I've been holding out sending this, because it really is not a very nice
story, but here it goes anyway.
 
I believe animals have the same range of emotions as humans, any living,
breathing, feeling animal would.  My first fuzz love, Peanut, displayed
quite clearly that he can feel remorse and unhappiness.  Not all that long
ago, in the simpler days of my ferret madness, we had only Peanut and my
daughter's guinea pig.
 
Peanut was less than one year old.  One day he was large or strong enough
to figure out how to escape his cage.  On this day, he got out and went
exploring while we were not home.  My daughter's piggie was in a standard
metal top, plastic bottom small animal cage.  Peanut was used to roughing
with our kitten (his playmate), so he thought it was perfectly okay to
rough with this new furry critter in the cage.  We arrived home to find the
ferret cage empty and in a panic searched for Peanut.  We found him lying
next to the guinea pig cage flat on his belly with his chin on the floor
looking at the cage.  Inside the cage was a beautiful long haired calico
guinea pig, dead.  There were no bite wounds, but we surmised that in his
usual act of play, he jumped on the piggie and missed the neck and the
teeth connected with the right eye.  There was damaged (I won't go into
detail) to the eye and it seems the piggie either bled internally or
suffered a heart attack.  Being extremely upset and not knowing what this
would 'turn' him into, I examined the body several times and found not a
single bite mark.  This entire time, through everything, Peanut remained
lying on the floor next to the cage with the most imploring look on his
face.  I could almost hear him say, I only wanted to play, I did not mean
to hurt him.  I put Peanut back in his cage and he just remained in his
hammock with his head hanging over the side as if ashamed or sad of what
he did.
 
Can ferrets feel, beyond a doubt.  I have one little girl we almost lost to
a virus.  If not for being hand fed and nursed back to health, she would
never have made it.  Immediately after regaining health, she was extremely
affectionate, giving lots of kisses and such.  This was not her normal
behavior and lasted only a short brief moment.  I believe it was her way of
thanking me for helping her through.  Yes, I believe they feel thankfulness
and appreciation, too.
 
Anyone who has ever rescued a skinny frightened, mistreated ferret (or any
animal) will confirm the changes in behavior once that animal understands
they are now in the presence of love and acceptance.
 
Just my two cents!
 
Jen and Gang
[Posted in FML issue 2581]