I have to tell the story of J'Tiem (aka Tam).  I think her story will
bring a smile to your face with this happy ending.
 
I had a little girl born August 7, 2005.  Tam was extremely small,
especially after seeing the size of her brother born 5 days too soon,
mostly likely because of his extraordinary size and his lower
positioning, mommy must have pushed too hard and birthed him too soon.
Well anyhow, I thought that the jill was done because I didn't feel
anything but knowing how they just love to hide babies at times, I left
her in the mommy cage.  Low and behold on August 7th at her due date at
1203am, she gave birth to a very active newborn baby girl.  She was half
the normal size but boy was she active.  Tam's mommy curled around her
and did all normal mommy stuff.
 
On the third day, I noticed that Tam wasn't as active as she had been a
couple days earlier, now with mommy being overprotective to a single
child, I was trying not to disturb her too much.  Well I coaxed mommy out
and I gave her nutrical while i checked on the baby.  She seemed somewhat
puggie for her size and so I immediately checked mommy and noticed her
milk was there but not all much as I would have liked.  Well being that
baby was small, it was a great possibility that she was not stimulating
the teets.  So I massaged mommy and gave her warm compresses to encourage
her milk to return.  Well by the next day, her milk was completely gone,
so I started handfeeding Tam.  She was feed every 1-2 hours of goats
milk.  My boss being as understanding as he was allowed me to bring her
with to work so I can feed her.  As she aged, we increased her
supplementation and the consistency.
 
As she aged, I told Tam's story up to that point.  Well I was appalled
and set aback but some comments I received.  I will not name names and
nor will I disclose them.  But i talked with two breeders in particular
(don't know if they are friends to each other) but they both believed in
letting nature take it's course and that only the strong will survive.
Well, Tam might be small but she is a definitely strong willed ferret and
her size doesn't bother at all.  She's like the mini dogs thinking they
are the size of a great dane.  Anyhow, I was told by these breeders to
let her die or flush her because since she was not small or of breeding
value to discard her.  I don't care if she is a breeder or not, the point
is that as a breeder, I cannot justify letting a baby die when I cold
have done something about it.  I would fight with my last dying breathe
to save a life.
 
Tam is now over 9 weeks of age and to my vet's delight a very happy
healthy bouncing snot (she's teething).  To that point, my friends,
fellow breeders and family had been quite as to not discourage me becuase
they thought she would not make it.  I hand raised several babies over
the years, some easy and some difficult but Tam was by far the most
trying.  I didn't want to give up on her and it saddens me that some
would have given up as to not waste their time because she wasn't of
what they considered quality.  Well I am here to tell you that Tam is a
very adorable stocky little girl.  She doesn't take any crap from the
other kits who thought was small enough to bully.  She is a fighter in
every way and she is a miracle.  She was meant to be and meant to survive
for her story to be told.  Please folks don't give up.  Fight for life.
Even when you think it's at it's darkest, there is always light.
 
This is my story of Tam.
[Posted in FML issue 5029]