First off, I'd like to just thank all the generous folks on this list
who've been offering to help us out a little--the plastic bags and coupons
have been really helpful.  Everything is, at this point. :-)  You know who
you are.  And we're starting to become better known in the community, too,
which is excellent--vets are giving out our number, and we had two
appointments last night with folks who wanted to meet our fuzzies.  Yay!
In fact, all five adoptable babies are spoken for now, and one has gone to
her new home, where she seems to be settling in and hasn't beat up her new
cage-mate more than once so far.
 
Now, the bad part: we had a pair of rescues dropped off Sunday, lovely
little girls, not from a horrible situation or anything--or at least I
didn't think so.  Now I don't know what to think.  After their previous
owner had left, Dennis noticed that the fat, healthy, friendly sable
actually has a hugely swollen vulva.
 
Cringe.
 
Her silver sister seems fine, although her poop's quite runny--but so far
we've never seen a new ferret not get diarrhea for a day or two.  But Lucy,
although she seems healthy otherwise, quite obviously isn't.  The vet
appointment--next time we could get in with her--is Wednesday morning.  I
know the two most common reasons for this symptom: a partial spay (or
unaltered jill), or an adrenal problem.  Are there any other possibilities
I should know about?  She's a Marshall ferret, so she's been altered, at
least supposedely.  I haven't heard a lot about partial spays with
reference to their ferrets, but I understand it's not common in general.
Then again, she has absolutely NO other signs of an adrenal problem--one of
the most gorgeous coats I've ever seen, active, a bit on the heavy side.
We're preparing for major surgery, but not looking forward to living on
bread and water. :-)  Seriously, we knew this would happen, but hoped it
wouldn't be so soon.  A lovely young couple has already fallen in love with
the two of them, and wants to be involved with the surgery and recovery,
which is wonderful--and, providing it's all cut-and-dried and she makes a
full recovery from whatever it is, they'll be adopting her pretty soon.
Good folks, and this is the sweetest little girl... she and her sister are
both so happy to get attention that they cover us with kisses.
 
Anyway, any information or similar stories would be great.  Wish us luck!
 
Jen and the Crazy Business plus lots and lots
[Posted in FML issue 2741]