(For a change.)
 
First a quote:
>The Ferret Nook is holding a car wash and brat wurst sale on Saturday,
>August 14.  It is at the East side Wal-Mart located at 4198 Nakoosa Trail
>from 10-4.  It would be great to get some help.  But, if you can't help,
>please stop by and get your car washed and eat some brats.
 
Skimming this, I really had to stop and wonder... then remembered a friend
from Wisconsin... the first thing I thought was "eat some who?"
 
Anyway.  Things are beginning to stabilize here now.  We've found a good
home for two of our babies, and only have two available for adoption right
now.  Lucy had her surgery last time I wrote, and we got the lab results
back; it was an adrenal tumor.  Everyone was surprised.  She's doing well
now, though it was a bit scary for a couple of days.  She's finally eating
on her own--for a while, she wanted to have each piece of food handed to
her.  She has decided that Iams kitten is the only food worth eating, which
makes me think maybe it's what her previous owners fed her.  Her incision's
healing cleanly and she's fairly active for a recuperating fuzzy--beats up
the others if we let her.  She's on pred, a low dosage twice a week, and
the vet said that we could use karo syrup occasionally, in tiny amounts, as
a pick-me-up.  Any thoughts on that?  She certainly loves it.  Surprise.
:-)  Does anyone know how soon we should see a decrease in the size of her
vulva?
 
The other bit of news.  The pet store I work in got a shipment of MF kits
last week.  I was away for a whole two days, and when I got back, I was
dragged to the cage by my co-worker ("Jen, you've gotta see this, the
ferret's sick!").  His eyes were all red and puffy, and he was lethargic,
barely moving.  We washed his eyes and offered him water--squirted it into
his mouth.  He drank tons of it and perked up right away.  We took him to
the vet, but not before I'd made my own diagnosis--after watching him walk
off the edge of the counter (I caught him!), I figured he was blind as well
as deaf.  I was right.  His problem was that he also had a mild cold-type
virus, so his sense of smell was somewhat impaired, and because he really
wasn't used to drinking from a water bottle, he couldn't find his water.
The eyes were almost certainly conjunctivitis, but they're fine now.
 
Of course, he's with me now.  Marshall's guarantee covers him, certainly,
but we didn't want him sent back and euthanized.  He's doing fine now that
his cold has cleared up.  So far, no name--any ideas?  He gets around
really well for a little guy who can't see or hear.  When he's scared, he
runs for the nearest human and burrows into our warmth.  He slept with us
his first night here.  Now he sleeps in the ferret room, and seems to have
no problem finding food and water.  I'm sure it helps that there's
something to eat or drink every two feet.  :-)
 
Any tips on dealing with this disabled guy?  Any other deaf-and-blind
ferrets out there who want to share their experiences?
 
Oh, yeah--he's a blaze, of course.  Almost a panda, actually, with a mostly
white head, brown near the ears so the stripe shows.  All four mitts, a
lovely mottled belly, and a white ring around the tip of his tail--not a
white tip.  He's chocolate, too, not silver.  A very handsome, round, fat,
snuggly baby.
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
[Posted in FML issue 2772]