Hi Everyone...
 
I would like you to meet Beatrix, this is her story...
 
As the young man looked around the room it was immediately obvious that one
of the ferrets was missing!  He had only stepped out of the room for a
moment to put the tools away that he had just used to install the room air
conditioner in the window of the old house..just a minute or two..but
somehow in that small moment in time tiny Beatrix had managed to get out of
the room..  He ransacked the closet and bathroom and started tearing apart
the rest of the whole set of rooms..  Yelling frantically for his fiancie
to come quick!
 
But in minutes it was obvious she was simply not there.  They raced back
into the room where the construction had been just completed and his young
lady took one look at the window work and in a small voice said 'Oh NO,
Bea..no' for there was a tiny 1/2 inch strip of light coming in from the
edge of one side of the air conditioner spacers meant to close it tightly to
the window frame.  It was fully three feet of sheer wainscoting from the
floor but in installing the air conditioner a panel had to be loosened about
1/8th of an inch and she knew that Beatrix could climb like a monkey when it
suited her.
 
The young man ripped off the side panel frantically looking around the wide
outer window sill..  no Beatrix..  but just in front of the crack was a tiny
bit of torn away ivy that told the tale of what had happened..  Beatrix had
somehow climbed up the wainscoting panel and squeezed through the very
narrow space onto the outer sill and then somehow lost her footing and
fallen.
 
The couple ran outside and there they found their precious baby laying on
the brick walkway senseless..  she had fallen 2 1/2 stories to the uneven
bricks below.  The guy ripped his shirt and tied it into a sling and gently
lifted the little one into the improvised stretcher and ran for his car..
He went for the nearest vet to the house and although the vet was not a
ferret vet he was a very experienced vet and knew small animals.  After an
x-ray series and thorough examination, during which Beatrix regained
consciousness, it was determined that her little back was broken.  She was
not in pain other than a few bruises here and there, but Beatrix would be
paralyzed for life from just below the rib cage.  It was tactfully
recommended she be sent on to the Rainbow Bridge as her care would be a
constant round of cleaning her and possible reoccurring internal problems
and other complications..
 
By this time the young lady had arrived and they took Beatrix home to decide
what to do..  although she couldn't walk she did try to drag herself around
to get to food and water.  As they both worked [he on his college degree and
she at a job] they only could have her out a limited time and the other
ferrets were unkind to the crippled little sister so she had to be out alone
to protect her..  then the term ended and the wedding was all set when the
offer of a lifetime came in for the young man for work that would give him
his Masters in his field..  But there was a hitch..  it was in a country
with NO ferret vets and it was very hot there.  It would involve heavy
travel and quarantine and bad conditions for little Beatrix..  A decision
had to be made..  Either the education and the wedding and the whole future
of the couple or keep Beatrix for whatever time she had left and stay here.
 
They began to search for a suitable place for Beatrix..  But no one wanted a
crippled little incontinent ferret.  They looked and called and finally
found a shelter out by the Va..  coast that had just the shelter operator
type they were looking for..  The shelter operator, did not want to
transport this little one for 6 hours in the heat and so on and called a
local shelter few are aware of to see if that operator would be willing to
take this baby in..  even if temporarily..
 
That's when I was first introduced to little Beatrix, Bea for short: I was
the shelter operator she e-mailed.  I spoke at length to the couple and they
wanted to come immediately.  I made it clear they were welcome to come and
visit and see the ferrets here and how they are treated and housed and then
go home and discuss it and decide with no pressure what so ever..  They came
that night..  and into my life came a tiny little Wonder!
 
They had brought her with them you see..  they were that sure.. and a
couple hours with my gang gave them the assurance they had at last found a
place for their little one..  They agonized and cried over her and it was
nearly dawn before they could tear themselves away..  They knew she would
never be caged again..  that she would be in my room with me and have
everything a little fur child could want.  But it was so hard to overcome
that terrible guilt for her injury and it took a long time for that fellow
to finally let her go.
 
Now little Bea made it clear early on that this paralyzed stuff was not
going to spoil her fun..  she immediately got into the splash game with the
others at the main water dish and commandeered the softest blankie in the
best of the many beds available.  She has worked very hard each day to build
up that front body so dragging the back half isn't so tough.  and with bare
textured linoleum to get around on she found she could begin to get back to
being very ferrety indeed!
 
Now Bea trots everywhere she goes..  the front half is incredibly strong and
trots all over the place with no notice of the dragging back part at all..
she is still incontinent and she still needs help [she never had it before
and had angry urine burns that are now healed] to empty the bladder and
lower bowel of waste..  But she has made friends with all the fuzzies in the
chronic care room [also known as my bedroom] and dashes around with the best
of them..
 
My only sadness for this little one was that she would never dance again..
and she is a silent ferret..  no dooking..  not a peep..  Poor little
fuzzy...
 
Last night I was awakened by something that didn't feel right..  you know
that feeling..  you wake up and stay still trying to figure out what woke
you... easing up in bed I looked around and for a minute I didn't see
anything out of the ordinary..  fuzzies asleep in beds and one in the middle
of the floor doing something.  I turned on the very dim little night light
to investigate further..  and there..  in the middle of the floor..  all
alone..  was Beatrix..  and she was softly dooking and dancing around in a
fluid gentle circle..  as graceful as any swan floating across a still pond.
She was dancing and dancing and from the little soft dooks and chuckles you
could see she was a very very happy little ferret.
 
The first thing that came to my mind when I saw her and as I watched her was
that she had to be saying..'Look at me..  I trip the light Fantastic' and so
she was.
 
happy ferreting
 
dayna and the woozles
[Posted in FML issue 2352]