Hi Guys, The subject of this story really should be "ADOPTERS BEWARE"!!!!! But since it was originally sent to Doc W. it is under a different name. Just wanted to let all the wonderful newcomers to the world of ferret adopting know about the rest of our story I found out later. Since we were BRAND new to adopting we learned the hard way what we SHOULD have been doing and maybe this will help others when they are thinking of questions to ask of the people they are considering adopting from. Plus ALWAYS remember they MAY NOT be telling the truth no matter how wonderful of people they may seem to be!!!!!! GET ALL THE FACTS you possibly can before the final adoption unless you don't mind surprises when it comes to your new fuzzies. We love Raistlin & Caramon to death and they are two of the most laid back, loving and wonderful little creatures ever so we have no regrets that they joined our family. My ONLY concern was for their welfare and complete knowledge is the best protection. Thanks, Kelleen, David and the INSANE Animal House!!!!!!!!!!! --- Forwarded message: Subj: Really Worried About Female Possibly Unspayed! HELP! To: [log in to unmask] Hi Doc. W., This is Kelleen Andrews again unfortunately! I have a very important question regarding one of our two newest additions to the family. On the 31st of last month I purchased a small albino female and a small sable male from a private party through the newspaper. I asked if they had been spayed and neutered and had current vaccinations when I called and the guy said definitely yes. So I went to see them. He also said they are brother and sister and are 8 months old. Well now I am unsure about ALL of this info.! When I went to see them they lookeded in good health and were real layed back and loveable but the female seemed to be blind in one eye, to me it looked sort of milky white under the red. I wasn't concerned about her being 1/2 blind so let it go. The guy told me the vet's name they had supposedly taken them both to and I knew of her and where she was located. She has treated ferrets for 10 yrs. in her practice apparently. The male seemed fine in all areas. He also told me shortly after they got them both the female developed a swollen face and there soon appeared to be an abcess on the left side of her nose so they took them to the vet he mentioned. She lanced it and drained it and cleaned it and it soon cleared up and has never returned. This was done on April 28th of this year I later found out from the vet records. The guy said he didn't believe they were descented but I found that hard to believe. (Sorry if I seem to go on and on but I want to tell you everything I possibly can about the situation) Anyway I fell in love with them and probably did a real stupid and didn't check the ears for possible tatoos and I know better! I went ahead and got them and my fiance and I ran them to the local Petsmart because the guy said he thought the little girl had ear mites again and he had put drops in her ears. (In the vet records it did mention she had ear mites at that time and she was treated for them) I looked but only saw a red buildup as usual and the male's ears looked great so I doubted the mites too. The vet at Petsmart did an ear check and saw NO mites and then looked at her eye and said she was definitely blind in the one and it looked as though there had been some former injury to the eye causing it and NOT cataracts! I took them home and they seemed fine, ate great and did their business in the litter pans and it looked normal. I wanted to get all the records on their history that I could so the next day I went to the vet he took them to and got the records. The female was in the records all right and everything he had said about her was there but no mention of the blindness or any eye injury. Unfortunately NO record of current vaccination either! What got my worry up though was there was no record at all of the little boy and the vet said she remembered the female but knew nothing of any male. As far as she was concerned they had only the one ferret. Now I was REALLY getting worried. The guy had told me that they got them through a friend who originally got them at the pound. I went straight from the vet's to the pound and they let me check the records from Jan. 95 to now to see if there was any adoption match to either the guy's name or the girl's name from whom I bought them. NO MATCH! The lady at the pound seemed to agree that this was all seeming rather suspicious at this point. That nite I called the guy back and talked to him. I told him all about the vet and no records for the male and no record of vaccination and etc..... Also told him there was NO WAY these two were brother and sister because the male has the two tatoo marks on his ear meaning neutering and descenting but the female has absolutely NO tatoos on her ears. He seemed to react w/shock at this. I asked him to tell me again and very completely all the history he had on them. NOW he tells me that he used to work temporarily for a local company here and knew two other people also temps. that knew a guy working at the pound. Supposedly the pound had in these two tiny baby ferrets, brother and sister, that if not adopted immediately would die. Then he tells me the guy working for the pound TOOK the ferrets and gave them to these two friends of theirs who kept them maybe a few weeks before they ended up with the people I bought them from. I asked him how he KNEW they were spayed and neutered and their shots current and he then told me that the pound took care of all that before they left there! NOT!!!!! Our pound knows absolutely nothing about ferrets and can't even tell a male from a female. They do not vaccinate or spay or neuter! I already knew this from when I went out there and told him so. I informed him that we would have to get them vaccinated immediately. The problem is it's NOT the vaccinations that worry me, it is whether or not the female has been spayed!!!!!! Now I need YOUR help in this dept. Doc.! When I asked over the phone he told me they were 8 mos. old then when I got the vet record s it said the females birthdate was 10/94?, then when I called and spoke to him again he said they were supposedly only tiny babies when the people got them from the pound so I was guessing maybe 8 weeks tops which would make them 7 mos. old about now. This is a heck of a possible gap, they could be anywhere from 7mos. to nearly 1 year old at this time. HOW do I go about finding out if our loving little female is spayed or not????? I don't want her to die because we can't figure this out soon enough to save her! Would there be a scar on her abdomen under the hair that would tell us or is our only option to undergo surgery to make sure???? I've been told by the lady vet that x-rays would not show anything concerning spaying. We have taken Silverada who is 1 yr. and 2 mos. old and compared her vulva to the new little girl and they look basically the same. Can't tell any real difference in size and the new girl's does not seem to be swollen. Could this be normal for 7 mos. but then later on she could develop problems that might be a sign that she HASN'T been spayed after all???? Am I being an overprotective mother here or should I be as highly concerned as I am?? HELP PLEASE ASAP!!!!!!! Thank you sooooo much for being there for us when we have no idea what our next move should be! Fuzzy kisses forever from Kelleen, David and the INSANE Animal House!!!!!!!!!! [Posted in FML issue 1305]