I have not posted for a long, long time, many of you probably don't know
me.  I have three ferrets right now, Brenna, Spring, and The Baby.  In
2003, I lost two dearly loved ferrets - Buttons and Mishka, and The Baby
didn't arrive here until July of this year.
 
Brenna is a rescue from FURRY in St. Louis; she was seized as part of a
big operation by the Humane Society and FURRY in 2000.  The guy kept
the ferrets in cages hanging in a shed outside.  Brenna is a gorgeous,
adorable ferret - but she only ever liked one other ferret - Buttons, and
when Buttons died last year, she was really withdrawn for a long time.
If she saw a ferret at the vet's office, she'd try to attack it.  She
can't be boarded because she literally makes herself sick from stress.
And she has never liked Spring all that well, even though they're the
same age and Spring is a very nice, accepting, friendly ferret.  Although
I knew Brenna didn't want another ferret in the house, I also knew Spring
did, very much, and so three months ago, I broke down and got a little
boy ferret from FOTH Ferrets.
 
Well, when he got here, Brenna was heartbroken.  She laid on the floor
and wouldn't move for long periods of time.  She even quit eating for
a couple days.  I throught I'd have to take him back, because she was
literally making herself sick!  And this was totally without him even
*doing* anything to her.  He didn't jump on her, bite her, or really
even approach her.  He seemed to know that she wasn't interested in him.
 
We decided to use reverse psychology, and kept her pretty much locked in
the bedroom (our apartment only has one way to partition it, and the
br/closet/bathroom is half the apartment) for about a week (and of
course, gave her lots of attention and treats and stuff).  When she
demaned to come out, we'd let her, and for a few days, she shook every
time she smelled his scent on the floor.  But at least she was coming
out!
 
She got kind of curious, though, and if I'd hold The Baby, she'd start
coming up and sniffing his ears and rear, and while she wouldn't approach
him, she'd share the baby food plate with him at treat time and even
eventually (quite reluctantly) a hammock when the cleaning people came
and they had to be put in their cage.  Still, though, she wasn't really
playing like she used to and she still spent almost all her time in the
bedroom, ensconced in her dresser drawer.
 
About a month ago, I thought she might be coming out of her funk -- she
came out of the bedroom a couple of times when The Baby was asleep and
knocked a bunch of stuff over on the coffee table.  And once she actually
started chuckling when she was let out into the hall!
 
Then, about 10 days ago, i saw that she'd joined Spring and The Baby in
the sofa (Long story - I cannot keep them out of the sofa, but have
checked and they cannot get in to where the springs are.  Am working on
getting a new one).  And now, she's actually deciding to sleep at least
in the same room with them (in the kitchen or under the sofa), if not
actually touching them, more often than not.  She is her feisty old self
again, and hasn't been this happy since before Buttons died.
 
I am SO happy.  I feel like Brenna has finally started to be happy again.
And it's due in large part to the FOTH ferret!  I have *never* seen such
a non-aggressive ferret!  No biting, no aggression, nothing!  He just
kind of settled right in.  It may be in part b/c he's a boy, so he smells
at least interesting to her, but I think a lot of it is that he has never
been pushy with her, or pursued/chased her.  He just lets her do her
thing.  I am so grateful to FOTH Ferrets!  And maybe we'll be able to
add a new friend next year - it will definitely be a FOTH ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 4681]