Hello all, We're looking for some help for a ferret. Make that a home for a very special ferret. Last month a woman contacted me about her sick 3 yr old, Charlie. He was having problems trying to stand and walk. Like so many in our area, she'd lost her job and had moved back in with her mother bringing her adult daughter and Charlie with her and couldn't afford to take him to a doctor. I made an immediate appointment with our doctor for Charlie to be seen. He had 4, yes 4, head over the back major seizures in the first hour we were there. We got those stopped and checked his vitals, including his blood sugar and all was normal. Charlie was sent home on anti-seizure medication as well as meds for helio-bacter and stomach protectants. An ADV test was sent off. Thankfully he is ADV neg. It has taken the full four and a half weeks to piece together Charlie's entire story as bits and pieces slipped in conversations with his owners. They have not been real forth coming on Charlie's condition and less than honest. It seems when Charlie was about 6 months old he got his head stuck between a box springs and a mattress for an indeterminate amount of time. His seizures started soon after that. August of 2012 his owner was walking him at a dog park and he was attacked by a dog. Owner and dog played tug a war with Charlie until the dog let go. Charlie spent 2 weeks in ICU at the vets with no diagnosis, just major care to keep him alive. Paralysis began to set in shortly after that. At this time Charlie is unable to stand or walk, and is on a heavy dose of anti-seizure meds. Because he can't stand, he requires around the clock care and frequent baths. He is what human doctors classify as an 'incomplete quad' - limited abilities in all 4 limbs. While his human family have, albeit late, finally stepped up and are taking good care of him, he can not (and should not, IMO) stay with them much longer. Besides the money situation he is living in a home with 3 different generations of women who just barely get along and tempers are flaring. Not a good environment for anyone and it seems Charlie is often used as the catalyst to many a long and loud argument. He really needs out of there. Okay, so I know what many of you are thinking . . . the same thing I did when I met my first, second and third paraferrets: 'put him down!' But then I got to know them and you know what? They are happy People. Glad to be in the world, playing as they can, reveling in Ferret Soup and passing out kisses. I had to get to know several of them before I understood. Charlie is like that - happy. I'd take him in a flash, except. . . As many of you know we have a deadly and contagious mutated virus here with a 50% kill rate in the first six months of exposure which has our doors closed. To bring Charlie here would sentence him to a most unpleasant death. I don't believe he has the physical reserves to withstand the kind of onslaught this killer brings. Also, as I noted, Charlie pretty well needs around the clock care. Not every second or minute, but more than one person can handle alone for long. I know what I am asking. For nearly 19 years some of the most dear Charlies have blessed my house and home. I have no delusions about what it will take to properly care for him. But he is such a sweet, happy boy I have to ask. The alternative is to end that dear child and he does not deserve it. He deserves to live with a family who will care for him, have a care for him, love him and be loved in return. If you have questions, suggestions, want to know more, have an idea where he might live out the rest of how ever much time he has, anything, please feel free to contact me off list. It will do someone's heart and soul good to take this boy. There is no thanks like the thanks from those that are helpless - I promise. Oh so sincerely, Brenda, Momma to the FurpeopleWeyr FurpeopleWeyr.com [Posted in FML 7726]