Alicia-
 
Here's a happy story.
 
Just before Thanksgiving, my husband (affectionaly known as the ferret
slut) called me from work.  His secretary's son had owned four ferrets,
three of them died from natural causes, and the fourth was living in a cage
on top of his refridgerator.  She had been put up there to protect her,
because his toddler kept poking at her, and she had "become a biter".
Could we take her in?
 
Sigh.  We already had 10, two of which we had gotten as kits from a breeder
friend in the last 4 months who was overflowing with ferrets that were too
numerous to keep.  "Of course, we can take her in."
 
She was dropped off in her cage (somewhat small, but adequate for one
ferret--provided she got "out-time"), and her food.  My husband was home
when she arrived, and took delivery of her.  She was thin, except for a big
belly, had no hair on her tail, except for a tuft at the end, and the back
hindquarters hair was practically nonexistent.  She was very quiet, and
happy to be cuddled by my husband.  She had been fed Frisky's cat food for
I don't know how long.  I've never looked up the protein and fat content--
I don't want to get that mad.  My guesstimate is that she is about 5 years
old.
 
We mixed some of the "good stuff" ferret food in with what was in her bowl,
and she ate some of her old food around it.  Okay, time to convince her
that our stuff is better, and get some good food into her.  For the next
week, I sringe fed her duck soup every few hours, and after that started
feeding her what I call poop soup (soup for the poops).  That consisted of
crushed kibble, heavy cream, a few drops of Ferretone, and some Ferretvite.
After a few weeks, she was eating it from a plastic spoon, and then she was
licking it from the bowl as I held her.  At her second vet appointment (for
her rabies shot) she had lost some weight, but the weight she had lost was
that bloated belly.  Just last month, she finally decided to eat the dry
kibble on her own, and really went to town.  She is now packing on the
weight--good solid muscle.
 
We let her out to explore our house.  She at first just looked around, and
then curled up and went to sleep, but she has now started to actively play.
We gave her two ferrets who are gentle and friendly as cagemates, and she
is not lonely anymore.  She just played the other night for the full two
hours playtime, and was still up and running around when I went to gather
them up for bed.  She now has muscles you can feel, and she is starting to
grow back her hair.  When we first saw her, I thought she was adrenal, but
we think now that it was just poor nutrition.  She still has that "lion's
tail", but spring hair growth is starting, and she may even get that back.
 
Just the other day, she did her first wardance!  She is becoming a ferret
again.  We're still waiting for her first dook.  Pretty good for a little
girl that I thought had only a few weeks to live because of "shelter shock"
or adrenal disease.
 
A biter?  I think not.  The only time that she bit anyone was when she was
getting her distemper shot, and I was holding her incorrectly.  As soon as
she bit she instantly let go and looked embarrassed.
 
Ginger is a ferret again.
 
Melodyt and the elven eleven
Ferret math, the only place in the universe where 7-1=11!
[Posted in FML issue 2968]