I'm so mad at my ferret right now I could.... UGGGG!
If this wasn't so serious it might even be kind of funny, but it's not.
Perhaps some of you remember my posting about Ricky, my 6.5 year old that
has been quite ill for a while, intermittent weakness in the back legs,
nausea, dizziness, walking like he's drunk... well we went through over
$1000 in vet bills to find nothing wrong with him other than the fact he's
anemic. Well, back when this all started, I told my vet that I thought what
had happened was that his sister, Sassy, was sleeping on him and suffocating
him, causing something like mild brain damage. My vet said No, that isn't
really possible. Yeah right.
I just went up into the ferret room with one of those "hunches" that
something was wrong. Good thing I did...I looked in Rick and Sass' cage,
and I laughed...They were in the hammock, and Sassy was pretzled around and
on top of Ricky, but Ricky was only half in the hammock...his back legs were
just dangling down from the edge of the hammock. I grew concerned, though,
as it looked like maybe he couldn't move. I reached in to untangle the
ferts, and noticed that Sassy's back was soaking wet. Once she crawled out
from the hammock, I realized something was VERY wrong. Ricky looked just
like he had gone into a seizure, his head was cocked, his eyes wide, and the
wetness on Sassy's back was from all of the drool coming from Ricky! I
freaked and went in search of sugar to put sugar water on his gums. It
seems that Sassy had twisted herself around Ricky's neck and was sleeping on
top of him, suffocating him! He's only 1.5 pounds, and that's heavy for him
since he's been sick. Only a few days ago he was getting back to normal,
walking okay and eating well. I think had this happened a week ago he'd
have been dead, since he was much weaker then!
Now I'm thinking maybe I wasn't so wrong, that Ricky's problems very well
might be caused by a consistent lack of air going to his brain. I see this
a lot, Sassy sleeping on his head, and when I untangle them Ricky is
disoriented. My vet, though, tried to tell me that the simple act of
sleeping on Ricky wouldn't do any damage. Bull! If I hadn't gotten to
Ricky when I did tonight, he WOULD have died, there is no question in my
mind. When I pulled him out he already looked half dead, and continued to
drool for several minutes. He did pop out of it, without the aid of sugar
water (I just moved here and believe it or not I have NO sugar, no honey,
NOTHING. Big mistake!!)
I was sooooo mad at Sassy. I know I shouldn't be, I highly doubt that she
was trying to commit ferret homicide, but that's exactly what her actions
were anyway. She does this ALL THE TIME. I think I'll have to take the
hammocks out of their cage, I hate to do that cuz they really love them, but
I care more about Ricky's life. UGGGH! Like I don't have enough problems
without my ferrets trying to murder each other.
Any thoughts or comments always welcome
Signed,
A frazzled ferret owner,
Kymberlie
Ricky: Mommy, how come my sister is tryin' ta kill me? I love her so much!
Sassy: Heh, I am so sick of Ricky gettin' all of the attention with his
"illnesses" that I'm just gonna silence him myself... anyone got a gun?
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 1988]
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