Hello everyone,
 
Sam's previous people came by today and stayed for over two hours visiting
him and us.  It's clear that they still love him very much: Rory, whose
ferret he was especially, played with him almost non-stop and cuddled him.
Sam didn't seem especially interested in playing (he'd just had an hour play
session with our other ferret, Sally, and he was ready for sleep).  But he
did sniff Rory all over.  I wonder how much he remembered?
 
I told them all sorts of things about Sam: his favourite hiding spots, what
we fed him for treats, the games he played with Sally, how he got along with
the other animals, his little routines, and how much we loved him (I really
stressed this).
 
I'd been worried that they would want him back, but fortunately, they didn't
ask.  When I was upstairs with Rory showing him where Sam slept at night, my
husband actually told Rory's girlfriend, Angela, that I'd been worried about
it.  GRRRR!  But she said that Rory knew that Sam was loved and that he was
happy here, so he wasn't ever going to ask for Sam back.
 
Later, Rory said that if I ever wanted a pet sitter, I should ask him
because he'd be happy to look after all the animals and spend more time with
Sam.  I think I'll take him up on this--he clearly loves all animals and
he's very good with them (they all came to look at him while he was here).
 
So a visit I'd been very worried about turned out much better than I'd dared
to hope.  Yippee--a good start to a new year.
 
Thanks to everyone who E-mailed me with the good advice.  I *really*
appreciated it.
 
Amy and Alan
Sam and Sally (ferrets); Luke (hedgehog); Zipper and Kenji (dogs); Tom,
Ben, and Anna (cats)
R.I.P. Meagan (beloved first ferret)
in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
[Posted in FML issue 2174]