Just wanted to write this in hopes that someone doesn't have to go
through what I did with my ferret that I purchased from Carolina
Ferrets in North Carolina. I've heard about puppy mills before, but I
didn't think that there would be "ferret mills" out there too! Not that
I'm accusing Carolina Ferrets of being a ferret mill, but I truly do
have to wonder.

I purchased a female, who I named Matti, from there back in October of
2004 and paid for her to be transported to my home via the airlines.
She didn't appear to be handled very much, if at all. It took quite a
long time for her to realize that I wasn't going to hurt her. I'm sure
that the plane ride had a little to do with it, but not all. She turned
out to be a good little ferret, however, didn't like to be held much
and/or cuddled.

Long story short, she was 2 1/2 years old and started breathing pretty
heavy one Sunday afternoon. I immediately took her to the emergency vet
and after an initial examination and a few x-rays, I was told that she
had a very large mass in her abdomen and another one in her chest. The
vet showed me what a "normal" x-ray of those areas should look like
and then showed me Matti's. I broke down in tears! I was absolutely
horrified! The masses were so large you couldn't even see her heart,
nor could you see her intestines or anything else in her abdomen. The
vet told me that she more than likely had lymphoma and the best thing
to do at this point was to put her to sleep. I was so taken back by
this because I just couldn't imagine that a ferret could have developed
cancer at such a young age....she was only 2 1/2 years old!

I came home and e-mailed Kathy Jordon, owner of Carolina Ferrets, and
told her what happened. Her response to me was "I have only had one
other case of lymphoma ever reported back to me, and that ferret was an
albino male around 4 years old. I do not see it in my stock, so I do
not know an answer for you." She also said that, "I will treat it as
an isolated incident, since cancer is such a universal problem in all
animals."

She asked that I e-mail her about what type of food I was feeding her.
As with all of my animals, I feed them what I think is the best food
possible. Kathy's closing remark to my e-mail was, "I appreciate your
email, and what you tried to do for the ferret." I was really taken
back and thought that she was very cold and could have cared less about
what I experienced and went through. I also asked if there was a
guarantee with the ferrets she sold and she said that, "What I can do
is take $50 off your next purchase." Never again in my lifetime would
I purchase another ferret from there.

So I went on-line and did my research. I found a breeder/rescue in New
Jersey and after speaking with her on numerous occasions, purchased a
kit from her. She requested a reference from me in which I gave her my
vet's name and telephone number. That in itself assured me that she
wanted to make sure that her babies went to good homes and that she
truly cared about them!

It was a long drive down to New Jersey from where I live, but well
worth it!

[Posted in FML 5703]