I thought I would tell this story so others can look out for the same symptoms in possible rescues or surrenders. On Monday this week I received a call from a Petsmart that three ferrets in a extremely small birdcage where turned in. After receiving the call, I went home and grabbed a carrier and other supplies I might need. Well when I arrived at the Petsmart, their vet hospital - Bainfield Vet Hospital, had already begun to treat them. I tried to talk to the vet but he was busy treating an emergency. I did not get to look at the ferrets but I told the receptionist that Dr. Lee would call me after he looked at the ferrets. Well after a slightly restless sleep since I did not get a call Monday Night, I called Dr. Lee Tuesday morning. He explained that the ferrets were in poor condition, one having a cut on his neck from the bird cage. He described the bird cage has having had taken a beating itself, part of it deformed with a sharp edge which cut this poor ferret's neck. I asked him if he would be able to handle them as he was somewhat new to the ferret field. I suggested to him that I bring them up to Horsham Vet to Dr. Anna Edling since under Anna's care, the ferrets would not be left unattended for 10 hours which the hospital was closed. Dr. Lee suggested he could check in on them during the night but did not feeling moving them would be a good idea. Well I worried about them as they seemed to not be well and if they had the care they needed. Well on Wednesday night I got a call from Dr. Lee who said that after checking over them a few times he found, cuts on their feet not consistent with the cage or wire bottom. He believes that the ferret's legs and feet where intentionally cut. The cuts were so minute that he did not see them right away. Also he had a hard time getting the bleeding to stop. He felt that there was a possibility that they ferrets were given Advil or some other type of medicine that thinned the blood. He explained to me that he had seen things similiar in dogs at another clinic he worked at. The reason they (the animal abusers) did it was so the animal would slowly bleed to death. He was amazed that after receiving such medication the ferrets were still hanging on. I went on Thrusday afternoon to see the ferrets and look at them myself but when I arrived only one had made it. The other two where lost due to loss of blood and after a blood transfussion, they still didn't bounce back. I offered to bring back one of my ferrets for a blood donor but Dr. Lee told me not to worry. I do worry, this guy was the one with the cut on his neck, he seems to be trying but weighs only 1.4 lbs. He didn't look to be eating but I dropped off nutri-cal with Dr. Lee. This morning I called and he is still hanging in there and did eat after they mixed nutrical with the AD. He is being syringe feed every 2 hours by the tech. I don't know if this little guy will make it but I felt that after hearing that people have done this to other animals and this is the first case I know if in ferrets, I am hoping this isn't a new trend for ferret abusers. I will know in about a week if Advil or anything like that was present in their blood. To my knowledge, the ferrets had the following symptoms: dehyrdated, emanicpated, trouble walking, loss of blood (anemic), pale gums, nose and ears (pale pink and cold), low body temperature (possible fever), erratic heart rate (abnormal) and shallow breathing. They also had tiny cuts extending from the top of their feet up to their hip/elbow joints. The cuts where cut on a slight slant - too pattern-like to be normal cuts. All four feet where cut the same way. Dr. Lee has suggested if anyone else comes accross these symptoms or signs to immediately get the ferret to the vet and start a blood transfussion. I will let you all know if the blood tests show any blood thinners. It's a sad world when someone would do such a thing to these animals. I am not sure if this little guy is going to make it, Dr. Lee feels he has a 30% chance of making it but feels that he is also battling an infection from the open wounds. [Posted in FML issue 4667]