I am a member of Central Florida Ferret Friends in Orlando.  We rescue
ferrets from the Central Florida area.  One day I rescued a cinnamon boy
from a family that was moving.  The cage was rotting on the bottom where
all the poop fell through.  His only food was bananas.
 
I was able to get him to eat real food after a while and his vet check
showed nothing obviously wrong.  When I gave him a bath that is when I say
the horror he must have gone through.  After the bath, I then noticed he
was a black eyed white.  The cinnamon color was tar and nicotine.  This
little boy had lived his whole life (about 5 years) in a house of smokers
that did not care a bit about this him.  The kids did not play with him
and he just stayed in the cage.
 
He was with me for a few months until he died.  His last days were some of
the best a little boy could have and all my other kids loved him very much.
As near as I could tell, he died of lung cancer.
 
Please DO NOT smoke around your kids.  If you must smoke, go outside.
 
Sincerely,
David B. Brokaw
[Posted in FML issue 3124]