Our Little Girl The story of our little girl is not an easy story to relate nor is it a happy one to pass on, but if in telling this story, the life of one ferret is saved, the Little Girl's life will have had a purpose. It begin on Oct. 22, 1993 when she and her 5 brothers and sisters were born to a very surprised owner. He had no idea his ferret was pregnant and knew nothing about ferret breeding. Momma died 3 days later from an infected mammary that became gangrenous. This left our Little Girl and her 5 brothers and sisters orphans. She came into our lives at that time. The owner contacted a friend of mine who happened to have a new mommy as well. Success was finally in our corner. The Little Girl and her brothers and sisters were carefully nurtured and raised by their foster Mom along with 5 step-siblings. Our friend found what here to for had been a good home for her. Called and asked, when she was old enough, if she had had her shots and been spayed. The new owner reassured my friend that all had been done to insure the health of the animal. Five weeks ago, the Little Girl's new owner got busted in California. Not a good situation at it's best but none the less the authorities were very co-operative. The new owner claimed ownership and has a 'truck driving' father-in-law that would take the animals out of state when he came back through. The authorities agreed to the unusual arrangements and boarded the animals (Little Girls fellow ferrets, a MF male and a MF female were taken as well). Last Friday the animal shelter boarding these three contacted the CDFA, saying it had been 28 days since they had had any contact with the owner and that they felt one of the ferrets was ill. Would we please intervene and take care of her. After allot of legal hassles, these animals were not in our jurisdiction because the owner had claimed them, the animals, including the Little Girl, were released to our rescuer. She took one look at the ill ferret and did an on the spot diagnosis and a quick education of the animal shelter so they would know what to watch for in the future. Little Girl was in heat, for an undetermined amount of time. She was rushed to the vet, where she was given the hormone shot to take her out of heat and spaying was scheduled for Tues. She was too weak for immediate surgery and Monday was a holiday. When I saw her, for the first time, on Sunday. She didn't play but she did get up and move and ate her ferretvite. The rescuer felt she was not getting better after the initial spurt caused by the shot. Monday she was rushed to the Emergency Clinic where a transfusion was done. The Little Girl died at 4:15pm from arrest, caused by the weakened condition of her body from the Aplastic Anemia. The vet in the Emergency clinic said she had been in heat at least 4 weeks and that even had surgery been attempted on Friday when we first got our hands on her she would not have survived. She did not die from ignorance, her owner had been told about the ramifications of not having her spayed. He obviously didn't care, and wanted to breed her anyway...... and the result is the painful useless death of a wonderful ferret. People have asked me why I go Thermo-Nuclear when I hear of someone with a female in heat and they are looking for a male. Breeding is NOT easy. The male should be located BEFORE she goes into heat. Female ferrets WILL die, tragically, if not bred or spayed. Now people know why I get so upset. This was a useless death caused by the ego of the owner. People have got to quit equating making love with reproduction. Ferrets do not have sex for the sake of enjoyment.... they do it for procreation, and if the owner doesn't know what they are doing they shouldn't attempt to breed their ferret(s). CDFA1 [Posted in FML issue 1211]