hello,
let me start by saying that i have owned ferrets since they have become
legal in Massachusetts.  i also work at an animal hospital and have helped
out at ferret shelters.  one of my 11 ferrets is also a biter that i
rehabilitated.  now here is what happened.
 
yesterday i walk into work and find a note on my timecard saying that this
lady has a relative that has a stray ferret living in a dog house for the
past week and with it being freezing cold the night before i was worried
that the ferret did not make it thru the night.  so i called this lady
hoping that she could bring the ferret to me and i would gladly taking him
in and give him a home.  she later gave me directions and told me that her
daughter would meet me there, and she did.  she brought screwdrivers to
unscrew the wire mesh from the opening of the dog house but they were the
wrong size.  so she went into the house to find something else to use, she
came back out with wirecutters.  so we cut one corner and the little
ferrets was getting all excited or so i thought.  this would probably be
a good time to also mention that the ferret had an old bite wound on its
neck.  but his nails were not long and he looked healthy, i thought there
was no reason to fear this ferret.  anyway, we cut a corner so then i
pushed in the wire mesh and then the ferret latched onto my finger.  i was
screaming, he wouldn't let go, he just kept his teeth sunk into my finger
and tried pulling me into his dog house.  i finally got it together and
told the girls to squeeze the corners of his mouth thats the only way he
will let go!  they weren't helping me, after screaming to them to help and
get him off me, i knew i was on my own.  i took a deep breath, held onto my
finger and pulled him out of the hole we cut out.  he then finally let go
to try to run away, but i grabbed him to put him into the carrier i had but
he bit me again and again, at this point my hands were covered in blood but
i finally got him in the carrier, i was dripping blood everywhere, i have
never seen so much blood, i admit with all the adrenaline and screaming i
was a bit freaked out by this whole incident!!!  then i had to drive him
back to the hospital i worked at....i was afraid to put him in the car with
me.  so i put the door facing the seat so there would be no way for him to
get out.  i raced back to the animal hospital, i finally got there and
told them what happened.  they told me i had to get to a hospital and get
checked out and get a rabies shot, but they first asked if they could
euthanize him and because i was so upset i told them to do what they
wanted.  they started to feed him food with what i thought was euthaninzing
solution and i yelled out no i can't let you do this and ran away in tears,
they were feeding him something to make him relax.  i started thinking that
what if he really did not have rabies?  what if the only reason why he
viciously attacked me was because he was hungry and scared?  so i wanted
them to just quarantine him and then i would rehabilitate him (i had done
this once before but he was not as vicious as this one).  he was absolutely
beautiful!!!!  he was a marked white.  beautiful creamy white hair black
(but red if you looked at an angle) and beautiful grey rings on his tail.
this ferret was absolutely one of the most beautiful and unusual ferrets i
have ever seen.  i did not want my effort to save him to go to waste.
 
so the medical director of the hospital called the public health department
to see if we could quarantine.  so i finally went to the hospital, 3 1/2
hours later i ended up having the start of the rabies series vaccine and
oxyglobin and antibiotics.  3 shots in the butt and one in the arm and i
have to keep going back every so many days for more shots.  one of the
bites went all the way thru my finger.  i really did not want to tell these
people what attacked me for fear that they would brand all ferrets vicious,
i did not want them getting that impression by any means, so i made it a
point to explain to them that i have dealt with many ferrets and absolutely
non of them have ever, ever, ever behaved like this.  i told them that i
don't know if it was just hungry and scared or if the bite wound on it's
neck caused him to get rabies.  the doctor called many many people but the
outcome was all the same.  the life i tried so hard to save was ordered to
be euthanized and sent to a lab for rabies testing, i started to cry.  all
i wanted was to save this little one.  the nurse asked me if it was worth
it?  i said yes!!!  and i would do it all again if it meant saving him!!!
i think that it was at that point that the nurse finally realized what
these little special creatures mean to me.  the doctor understood from
the start how much saving this ferret meant, she was very nice and i think
tried everything (calling all the different people) to help me from having
to end the life i wanted to save.  on my way out of the emergency room she
told me to keep up the good work!!  i wish so much that i could have saved
this ferret but if he really was sick, i guess i helped in putting him out
of misery before he got any worse.  now, i am waiting to find out from the
lab whether or not this ferret was infected with rabies.  if he did like
everyone thinks (because of the suspicious bite wound on his neck), i will
have to continue with all the rabies vaccine series until i am all done.  i
will post in a few days when i find out the lab results.  in a way i hope
he was infected so that all my effort did not go to waste but at the same
time i am scared if thats what was wrong with him.  i will be angry if it
comes back negative because i could have helped him....but i would be lying
if i did not say that i would also be relieved.  i will post when i find
out the results and thank you for reading the very long post.
[Posted in FML issue 2885]