Hi there. I'm Agnesa and I'm 15 too. I had a ferret back in 1999 until
2002. He died because of a bladder stone blockage.

I read your article thing... I'm not sure how to call it and wanted
to give you a suggestion. Help ferrets by NOT getting one. See, I'm
a sophmore in high school - meaning in two years I'll be graduating
and going to college. I'm interested in being an exotics and bird
specialist veterinarian. There are no colleges that offer veterinary
training in my area. I'm guessing that I'll have to live in a college
dorm far from home. As far as I know, most college dorms don't allow
any pets. Ok, not hard to deal with. Get an apartment that allows pets.
Again, nope. With the economy going the way it is, you'll probably
barely afford college(I mean, people could barely afford it five years
ago!). If you do get one, who's gonna take care of it when you leave
for college? Now, if your parents said yes, would you be prepared for
ferret ownership? Ferrets need a lot of stimulus, enrichment, whatever
you may call it. Could you handle doing school work and taking care of
a ferret? Would the ferret get neglected when you feel like going out
with friends?

I know you want to say, "NO! I would NEVER do that!" but the truth
is there is a high chance of that happening. I live with three large
purebred dogs at home. Winter is an easy season because I don't have to
be taking care of my pond. But still, I can barely get the two youngest
to get a day's worth of exercise(meaning going on 1/2 hour, at the
minimum, runs). They sit home most of the day while I'm at school and
my Mom can't take care of them because she's got my baby brother to
deal with. I am in all honors (advanced classes) and am doing track as
my spring sport - I couldn't take a ferret right now. The dogs are my
responsiblity and there are definately times when I just wish I didn't
have to take care of them. They say that you should be prepared to
pay for at least one ferret medical emergency during the course of a
ferret's lifetime. Those don't come cheap. When my ferret got bladder
stones, we rushed him to a vet and the bill ended up being over 3k
(3,000) USD! The vet wasn't a ferret specialist and my ferret ended
up dieing at the vet's office. You said you don't have a ferret-savvy
vet in your area. Why torture a ferret by brining him/her to a vet who
diagnoses the wrong illness? What if there weren't stones in my beloved
baby's bladder? Why'd he really die?

See, ever since my ferret died, I've been doing a LOT of research on
the cuties. I found FERRETS magazine in late 2002/early 2003 and have
been continuing research on ferrets for 5 years now. I definately
wasn't prepared when I got my first one, but I only got him because a
friend couldn't keep him anymore.

You have no idea how much I want a ferret every day and how I miss my
old boy. My only advice right now is wait it out, when you can afford
to and have the time to, you'll not only be able to help out at
shelters/vet clinics, you'll be able to share your life with a fuzzy.
That's what I'm doing. As soon as I graduate high school, my parents
and I are leaving the USA, we'll have to get established in another
country, and once I have a home of my own, I'll be able to say that it
was worth the wait.

Oh, I suggest you visit smallcritters.com It's a nice, simple game
where you can own various pets including ferrets. The point of the game
is to show them to gain show points which help raise the offsprings'
birth points. It's not really that complicated and only takes like
10 minutes out of your computer time each day. I'm #15643, or "Sunset
Wish" on there. Feel free to message me. It's not a very advanced
game, but I really enjoy it. Plus the community is really nice.

Cheers,
Agnesa

[Posted in FML 5906]