Greeting all.  I'm mostly a lurker on the list, but this topic prompted
me to write on one significant account.  I FULLY support the idea that
ferrets in shelters should NOT be categorized as "un-adoptable".
 
This is solely based on a significant personal experience with a
beautiful DEW named Vanilla (NOT deaf!).  We adopted her from one of the
local shelters where I lived (I'm military, but ensure that everywhere
I move, my ferrets move as well!).  She was considered "Un-adoptable" -
she was old (6 years), had been abandoned after needing adrenal surgery -
and was recovering from the adrenal surgery and on all the meds
associated with that.  We were looking for an older ferret as a companion
for one of our other ferrets, who was 6.  We had just purchased two kits
and our older ferret was feeling a little overwhelmed.  So, we wanted a
nice companion.  Vanilla was bald, sickly, and not what one would
consider "cute" (we thought she was delightfully cute!).  She apparently
had taken a bite out of an electrical cord, and that side of her mouth
was slightly misshapen (a permanent "grimace" look).  But, she needed a
home, and love and a family.  Little did we know that she would be the
one teaching us lessons!
 
She came home, and got along with all the other fur-kids great (she
loved to bite all the boys on their "parts" to keep them in line!) She
recovered quite nicely from her adrenal - grew her hair back (a nice
vanilla sheen) and was getting along great.  Then she started showing
signs of adrenal again...so we brought her back to her vet (the BEST
ferret vet, IMHO) - who confirmed an adrenal recurrence.  We scheduled
her for surgery (cryo surgery, as it was on the right).  Well, as with
humans, we believe in visiting our pets after surgery as well.  We went
to visit Vanilla, and she was down and depressed, not eating...not
really thriving well.  Well, we came in to see her, and picked her up.
When she saw that her "family" was there to see her, that they hadn't
abandoned her again, she perked up (her eyes lit up as soon as she
recognized her family - I cried on the spot)!  She made one of the
fastest recoveries seen!
 
She was such a loving ferret during the 4 years we were able to be with
her!  She taught us about the healing power of love and family (she had
two more surgeries after that for adrenal that she flew through, because
she knew her family would NOT abandon her again).  She taught us that it
IS worth it to keep even the sickest ferrets, to try and help them, care
for them.  I firmly believe that her last 4 years of life were better and
more fulfilling than the first 6.  At age 9, she finally succumbed to old
age and in-operable adrenal (too much scar tissue in her little abdomen).
She's now buried at my mother's house along a creek in North Carolina.
We go visit her every time we visit my parents there.  Very peaceful, but
full of places to play and frolic while she waits at the Rainbow Bridge.
 
So my friends, this is why I agree that ferrets in shelters should NOT be
categorized (tears streaming down my face as I type this - remembering
Vanilla).
 
--Julie
[Posted in FML issue 4983]