Some boys at the park told me about a gross freak that was supposed to be
a ferret at the pet store near by.  I drove there today to see.  If I did
not have my stomach tightened up by how Little looks with pred belly,
seizures, no fur on belly, and now adrenal baldness: I think I would have
been grossed out.
 
I brought it home, and it is sleeping in a cage.  Another cage is being
sent over in an hour that will fit underneath this one.  I don't know if
it is a boy or girl.  I did not look.  It did not matter.  It was kept in
the sun, and is burnt on top of its bald head.  It is all wrinkled as
though I am looking at its brains!!!!!!!!!!
 
There is no fur on the nose or throat, and its anus scrapes the ground when
it walks on its naked feet.  It is emaciated looking.
 
The owner of the pet store guesses that it is about 5 years old.  Someone
left it on their doorstep.  Four other deserted ferrets were also there.
But this one was something I would have been disgusted looking at a few
years ago.  No one is going to bring home this "freak"  Not in this hotsy
totsy neighborhood.  None of the ferrets are related, the store owner said.
 
I was not going to bring anymore animals home for care.  But the owner
would not even move the cage out of the direct sun, and the ferret was all
red.  It was hot and bright.  Owner said there was no other place to put
the ferret.  It was really jammed with stuff and cages.  And there was the
water bottle hanger broken on one end so the bottle did not reach into the
cage.
 
Huge butt muscle hanging to ground and top of head looking like the shape
of brains and baldness elsewhere and wasting is adrenal-yes?
 
Gotta clean up now.  Litter is everywhere mere hours after i vacuum and
sweep
 
Lisette
 
[A later P.S. follows:]
Correction on "freak" ferret
 
I must make an immediate correction on the ferret I just brought home a
few hours ago.  The rectal muscle is huge.  But it is not dragging on the
ground.  Must have been walking funny in the cage with its very long nails.
They are trimmed now.
 
Little sores on the sunburnt body: little red blood clots.  Scratching with
the long nails on dry burnt naked skin?
 
She is very friendly.  No bites at all.  Lots of licking.  Perky and nosy
and clear eyed.  Maybe surgery is not too late to help her, though it would
be a month or two before I could arrange that.  She needs her distemper
shots first--two weeks apart, I believe.
 
Love the new cage I had to buy if I was going to bring home the "freak".
After a little rearranging, it Fits perfectly.  Have 3 guys in there
checking it out for the night now.
 
My turn .  I am going to check my bed out.The little girl seems happy.
Sometimes animals just pine away and die.  I don't think that she is going
to do that.  Remarkable living being.  I think it weighs less than a pound.
[Posted in FML issue 3459]