Hi everyone,
 
OK.  My partner Heather and I have been kicking around the idea of getting
another ferret, but not real seriously.  Some of you may remember that
Ally was electrocuted about 2 weeks ago.  Unfortunately, Heather insisted
that we go to the pet store today to visit with the ferrets.  I hate going
b/c I really dont like the conditions they have these little guys in a
lot of the time.  But we went.  This petstore is called Animal House;
there are at least 2 locations here in St Petersburg.We spotted a silver
mitt-type sleeping in one corner.  This pet store is always LOADED with
kits who look like they were shipped way too early.  Anyway, we managed
to pick the silver mitt up and were astonished at the condition he was
in.  I am not joking when I say that I can see every single bone in his
body.  His ribs can be easily counted.  He was slow to wake up and very
lethargic (we're pretty sure he is deaf).  but he is EMACIATED.  His
little legs feel like a chicken wing with no meat on it; that's all I can
compare it to.
 
His shoulder blades jut out, as do his hips and his breastbone.  He had
shavings and half digested food lodged under his top lip to the point
that his lip was just stuck that way!  His ears are full of black and they
itch.  He stinks to high heaven.  I believe the food under his lip was
starting to rot b/c his breath smells horrible.  His belly is distended
and he has either food or poop dried and stuck on to his nose.  The
bottoms of his feet also have black stuff stuck on them.
 
He is so tiny that I find it hard to believe that he is 8 weeks old.
 
Needless to say, we bought him, even though we totally dont have the $$
and we're not sure how we'll make it to payday now.  The papers they got
for him said he was born in October, which is such BS (Excuse my French,
but I am burning up mad about this!)
 
We got him home, and immediately went to work on his lip.  We pulled out
lump after lump of food and the bedding shaving.  His lip was bleeding a
little bit after that.  We're allowing that trauma to wear off before we
take care of his ears and give him a bath.  Right now he's in the cage and
he's eating--hooray!  He is actually quite spirited for the ordeal he's
been through and I nearly cried when he did his first weasel war dance!
 
Is there a way to report Animal House for taking such awful care of these
guys?  I want so badly to contact someone and be able to show them this
ferret--I still cant get over how small and bony he is!  I am so disgusted
at Animal House; I will never shop there again.  I was going to try to
negotiate down the price with them by telling them that there is clearly
something wrong with him, but I was afraid that they wouldnt let me have
him at all.  I am a vet tech student and am interning at a really
wonderful clinic this semester, so when I am there next, I'm planning on
taking him with me if he is getting sick.  So far he is getting okay, but
I really want to get some weight on him.  Should I try to put weight on
him just by making sure he eats regular dry food, or do you all think I
should try feeding him some A/D or baby food?  He seems active enough
that I tend to think he'll be okay on the dry food.  My other reason for
wanting to fatten him up is that one of our ferrets is 3 years old and
everytime we'v e brought in a new fuzzy, she bites (not enough to draw
blood but definitely enough to make them squeal) and shakes the new ones
and I'm afraid that with the condition he's in, she may actually hurt
him.  What do you all think about that?  Should we keep them separated
for awhile or should we just introduce them now?
 
I apologize for the length of this.  I would appreciate any ideas anyone
has.
 
Thanks.
Becky and Heather
[Posted in FML issue 3668]