to be loved... cuddled and chased to tail twitching
happiness, and to let others know that deafness MAY be symptomatic of
the possibility of an early death, and to love them all the more because
of it.
 
Hugs n dooks to all, Michelle and the gang of 14
 
missing way too many
[Posted in FML issue 4886]