Last night, a girl shows up on my doorstep with a ferret in a petco box.
She was all smiles when my husband answered the door, she asked where I
was and told him with a big smile, I have something for Lori.  He asked
what was wrong with it and then she attempted to turn on the tears.  I
was doing ferret ears at the time and came out with one of the ferrets
to see who Tony was talking to.  The girl then shoved the box at me and
told me to FIX her ferret.  I opened the box and there was a poor little
one laying in the box with no blankie, no towel, nothing, laying in fetal
position.  I touched the ferret (BIIIIG mistake) while I still (not
realizing) was holding mine.  The poor little one in the box was cold,
very cold, but still hanging in there.  He smelled like rotting flesh,
(I smelled that all night, even though I took a HOT shower and bleached
everything down.) I immediately knew that this little one was too close
to death and was suffering immensly so I told her I can't do anything and
she needs to take it to the after hours clinic and have him put down.
She refused to take the box and asked me if I could put him down.  YIKES!
I explained to her that I couldn't and I kinda figured out that she
wasn't going to so I wrapped the little guy in a blankie and took him
in myself.  The little guy had distemper.  Holy crap batman!!!!!  I
told the vet to dispose of the blanket and I came home stripping in the
kitchen, throwing my only jacket and all my clothes in a plastic bag,
double bagged it and threw them in the trash.  (going to get mighty cold
today!!!) I took a shower, bleached the room that the ferret had been in
and now I am praying.  I think we are safe here, as the other ferrets
were not near him except the one, which is in quarentine now.  Here in
Genesee County, last I knew, there was a distemper outbreak at our humane
society.  I don't know if that means that our county is at risk or what,
but I am calling them to find out.  This is yet another first for me and
I am flaberghasted at this one.
 
Lori
Michigan Ferret Rescue
[Posted in FML issue 4691]