hi everyone,
i cannot thank all of you enough for writing me with your kind words &
support today; what a lifeline.  chloe still hasn't been located; as
we've been doing since monday, we spent last night trolling the
neighborhood for her, putting up flyers, calling her, squeaking the
squeaky toys, etc.  i'm becoming quite discouraged...particularly since
speaking with one of my neighbors last night.  he said on tuesday night
he & his wife were at home & their dogs suddenly became very excited, and
one tried to jump out of a second-story window to get outside.  they then
heard the sound of a "rabbit" screaming and coyotes making their coyote
noises near their house.  i am hoping to god the answer is no, but do
rabbits & ferrets have the same scream?  i've not heard a rabbit scream
before.  i am hoping against hope that the answer is no; i can't bear the
thought of such a horribly violent death befalling a sweet, defenseless,
lonely, hungry, cold, innocent, friendly lost little ferret, particularly
if it's one of my sweet girls.  how very sad if it's true...but hopefully
it's not.  and to add to the trouble...my 2 cats accompanied me out on
one of the neighborhood searches on tuesday night; it was nice to have
their "help".  we three strolled aroung the neighborhood together until
my little girl kitty (who was raised with the ferrets & is therefore
convinced she is one) became sidetracked by something in the woods & went
to investigate.  i didn't think anything of it until she didn't come home
that night (that is seriously aberrant behavior from her...she's always
home for dinner, and then she puts herself to bed for the night).  i
called & called for her before work in the morning; no luck.  i searched
my house for the millionth futile time this week.  i went out to call &
squeak for both chloe & kitty this time; no luck on both counts.  we went
to put out the flyers for chloe; still no kitty or chloe.  at this point i
retreated indoors so i could lay on the couch & cry about my 2 lost pets
that i was convinced had become coyote fodder.  about 15 mins later i
heard my sister in my back yard screaming "KITTY!!!!" and she then came
running in with my missing cat.  she was fine except for the fact that her
tail & rear end were covered in blood.  naturally, i flipped out further,
but in a demented, relieved sort of way.  so we cleaned kitty off &
discovered she had torn off about 2 inches of skin from the tip of her
tail, leaving what was left of the bone exposed.  how she managed this,
i can only imagine.  sooo...my kitty vet doesn't have emergency hours,
and kitty didn't seem to be in any kind of pain (she was actually quite
playful & affectionate & glad to be home) so we just dressed her tail as
best as possible & waited out the night.  she had her vet appt.  today &
she's fine...just needed a few stitches, and the exposed bone of her tail
that couldn't be stitched in will just die off eventually.  that's a
relief...someone who emailed me today said that ferrets will give you gray
hair, and i'd like to extend that to; ALL pets will give you gray hair
(and ulcers, and crow's feet, and high blood pressure :-) ).  sorry, i
know this is a FERRET list & not a cat list, but i felt kitty deserved
an honorable mention for wounds received while out ferret searching.
sooo...it's been almost four days since chloe was last seen, and i am
beginning to firmly believe we may not see her again.  sandee; if you
could keep an eye out for her in the next few whiles, she is the
beautiful, super snowy DEW who jumps higher than the sky & shakes her
head & butt back & forth when she plays...tell her i love her & i'm sorry
i didn't protect her better while i still had the chance.  she'll be in
good company with her best friend zeus, who met sandee in march.  thank
you again everyone who emailed me with all of your lost ferret success
stories, tips for searching, etc.  my confidence in chloe's return has
been pretty mercurial for the past few days.  however, when i read these
emails from people who took time out of their days to encourage & offer
healing words to me, my belief in Chloe's safety & the good & generosity
of humankind is restored.
 
blessed be,
jessica.
 
jessica l. manson
whimsy creative photography!
28 stafford st.
plymouth, ma 02360
(508) 747-5505
[log in to unmask]
www.whimsyphoto.com
[Posted in FML issue 3785]