Misty was brought to our shelter about 7 months ago by a woman whose only
real comment was "I am tired of looking at the ugly damn thing"..  she
never even told me a name or age.  Thankfully, they had clipped her rabies
tag to the cage and when I contacted the vet, she was very helpful.
 
Misty was dropped off in a 24"x18"x18" rabbit cage which had strips woven
through the wire covering it and making it dark.  I was informed this has
been her permanent cage for a least the past 6 years or so.  She was never
let out, never handled, never allowed to play or anything and was fed
generic cat food.  The vet also told me she was about 9 years old.
 
When she came in, she was half bald, thin as a rail, anemic and flat out a
pitiful sight.  She responded well but when we moved her out of *sick bay*,
she would relapse.  We finally realized she could not deal with being in
a large cage or with other ferrets, so she was set up in a small but
comfortable cage with everything she wanted.  From there, she flourished.
She regrew her fur, gained weight and became fairly active for her age.
She was also the sweetest ferret I ever met.  She would lay on your lap for
hours just getting petting and cuddled.  Her favorite thing was to have her
face stroked and she would favor us with the sweetest look of pure love and
gratitude that would melt the hardest heart.
 
Although we knew she was getting very old, we were caught unprepared.  Last
Saturday she suffered a stroke.  By Sunday she was recovering but the
stroke had done it's damage.  Misty was left blind, partially paralyzed,
unable to eat or drink on her own, unable to control her bladder or bowel
and having nuerological twitches.  For 48 hours we cuddled, encouraged,
cleaned and hand fed her around the clock.  By Monday night, it was obvious
she was not going to improve and was miserable.  We spent the remainder of
Monday night giving her lot's of love and reassurance.  Tuesday afternoon,
I took her to the vet, who agreed with the prognosis and that it was time
to let her go gracefully.  The last comment the vet made to her was how far
she had come in the past 6 months and what a good girl she was.  She went
quickly being petting and hearing loving words.
 
Her gentle nature, sweet temperment and strength after so many years of
mistreatment was a shining example of the spirit of a ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 2969]