Hi Guys,
The subject of this story really should be "ADOPTERS BEWARE"!!!!!  But since
it was originally sent to Doc W.  it is under a different name.  Just wanted
to let all the wonderful newcomers to the world of ferret adopting know
about the rest of our story I found out later.  Since we were BRAND new to
adopting we learned the hard way what we SHOULD have been doing and maybe
this will help others when they are thinking of questions to ask of the
people they are considering adopting from.  Plus ALWAYS remember they MAY
NOT be telling the truth no matter how wonderful of people they may seem to
be!!!!!!  GET ALL THE FACTS you possibly can before the final adoption
unless you don't mind surprises when it comes to your new fuzzies.  We love
Raistlin & Caramon to death and they are two of the most laid back, loving
and wonderful little creatures ever so we have no regrets that they joined
our family.  My ONLY concern was for their welfare and complete knowledge is
the best protection.
 
  Thanks, Kelleen, David and the INSANE Animal House!!!!!!!!!!!
---
Forwarded message:
Subj:    Really Worried About Female Possibly Unspayed! HELP!
To:      [log in to unmask]
 
Hi Doc. W.,
This is Kelleen Andrews again unfortunately!  I have a very important
question regarding one of our two newest additions to the family.  On the
31st of last month I purchased a small albino female and a small sable male
from a private party through the newspaper.  I asked if they had been
spayed and neutered and had current vaccinations when I called and the guy
said definitely yes.  So I went to see them.  He also said they are brother
and sister and are 8 months old.  Well now I am unsure about ALL of this
info.!  When I went to see them they lookeded in good health and were real
layed back and loveable but the female seemed to be blind in one eye, to me
it looked sort of milky white under the red.  I wasn't concerned about her
being 1/2 blind so let it go.  The guy told me the vet's name they had
supposedly taken them both to and I knew of her and where she was located.
She has treated ferrets for 10 yrs. in her practice apparently.  The male
seemed fine in all areas.  He also told me shortly after they got them both
the female developed a swollen face and there soon appeared to be an abcess
on the left side of her nose so they took them to the vet he mentioned.
She lanced it and drained it and cleaned it and it soon cleared up and has
never returned.  This was done on April 28th of this year I later found out
from the vet records.  The guy said he didn't believe they were descented
but I found that hard to believe.  (Sorry if I seem to go on and on but I
want to tell you everything I possibly can about the situation) Anyway I
fell in love with them and probably did a real stupid and didn't check the
ears for possible tatoos and I know better!  I went ahead and got them and
my fiance and I ran them to the local Petsmart because the guy said he
thought the little girl had ear mites again and he had put drops in her
ears.  (In the vet records it did mention she had ear mites at that time
and she was treated for them) I looked but only saw a red buildup as usual
and the male's ears looked great so I doubted the mites too.  The vet at
Petsmart did an ear check and saw NO mites and then looked at her eye and
said she was definitely blind in the one and it looked as though there had
been some former injury to the eye causing it and NOT cataracts!  I took
them home and they seemed fine, ate great and did their business in the
litter pans and it looked normal.  I wanted to get all the records on their
history that I could so the next day I went to the vet he took them to and
got the records.  The female was in the records all right and everything he
had said about her was there but no mention of the blindness or any eye
injury.  Unfortunately NO record of current vaccination either!  What got
my worry up though was there was no record at all of the little boy and the
vet said she remembered the female but knew nothing of any male.  As far as
she was concerned they had only the one ferret.  Now I was REALLY getting
worried.  The guy had told me that they got them through a friend who
originally got them at the pound.  I went straight from the vet's to the
pound and they let me check the records from Jan. 95 to now to see if
there was any adoption match to either the guy's name or the girl's name
from whom I bought them.  NO MATCH!  The lady at the pound seemed to agree
that this was all seeming rather suspicious at this point.  That nite I
called the guy back and talked to him.  I told him all about the vet and no
records for the male and no record of vaccination and etc.....  Also told
him there was NO WAY these two were brother and sister because the male has
the two tatoo marks on his ear meaning neutering and descenting but the
female has absolutely NO tatoos on her ears.  He seemed to react w/shock at
this.  I asked him to tell me again and very completely all the history he
had on them.  NOW he tells me that he used to work temporarily for a local
company here and knew two other people also temps. that knew a guy working
at the pound.  Supposedly the pound had in these two tiny baby ferrets,
brother and sister, that if not adopted immediately would die.  Then he
tells me the guy working for the pound TOOK the ferrets and gave them to
these two friends of theirs who kept them maybe a few weeks before they
ended up with the people I bought them from.  I asked him how he KNEW they
were spayed and neutered and their shots current and he then told me that
the pound took care of all that before they left there!  NOT!!!!!  Our
pound knows absolutely nothing about ferrets and can't even tell a male
from a female.  They do not vaccinate or spay or neuter!  I already knew
this from when I went out there and told him so.  I informed him that we
would have to get them vaccinated immediately.  The problem is it's NOT the
vaccinations that worry me, it is whether or not the female has been
spayed!!!!!!  Now I need YOUR help in this dept.  Doc.!  When I asked over
the phone he told me they were 8 mos. old then when I got the vet record s
it said the females birthdate was 10/94?, then when I called and spoke to
him again he said they were supposedly only tiny babies when the people got
them from the pound so I was guessing maybe 8 weeks tops which would make
them 7 mos. old about now.  This is a heck of a possible gap, they could
be anywhere from 7mos.  to nearly 1 year old at this time.  HOW do I go
about finding out if our loving little female is spayed or not?????  I
don't want her to die because we can't figure this out soon enough to save
her!  Would there be a scar on her abdomen under the hair that would tell
us or is our only option to undergo surgery to make sure????  I've been
told by the lady vet that x-rays would not show anything concerning
spaying.  We have taken Silverada who is 1 yr. and 2 mos. old and
compared her vulva to the new little girl and they look basically the same.
Can't tell any real difference in size and the new girl's does not seem to
be swollen.  Could this be normal for 7 mos. but then later on she could
develop problems that might be a sign that she HASN'T been spayed after
all????  Am I being an overprotective mother here or should I be as highly
concerned as I am??  HELP PLEASE ASAP!!!!!!!  Thank you sooooo much for
being there for us when we have no idea what our next move should be!
 
Fuzzy kisses forever from Kelleen, David and the INSANE Animal
House!!!!!!!!!!
[Posted in FML issue 1305]