Thanks to everyone who has supported me through this difficult time.

Having lost all of our ferrets, as I said before, we have taken in
three ferrets from a local rescue, currently kept in an indoor cage
until the outside pen can be made safe.

However, the story doesn't end there, because the day before yesterday,
we offered a foster home to two more ferrets, whose owner is going
through a tough time at the moment and cannot look after them. They're
Alvin, a noodle of an albino lad and Cissy, a little polecat jill. We
have them in an adapted rat cage at the moment, but with plenty of
out-of-cage time they seem fine. Had a bit of a problem getting them
their usual food so they didn't get tummy upsets, but they've settled
in fine.

After a stormy introduction, our three new ferrets, Lucky, Silas and
Gerald are getting on. Silas and Gerald were biting each other's noses,
but now they're sleeping together and grooming each other. Lucky is
isolated within the cage as she has an inner ear infection and keeps
falling over, but she's on antibiotics and is gradually getting better.
She has the vets on Friday -- she needs neutering but the vet's have
to be satisfied she's well enough for it.

And to complete the family, following the tragic death of my dog from
cancer a few weeks ago, we now have a ‘new' dog coming on Sunday:
Ziggy, the German Shepherd. He's 8 years old and has slightly dodgy
hips, which suits me as I also have slightly dodgy hips Ziggy has spent
the last few months in the RSPCA rescue in Cambridgeshire, after he was
confiscated from his owners for neglect. He had severe sarcoptic mange,
which they failed to treat until he had almost no hair left. But he's
better now and the fur's grown back. He's a really well- mannered, well
socialised dog so we feel really lucky to have found him. And he's not
a black labrador, so its a lot less upsetting for me.

Anna Hayward

[Posted in FML 7839]