The other night I was sitting on the futon, just thinking about us.
 
It wasn't long ago that Pumkin was a terror, till I figured out he picked
up on the dying long before I did and he had difficulty dealing with that
issue.  Once I understood WHAT was prompting his outbursts we were able
to deal with the problem and he is a much better adjusted ferret now and
when he acts up I know someone is leaving so I am able to sometimes catch
something that would normally not be noticed and hence Pumkin gives that
little one a bit more time with us.  So things settled.
 
Then, late last year, a group of 5, 3 very disgruntled, ferrets joined us.
They'd not had a good year and they would only be given to me or live their
life in a very unhappy state so I agreed to take them.  Turmoil reigned
again.  Now a year later, I 'think' they've, for the most part, adjusted.
It's been a rough go but we made it.
 
I watch this group and see how very bonded to each other they are.  Their
life had been disrupted by a separation of their family members then they
were destined to live out their life in a cage, had it not been for me.
They took all their anger, pain, and sorrow out on others in our home.  I
cringe at the thought that they might have been separated and sent to other
homes had they been anywhere else.  They would have not only lost their
people, but there ferret family as well.
 
It hasn't been easy, and it's been a long time, but they are now fairly
well adjusted and we are content.
 
Years ago I was asked to ferret sit for 13 ferrets while the people went
on vacation.  I agreed and the 13 came to me.  Difficulties arose and the
people were unable to take their ferrets back.  Even though I received no
monetary compensation and the people didn't check on their ferrets I kept
all 13 as it would not have been fair to the ferrets to seperate their
ferret family.  Yes, it was a bit of an extra expense on me but it was
worth it to keep them together.  I did what was best for the ferrets and
that is the way it should be.
 
Sometimes when times are difficult it is the little ones that suffer the
most.  Please, if you are a ferret caretaker, don't let the ferret families
be split up.  Life is difficult enough without ripping families apart
(humans included).
 
Hugs to all. tle
Troy Lynn Eckart
Ferret Family Services
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/
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[Posted in FML issue 3239]