Hello Fellow Ferret Slaves,
It's been a LONG time since I have posted.  My plate has remained so full
that it's all I can do to download each issue to my hard drive for "later
review".  I am writing now because I am in desperate need of help.  Some of
you will recall that I have asked for help with one of my girls, Chelsea,
before.  She is a chronic biter in the worst sense of the word!
 
We have tried everything we could think ofincluding a number of drastic
recommendations.  The most desperate of which being the Bitter Apple in the
mouth punishment which worked for a while but now only seems to make her
more hell bent on revenge!  Unfortunately, her attacks have become totally
unpredictable, unprovoked and much more severe.
 
Last week my daughter Jessica was playing Nintendo in her room while I was
doing laundry in the basement.  The girls had the run of the house as they
usually do when we are home.  Jessica said that she saw the ferret getting
up on the bed but thought it was Lucy (both girls masks change quite often
and Jessica has trouble telling them apart).  Lucy is extremely loving so
Jessica did not react.  I heard a blood curdling scream and flew up the
stairs to find my daughter covering her ear and crying.  When I moved her
hand there was so much blood I couldn't tell how bad the injury was (but I
didn't have to ask what happened-attacks like this on the other animals are
becoming quite common).  It took me a while to get the bleeding to slow down
but when I did she had a number of pretty bad puncture wounds (two that were
relatively small but had completely pierced the cartilage in her ear and I
could see pin holes of light through them)!
 
At this point I have come to a brick wall.  I felt so bad at the time that I
promised my daughter that I would return Chelsea to the shelter that we got
her from but have not been able to bring myself to do it!  Please don't
think I'm a lousy mom who loves her animals more than her kids!  I just keep
hoping/thinking that there has to be a way to protect my kids and still give
Chelsea a home.  You see I don't believe that she has any REAL hope for
adoption with another family.  Her previous owners gave her up after two
weeks and I have my suspicions why!  They said that it was due to allergies
but Chelsea has been a biter since day one.
 
I know that I cannot let her roam in the same area as the kids do anymore
but I don't want to keep her locked up all the time.  On the other hand the
others (Lucy, Tabitha, and our yet unnamed 5 month old fur-son that we
adopted yesterday) hate being confined to one room and since they are all
very well behaved and get along with everyone else I wouldn't feel right
locking them up just so that Chelsea won't be alone.  Not to mention that
the others are the only family she knows, they don't always get along but I
believe they love each other (which translates to-they have learned how to
hold their own when she gets crazy).
 
I don't believe in declawing/defanging but at this point the thought has
crossed my mind.  Other animals in the house have been attacked while
eating, sleeping, and etc..  and suffered injuries such as abcessed puncture
wounds.  PLEASE HELP!  I would greatly appreciate any advice I could get
from shelter parents, vets, and etc..
 
Thank you,
 
Irena and the gang
[Posted in FML issue 1862]