Hi everyone.  I have had a ferret, Toons, since September.  She was 6 weeks
old when I bought her.  She was descented and spayed.  She was a big girl
with a mostly white face and brown eyes.  Her fur was all white underneath
with dark tips.  She was quite a handful for the first three months.  She
used to bite very hard (but never broke the skin).  But then she began
calming down and showing a lot of love for me.  Now she is always careful to
bite gently when we play.  She came running every time I got home from work
(if she was awake).  Every time she heard me pick up my keys to go somewhere
she would run to the door.  I never kept her in a cage.  I "ferret-proofed"
my house and had a couple litter boxes which she used approximately 50% of
the time.  Ever since I got her I played with her at least twice a day and
always laughed out loud at her funny, hopping, "ferret dance".  She has a
little teepee (for cats) that she sleeps in religiously.  In the past month
I have began taking her out a lot to the park.  She really seems to like the
trips.  Most people that have met her have commented that she was more calm
and friendly than most ferrets they have known.  Over the past few months I
have really come to love her almost like a child.  Silly as it sounds, I'll
even admit I even tell her I love her.
 
Today I took her to the park and she played with a friend's dalmation for
about a half hour.  I have a largish cage I put her in for travel in the car
as I don't think it would be too cool for her to run under my clutch or
brake pedals.  After the park a friend and I went to a restaurant to eat.
We left the windows in the car rolled down and we were in the shade.  Toons
had her little water dish in the cage with wood chips.  When we finished
eating and got back to the car I was a bit worried.  Looking in the cage I
saw that Toons' eyes were open.  Then I noticed she was not moving.  I
reached into the cage and grabbed her.  She was no longer the soft and
flexible little girl I was used to.  I did not cry until later when my
friends had all left my apartment.
[Posted in FML issue 1138]