I live in sothern England (uk)and I have a little story for you, and a
request for help, so please bare with me......
 
The sense of fate and Irony in this little story is simply incredible...
 
Yesterday, We where sitting around the table munching away on Christmas
lunch, when my Uncle starts to tell my Mother about a new block of stables
he has bought and is refurbishing, he mentions that he has seen this
strange little animal that has come up to him and the work men over the
last three days..... apparently the animal appears quite tame.  They have
fed it some milk and are debating what to do about it.  it is not a rat,
it is something else but they are not sure what...... the discussion goes
on and after some probing my Mother suggests that it may be a Ferret, and
advises that Ferrets are unlikely to survive on their own, and brings me
into the conversation.  It takes only a couple of minutes for me to
establish that the wee beastie is a Ferret with polecat markings.
(remember this is Christmas and strange miracles happen at Christmas) The
right people in the right place at the right time, the right conversation
and all that !  Having found this out, and knowing that the Ferret would
not survive, we all pull on gum boots and head towards the stables, kids
in the lead and adults following with a large cardboard box and some water
and turkey
 
On arrival my cousin and I kept the crowd back and quiet, and commenced
a search of the stables.  The first sign was a tell tail little ferret
"present" in a corner (what a surprise) of one of the stables..... but no
sign of the tenant....
 
There are ten stables so we searched for more signs.  clucking and calling
all the time...... my cousin went back into the stable with the evidence,
and stood quietly for a moment, and noticed a rustling coming from a pile
of empty cement sacks...... fearing a rat, rather than our quary, he
called me over.
 
I went to the sacks and gradualy moved each one away......
 
on the second one a tiny tiny head appeared.....
 
and I was staring into the face of the smallest polecat Ferret I have ever
seen... a slim little face that told me that she was a she, just by looks
alone.... I put my hand out, ......... and she came straight away.... She
put her front paws on my palm and sniffed my wrist , decided and climbed
onto my hand.  I have small hands, and there she was, standing, all four
feet on my palm, and looking as if to say "OK mate, whats next ?"
 
She was cold, skinny,thirsty and starving, but otherwise alive and
curious..... all her fur, two ticks, half a tail (but no infection or
open wound)and a slightly "runny" rear end.(and I would guess, only about
48 hours left to survive) but so small ~ either this was a kit (2 months
possibly) but the teeth suggested older
 
I am slightly cautious with ferrets I do not know, and was expecting at
least a few nips in the whole exercise.... but nothing.... I had found
what was a totaly domestic ferret with the temprement of an angel.
 
Too small, (and too young?) for hunting, and my other cousin had seen a
man with a box walking on their property a couple of days before......
she had to have been abandoned
 
Inside into the warm was the first requirement, then fed and watered
(ravinous)  So for the next few hours untill we came home she settled down
to sleep in my lap.  then inside my jacket pocket, then inside my sleve.
 
Zoe, for that is her new name (meaning "life") now is the newest member of
our family, she has a temporary home in a large (borrowed) hampster cage
and has already been ignored by the dog.
 
So thats the story of how she arrived.....
 
Can anybody in the UK help with :-
 
The name/address/phone number of the specialist Ferret vet in East
Grinstead..I want to take her down there ASAP
 
A temporary alternative food(over the counter) untill my first delivery of
Ferrets Choice arrives (coz we cant get totaly ferret any longer) (remember
she has a bit of a runny bum at the moment and I am growing concerned)
 
any sugestions for clearing up the rear end problem asap
 
sources (over the counter) for Ferretvite, Hairball remidy, and all the
other stuff I'm going to need.
 
Otherwise she is doing brilliantly, all things considered, and hates
spending a second away from human contact <BG>
 
Many thanks
Zoe's newest pal.
[Posted in FML issue 3280]