Thanks Sukie -- it's taken a while, but I've made peace with what's
happened.  I have made the conscious choice to believe that Tasha has
a new family who dotes on her.
 
By the way, I'm sending this to the list because you had mis-typed the
addy and I'm sure everyone wants to hear about the babies!
 
Amy, Dave, Sarah & Paul (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian, Elektra, Claudia, Sidney & Max
Missing Tasha
 
>From: Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask], ";;ferret-list"@cunyvm.cuny.edu
>Subject: so sad; ferrety home news
>Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 13:50:39 -0500
[Sukie intended post follows, without additional ">" quoting marks.  BIG]
 
Amy, it sounds like you ran into a psychopath (the golf course mentioning
one) who uses her claimed AC skills for no reason other to inflict pain
due to her own mental limitations.  Her final note to you 8 months later
was the icing on the cake; she knew that you were someone she could upset
so to give herself jollies she did so once again.  She has found an easy
route to finding victims and I sincerely doubt that anything she has ever
said goes anywhere at all goes beyond that.  Toss her comments in the
trash can.
---
The babies are continuing to figure out who they are.
 
We have NEVER in all these years had one with the hunter potential that
Chiclet has.  She would still not survive, of course, but she is even
more inclined in that direction than direction than Jumpstart was and is
almost as shy/easily alarmed as he was.  As a result introductions for
her to the rest of the house have been going on more slowly and less
independently than for Hilbert.  Now, if we can just convince her that
when she grooms us she really doesn't need to do tooth combing on our
flesh like ferrets do to each other so the lick, lick, pinch will stop,
and get her to better accept our limitations.
 
Chiclet very carefully studies what Ashling does and then copies her, and
to a lesser extent that also hold for copying Sherman.  She has come to
the conclusion over the last few days that the bell toys with frog feet
belong in our bed.  (Is that the bed ringing, or are you just happy to
see me?) Right now I am her favorite person so yesterday she decided that
I really desired the frogs, or to be more precise, my pillow did UNTIL I
did not let her keep the turtle neck that I needed to put on.  Boy, did
she show me.  Very carefully, very precisely she removed every frog and
give them all to Steve's pillow.  Boy, did that teach me!
 
Wolfy, you know that absolutely gorgeous photo you have of your young
Chet and one of your little ferrets watching TV together?  Hilbert is
like that.  He has GREAT eyesight and he LOVES the TV, absolutely loves
it.  He's growing steadily (unlike Chiclet who already has the nickname
Chick Little -- though she still eats and poops a lot as she matures
more) and may turn out to be a big boy and he is such a cuddle muffin,
is Hilbert.  I'm sorry but Hilbert just has the kind of personality that
makes a person add "is Hilbert" at the end of a statement.
 
Sherman is getting more muscular with all of their wrestling, and Ashling
is starting to have her stress levels go down to the point where she is
regrowing fur.  Ashling has some very challenged follicles.  Years ago
she had an acute on-set of bilateral adrenal neoplasia and went
completely bald over her entire lower back and on through her tail in
fewer than two weeks.  Just -- blam.  Both adrenals came out cleanly
and completely back then and she has to be on Florinef and Pred daily.
It took her about a year and a half after that to be able to grow back
fur but it was it was never of normal fullness and her follicles were
compromised enough that when she is under stress she loses that fur.
One of these times she is just going to stay bald there due to damaged
follicles (It's been checked.).  When both Scooter and Sevie were dying
she lost her coat, but now she has regained some tail fur and few strays
over her lower back which is a good sign of her emotional health.  Now,
if she would only stop showing the kits how she climbs...
 
Like I said, all of the wrestling is turning out to be great for
Shermie's muscle mass so he is doing fine, except that right now i think
that the way that Hilbert is beginning to be better at wrestling is
getting to him a bit at times.  You know how it is -- you observe and you
see what is going on.  Shermie needs to invent some new wrestling moves,
I think.  Maybe I'll put a bit of safe scent on him to help him retain
status better for a while.  That should help some.  Stink is status!
 
A lot of work is going on now by veterinary pathologist Dr. Bruce
Williams to try to glean all the info possible from late Sevie's tissues
in hopes of helping other ferrets with A/V Heart Node Block, esp. Level
3.  A number of very specialized tests are being done.  Hopefully, those
will help someone down the line.  I have to thank folks like Shelley
Knudsen, a vet student, who with the cardiology experts at Vetheart,
worked up approaches for that level before our Sevie got sick with the
worse level.  That info gave us a place to start and now what was learned
form Sevie helps her little one.  That's how it works.
 
Later on Scooter's stomach and other tissues may give info on his
problems.  He was a multiply deformed boy who had an ever growing, ever
more flaccid, ever less functional stomach that just finally gave out
weeks ago.  Tootie was our $12,000 free ferret.  Got him for nothing, but
ferrets with deformities are often no picnic medically.  He was worth
every dime of it, and his kisses more important than replacing flooring
or bathroom fixtures, and that is that, as Sean has said.
Right, Rebecca?
[Posted in FML issue 4084]