Hi Everybody....
 
I have been matching ferrets and handicapped ferret parents for almost 20
years... Please tell your husband for me that fuzzys are the most intuitive
little critters there are..  I have seen rowdy goofy fuzzys go flat on their
tummies and creep slowly up to a handicapped person and veeeeery slowly hold
out a paw or nose to offer a hello..  then veeeeery gently hold very still
on the lap of the person and accept whatever love that person is able to
give in the form of petting and hugging..  then veeeery slowly ooooze down
onto the floor and when a few feet away go into the crazy goofy stuff
ferrets do..  I have NEVER seen any ferret offer a nip or even a scratch to
someone who is in any way handicapped even the invisible handicaps..
 
These critters [animals] are smart and very very clever..  I had one girl
who fell in a hall and simply couldn't get hold of anything she could use
for leverage to regain her chair that had scooted down the hall when she
fell trying to pick up a book she had dropped on the floor..  the hall was
slick hardwood [that got fixed fast you can bet] and she was finally in
tears from the chill and from frustration..  her ferret came over to her and
watched and watched..  but when she started to cry he disappeared like a
rocket down the stairs and around to the door of her parents area..she had
an apartment of her own with a stair elevator and so on all fixed up for her
so she could be at home but have her own private space as well... Beau, the
ferret, hit that separator door like a grenade going off..  and kept jumping
at it and thumping it and attacking it until her parents came to
investigate..  then he ran up and down the stairs like a maniac until they
followed him and got to the top where they saw their sobbing daughter laying
on the cold floor.  They immediately got her up and back into her chair..
the chair now has a LEASH and Beau has two new ferret friends..  They all
swear he single handedly saved her from what was potentially a very serious
situation since they were just leaving for a full day of shopping and
friends.
 
So for what it's worth..  I think a ferret would be an excellent critter
companion.
 
dayna and the woozles from the MMOMM rescue/shelter
[Posted in FML issue 2151]