Hi Everyone-- I have 3 wonderful ferrets who reside in my home who are considered 'permanent fosters' due to health issues and are not considered 'adoptable'. Unfortunately, the board members of my local ferret rescue have decided that the rescue will no longer pay for their care. Gabriel, a dark sable guy, is about 7 years old and has congestive heart failure. Sebastian, a very handsome silver gentleman with a black nose, is about 6 years old and is insulinomic. Their sister Gracie is about 3 1/2 years old and a very pretty dark sable girl. She does not have any health issues, however, since the local ferret rescue does not split up groups, she will stay with her brothers. Gabriel is on Lasix and Sebastian is taking Pred. But, they are slowly declining and their medications were just increased. Gabriel is a fighter. He loves to hide stuff toys and pick on his fellow ferret friends. Sebastian loves attention and is happiest when he gets 'cuddles' from me and my husband. Sebastian also likes our cat Gabby but she does not want have anything to do with him. Gracie is a fun-loving fert. She loves playing in the rice box we have set up. Gracie just loves her brothers and I can usually find her sleeping with one or both of them. They all are very different but bonded. The trio were picked up from the Humane Society but there was very little info on them other than that they were brought to the Humane Society by the girlfriend of their guardian's brother. She did not even know their names. I know in the past, the ferret rescue paid for the care of any ferret that came in regardless of their health. Those who were very ill were taken care of by the rescue until they passed away. Then, there was a person who took in ferrets for 'hospice' care and any rescue ferret with serious health issues were sent there. But, it eventually got to be too much for this person and they could no longer take in any more ferrets. Now, the ferret rescue has 2 wonderful people, in addition to my husband and I, who take in the rescue ferrets with serious health issues. One person adopts them outright and the other person keeps them as permanent fosters and has been paying for their care out of her own pocket, by choice. I know many of you are probably wondering why my husband and I just adopt them outright and take care of them. The point is we took in these ferrets to provide them with a home so they could spend their remaining time in a home setting, not in a shelter. I know money is always a big factor for all rescues but I thought the rescue was going to provide for food, litter, and any vet care and we were going to provide the TLC. Now, we are left with struggling to find ways to make sure Gabriel and Sebastian get their medication and vet care to monitor their health. I have a wonderful vet who is providing us with the medication they need at a very reasonable cost. But, they still need to be seen by a vet and they still need to eat. Gabriel and Sebastian prefer to eat 8 in 1 Ultimate while the rest of our ferret kids eat Totally Ferret. Gracie is not picky and will eat both. Of course, there is the litter. We are able to get litter at a very reasonable price so that has not been a big issue for us. Of course, given Gracie's age, chances of adrenal disease increases so then there will be the expense of her surgery. My husband and I feel like these ferrets have been 'abandoned' by the very rescue who took them in. However, I want to clarify that this ferret rescue HAS DONE WONDERFUL WORK and has taken in over 1400 ferrets in almost 9 years and is well-known in the community. But, in the last several months there have been many changes. The owner of this rescue has had to take a big step back from the day to day operations and the new 'director' has a different way of getting things done. Currently, the rescue ferrets are in foster care since the rescue no longer has a central location in which to take care of the ferrets. There is also another rescue in the community but they are still trying to get things together to set up the rescue. The belief is the reason why the people (who are volunteers for the long-standing ferret rescue) are trying to start the new rescue is the possibility of the other rescue shutting down. But, the 'old' rescue is still going!! So, only time will tell. We are hoping to get help in taking care of ALL of the rescue's permanent foster ferrets. If anyone can help...or has suggestions...please let me know. Thank you. LISA Ferret mom to: Avery, Bear, Carlin, Erin, George, Lottie, Mikey, Molly, Turner, Lucy Lu, and of course, our foster ferts Gabriel, Gracie and Sebastian!! [Posted in FML issue 5148]