hello fellow ferret owners,
this is the first time i am writing to the FML.  Everyday I print out the
day's FML, take it home and my mother and I read each issue.  Together we
laugh, cry, and nod in agreement to the ferret behaviors.
 
I would just like to write that if your ferrets are sick or seem unusual in
behavior..have it checked out after a few days or as soon as possible...we
lost our first ferret, Sly-bear, to pneumonia about three months ago.  It is
still hard to talk about him...he was so dear to everyone in the family...he
was such a stress reliever..he loved licorice, mints, and bananas..as well
as an assortment of my mothers Italian leather shoes...
 
don't ever forget to take pictures of these little animals..we are glad that
we have photos of him playing in the X-mas wrapping paper or being held by
one of us...we all couldn't believe how we lived before we had him..our
lives must have been so dull...he had all the medical checkups, loving care,
and a clean household as his domain.  He ran around doing anything he
wanted..he was soooo spoiled...
 
well about a two weeks before he left us..we noticed him laying around the
house..we just assumed the new weather was getting to him...then a few days
afterwards he started to develop a rasping breath..and he sounded bad...we
took him to the vet and a third of his lung was bad from the pneumonia...and
it was getting worse...if only he had told us...made sounds of considerable
pain...we all felt so guilty..how could this happen to us when we loved him
so much??...
 
he died April 23, 1997 at 2:30pm..my sister and I didn't go to school or
work..and sat by him all day..then he just stopped breathing....a week
later...outside my father found a big ferret wondering aimlessly around the
apartment complex...we took the ferret in and we put up a sign and later
that day the owner came...i was dreading this..i really wanted to keep this
cute furry animal..
 
and we got it...the owner was looking for a new home..she herself did not
have time for her....she is my little ferret now..her name is Molly Brown
and she is much heavier then Sly-bear...she is spoiled and fussy...my family
says she is just like me..my little sister is still a little offhandish with
our new addition..Sly was hers..but Molly has a personality all her
own...she doesn't chew on shoes and she loves to waddle around..with Sly we
had to watch him constantly..but molly just parades around and doesn't like
to climb things..a relief...she is healthy...well i know this was long..but
i thought i would write on how all ferret owners should carefully watch out
for the ferrets they love...
 
Erika :)
w/the Funston's...and Molly Brown ("the unsinkable")
[Posted in FML issue 1986]