Hi gang,
 
We have a new kid.  Eydie Fox runs a branch of my shelter in Carlsbad, NM
and she took in a little black eyed white girl a few weeks ago.  This girl
is in just awful shape.  Upon her arrival, Eydie noted she had maybe 20 or
30 percent of the hair she should, she had a skin problem, with no hair on
her stomach, upper back, shoulders, part of her head, and her feet.  She has
a tumor under the skin on her neck about the size of a nickel, and a couple
small ones on her lips.  Her feet were either cut up or chewed, not sure
which, when she first arrived.  She has an extremely swollen vulva
indicating she has probably had adrenal problems for a very long time.  She
has a cough and she wheezes sometimes.  She was bloated upon arrival, but
with lots of great food and great care from Eydie most of that is gone now.
Also, thanks to Eydie, her feet have healed and her skin is greatly
improved.  She is a skinny little thing, she has a tiny face and huge black
eyes.  She is very sweet and loves to give kisses.  She has the cutest
little turned up nose.  She started out only playing for a few minutes, but
now she is up to an hour that she can last before she crashes.  She
staggered alot in the beginning, but much of that is gone now too.
 
On Saturday, Eydie and I met at the halfway point between us (equalling
about 8 hours driving for each of us) to do the 'ferret relay' so that I
can take her to Dr. Kendrick here to do an ultrasound and see where we go
from there.  She looks awful, I only hope there is something we can do to
help her.  Her appointment is tomorrow, Tuesday, at 9:30am.  I only hope
there won't be any bad news, that is, something that the vets cannot "fix",
she has gone a long time without medical care she obviously needs, that
scares me.
 
Sunday, I drove another two hours to pick up a little sable boy, that
obviously has been abused.  He is afraid to even come out of his cage.  I
open the door and he peeks out, like he is waiting for the person who will
smack him if he comes out.  I have only been gentle and kind to him and
already he is changing.  He was passed around to 6 different homes, some
with children, he became known as a terrible biter, and eventually returned
to the pet store where he originally came from, where the manager said "get
rid of him, we don't need a lawsuit over a ferret".  Someone intervened and
found my number and was willing to meet me halfway to get him to me.  He has
an old spinal injury but he can walk okay, though he lays with his back legs
over to one side while he eats or lays down, and sometimes he drags his back
end for short distances rather than try to walk.  He has some vertebra that
feel like they are sticking up, out of line with the rest of his spine.  He
is afraid for you to touch his face, and afraid of hands, so what does that
tell you?
 
Sunday, because he had been on cedar bedding and his skin was obviously
irritated and his belly was red, I bathed him, something I don't usually do
for new arrivals because the first few days here are stressful enough for
them just due to being in a new and strange place.  He seemed to feel much
better after his bath.  I sat on the floor with him for a while.  Off and on
I worked with him for very short intervals the rest of the day.  He bit me,
HARD, six times, I only said no loudly and touched him on the nose, then
pried his teeth off me, then I loved on him and told him everything would be
okay from now on, no one would ever hit him again.  I had to be very
cautious of letting him near my face, he got me on the chin pretty good
once.  Today, Monday, he has only bit me once, on the lip (I got brave, and
wanted to show him I had faith in him) but he didn't bite hard and let go
pretty quickly of his own accord, I praised him (for not biting hard, and
for letting go) as I believe praise goes miles farther with these kids than
any form of punishment ever could.
 
He is learning today that humans are not all bad, and that *I* can be
trusted.  I believe, from the changes I have seen in him in only one day,
that soon he will be a very sweet and loving little boy.
 
I will have his injury x-rayed to see if there is anything we can do for
him, and to try to determine if he is in pain at all.  This may be the
reason he started biting in the first place.  I think his biting is only in
way of defense, he feels threatened by all humans.  It is so sad.
 
I will update you all as I learn more about these kids' medical concerns.
 
Give your fuzzies an extra hug from me today, love them, and never, ever hit
them!
 
Trish
Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 1646]