Hey everyone, I`m new to posting to the FML, but I`ve been a long time
reader, and I was hoping someone could help me with my ferret, Snowbell.
 
I`ve had her since Jan 2001, and I guess about August she started showing
some problems.  It started with her getting really tired, not wanting to
really play at all, wouldn`t even go into her sleeping bed.  She had
stopped eating and pooping.  That week I found that she had eaten
something of a hairball (for lack of a better term, something that just
got stuck), so I fed her a little mushed strawberry and some ferret treats
meant to get rid of hairballs.  After a week, she was all better, and
began resuming her normal activities.  But then I guess 2 weeks ago, when
I was over at friend`s house, my mom had found her shaking and really in a
funk.  She just looked really sick and was really limp.  They had held her
and fed her a little of the strawberry mush, and after an hour or so, she
had looked really better and active.  When I got home, she looked normal
as ever, but I noticed that when I let her out, she`s really active and
playful but after maybe 5-10 minutes she gets extremely tired, which has
never been the case before.  Today, it happened again, so I held her for
about 45 minutes then put her back in her bed.  She`s only 3 years old
(I`m not sure, the ppl who gave me the ferret are really screwed up ppl,
and I have been told that she was 1-6 years old sometime or other.  That
is why I got her, because it was terrible how she was treated, her cage
was covered in her stool and was w/o food or water.  it went that way with
her for poss. weeks at a time there.  So I took her from them.), and I
haven`t been able to take her to the vet.  I know she must be sick, but
I`m not sure with what.  I was hoping that someone might be able to help
me what I could do for her to make her feel better.  I was also wondering
if someone could tell me some ferret-knowledgable vets in my Area, I live
in Virginia, in the fredericksburg-spotsylvania area.
 
Thanx ALOT - Bob and Snowbell
[Posted in FML issue 3599]