I hope this isn't taken as a "flame", but I think it bears repeating.  If
you can't afford to buy a ferret, then don't get a ferret.  Pet stores
usually charge more for ferrets than do ferret shelters, but if you can't
afford either, than you really need not get one.  Ferrets take money to
feed and house, and moreso for medical attention, if and when they need it.
Eventually ferrets will get sick with something that requires IMMEDIATE
medical attention, and that's when they need it.  Ferrets go downhill,
healthwise, quickly at times, and need to be taken care of when that
happens.  They also need vaccinations.  Distemper is nearly 100% fatal,
and the ferrets who DO make it don't come out well.  Food, good food, can
be expensive, as with good dust-free litter.  There are some things you
can be economical on, and some things you can't.  The bottom line is that
to properly keep a ferret, or ferrets, you need to have enough money.
You can't get around this, and trying to might jeopardize your ferret's
well-being.
 
It always alarms me when someone gets a ferret, but has no clue how to take
care of them, and then finds out it's either too hard or too expensive to
keep them.  This is why we have thousands of ferrets in ferret shelters.
People don't understand the nature of the animal, about it's bathroom
habits, about how it plays and "nips", so they dump them on people who
really love ferrets, assuming that just because a shelter exists that the
ferret is going to be taken care of.  Look at this list.... homeless
ferrets abound, along with people looking for a new home for their ferrets
for valid reasons.
 
It makes me sad to see what alot of ferrets go through, so that someone
can have a pet.  My wife and I took in an elderly female, who was emaciated
to the point that she looked like a skeleton, and couldn't even stand up
without falling over.  We brought her back to health, but because of what
she went through, her lifespan was shortened, and she eventually died of
giardia, something that most healthy ferrets can usually pull out of.  My
wife talked the previous owner of the ferret into giving her to us, thank
God.  She had kept her for 2 years in a cat carrier, and fed her cat food,
just so her daughter could have a pet.  She was near death when we got her.
 
My wife and I have 7 ferrets, but aren't increasing that number, as if
we did, we would just turn into collectors.  It takes maturity and
intelligence to know that you can't save every ferret on the planet.  This
is why knowing about them and what they require is the BEST thing you can
do, BEFORE you get one.  I read this list every day, and it breaks my heart
at times.  But this list is necessary, and I wouldn't want anyone to avoid
finding a home for their ferrets if they really needed to.  That's not my
point.  But think, people, think... I sometimes wish the laws WOULD make
ferrets an "exotic" pet, so that people would be forced to know how to take
care of them before they could own one.  And I HATE big goverment, so for
me, that's a pretty big statement.
 
Love to all the ferrets in need, and my hopes and wishes go out to them.
Thanks to all the people that do so much to truly help the fuzzbutts in
need.  You're respected and appreciated more than you know.
 
Roary
Albuquerque, New Mexico
[Posted in FML issue 3536]