Hello Everyone,
 
I am writing because I a desperate for help.  I'm not sure if many of you
will remember a couple months back I posted that the pet store where I work
received a shipment of livestock in which arrived 2 dead kits and 2 very
young, starved, scared little babies.  I tried to save the female and 2 days
later she died.  I've had the male in my house since that time and he has
struggled with a cold and then pnuemonia, which he still has a bit of a
cough from.  He has pulled though all of this AND he's now dealing with
Echo's passing away (the baby girl I stepped on).  Here;s the problem.
Since the first day I brought him home he is VERY viscious.  He is
apparantly a fear biter and me and my boyfreind have spent countless hours
talking to him and being VERY gentle and giving him love and treats.  He
wasn't too bad when Echo was around becuase he would look forward to be let
out to play with her so he would let me pick him up so he could play.  But
when it came time to put them in their cages, it was VERY difficult to catch
him.  First of all, if you walk past him or walk near him he screams!!  You
have to literally crawl on your hands and knees and go slowly, but when you
get near him he will bite you savagely and scream even louder if you touch
him.  He always acts like hes in pain.  We had to wear a glove to pick him
up but that made things worse.  He would bite and scream at the top of his
lungs.  Now that Echo is gone all he does is sit in his cage and shake 24
hours a day!!  I feel so bad for him.  I have done everything possible and
have been bitten so many times I have scars on my hands and arms.  Each time
he bit it was hard not to pull away or get mad, but through tears and
frustration I NEVER once got angry with him.  Today was the worst i have
seen.  I was pulling in the driveway, coming home from work and all I could
hear was screaming!! and i was still outside!!  I RAN so fast into my house
and this little guy was sitting in his cage with a wooden platform sitting
beside him.  Apparntly he knocked it off and it scared him so bad that he
was hysterical.  I've heard every noise a ferret makes, or so I thought, and
I've dealt with REALLY mean ferrets before but I have NEVER seen or heard of
anything like this.  He was screaming and hissing but it didnt sound like a
ferret.  It sounded like a scared badger or a skunk..some wild animal...and
then he was chattering his teeth and I swear he was actually crying..He was
sort of wimpering because he was so scared.  I am the only person in the
world he trusts and he will still attack me, but my voice usually calms him
down a bit.  Not today.  Any sound we made just made him scream louder.  If
you touch him he pees and poops all over himself out of fear!  When you look
at him , its like hes not even there...his eyes are blank..hes like a
souless ferret!!  God only knows what the bastard who shipped him here did
to him before hand , but this little baby is messed up mentally.  I've been
trying EVERYTHING for the past 2 months and hes' only gotten worse.  I'm
really stuck.  My mom (who LOVES ferrets and has 2 of her own and saves any
animals she can just as I do) and my boyfreind both think that I should put
him to sleep becuase they feel that he has no quality to his life.  I agree
that he doesn' have the most wonderful life, despite the fact that I try to
do everything I can for him.  He hasn't come out in 5 days!!  He wont...he
refuses!!  He jsut screams and shakes!!  He's not physically hurt or in
pain, hes jsut scared to death of people!  I dont want to make the decision
to end his life, but I dont know if there is anything left that I can do for
him.  I've saved his life twice already and I love him to death.  I am very
attached to him although he hates ALL people.  He LOVES other ferrets, but
since Echo has passed the only ones i have left are at my moms' and they
have a bad virus right now taht I can't risk him catching, so he is alone.
I feel like a failure, but I keep thinking that I've done everything I can
possibly think of.  If any of you have ANY suggestions I would really
appreciate it.  I've had a wonderful lady from the FML, Meg, who has helped
me GREATLY with this little guy, but I've lost contact with her the past few
days.  So I am turning to all of you to give me your opinion.  Are there any
other options available to me?  I'd hate to put the burden on any of you,
but is there anyone in Canada who might be able to help me?  I would hate to
send him anywhere thoug becuase I think the stress would be too much.  I'm
the only one he'll calm down for, but I can't even pick the little guy up.
I can't stress enough how psychotic he is..I mean I have another little boy
FUji that took me one whole year to become somewhat freindly ,but he doens'
t even come clsoe to this guy.  Help, I am desperate!!
 
LiZ
Tyler, Kendall, Fuji, Baby
 
P.S. Meg, if you are out there, please e-mail me!!
--
LiZ + D.J.
http://www.norlink.net/~state
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[Posted in FML issue 1816]