Well, we ran our first ad in the local paper for the Richmond Ferret Rescue
League last week- The good news is that we had 22 calls from people wanting
to adopt ferrets.  The sad news was that over half of these calls were from
people wanting a ferret at a "cheaper" price than they'd pay at the pet
store- or that they wanted a specific color and/or age- We received several
calls for Siamese ferrets.
 
Or "baby" ferrets.  Sigh.  We took in three ferrets- two of them were
adopted immediately by a really nice couple who had contacted me over a
month ago- (Thank you, Pam Troutman, for the referral;-)  The other ferret
was the most pitiful litlle boy you've ever seen-
 
"Odie" is approximately 3-4 years old- his teeth are stained and chipped-
And he has NO muscle tone in his tiny, emaciated rear-end.
 
My husband called me at work to tell me that the people who were to bring
Odie at 6pm had dumped him out at 2pm- No cage- He was just lying in the
back seat of their car on a towel.  They asked my husband if "it" was a boy
or a girl- when he told them it was a boy, they said 'Oh, good, we were
right."  They had owned Odie for 2 years.  He has a mostly bald tail, but
the hair is missing from the very tip end (about the last 1 1/2")- he has
hair on the base of the tail, and hair everywhere else, just not on the
end.  And he is absolutely the most grateful, sweet ferret I've met.  He
arrived last Thursday, and he's getting several small meals of Marshall's
mixed with warm water, and a dab of ferretvite, plus Iams Kitten- we're
going to start mixing Iams with Totally Ferret.  Odie could barely move
himself on Thursday, but I'm happy to say he can now manage a tippy-toe
run, and he climbed up on the couch last night!  He crawled up on the couch
twice yesterday, curled up under my fleece blanket with me and fell asleep
while I read.  What a doll!  He seems to be okay, otherwise-no lumps or
bumps, or knots under his little arms.  His eyes are bright and clear.  He
has a young ferret's face on an old ferret's body.  Hopefully he'll keep
improving.  I did want to ask, I sent the nice couple home with a pair of
young males, one 5 month old and one 8 months old.  Both had normal
poopies, were eating well, nice mannered- current on their shots- This
couple already have 2 ferrets (both about 1 1/2 years old)- They picked up
the "new guys" late Thursday night- On Friday one of their "original"
ferrets had a greenish stool- they took him to the vet who diagnosed it as
a mild bacterial infection- he prescribed Flagyl.  On Sunday their other
"original" ferret had green stool, also.
 
The "new" adoptees still have normal, good, solid poopies- Not the greenish
ones.  I called them Sunday to check on the new guys- They are concerned
that the 2 new adoptees "gave" their ferrets this bowel problem.  The new
guys were never in contact with my other residents.  But has anyone ever
heard of a 12-hour incubation period?  I can't imagine something bacterial
showing up in their ferrets after less than 12 hours.  Could it be stress
that is causing their problems?  Could their "original" ferrets be
"stressed" about the new boys?  Unfortunately, they introduced the new
ferrets to their guys, even after I did a lecture on "quarrantine!!!"
 
BTW, none of my residents has green poopie. They're just boring, old, plain
brown. Well, some of them did try some artwork.
 
And Bear definitly is working on pooping the entire alphabet.  He's got the
S's and the T's down pat.  Q's, too.  I personally like the giant S's that
he leaves up on the heat vents;-0  You know you're owned by ferrets when
your teenage son comes to you with his leg in a cast and he sticks his
casted foot in your face and says "Mom, do I have any ferret shit on the
bottom of my cast?" Nope, just the letter "P".  For Poopie!
 
Marlene B.(who smells like a ferret!)
[Posted in FML issue 2588]