July 31, 1997: I received a call that a local animal control office had taken in a ferret. I was informed that he was in bad shape and they didn't know whether I wanted to come get him or if they should just put him to sleep. He had been brought in the night before by the police who had responded to a call about a ferret that had shown up in an apartment kitchen. He had appaently escaped a neighboring apartment and had made his way through the walls into the kitchen where he was discovered. I told animal control I would be there within the hour. I got a jar of duck soup out of the freezer, thawed it out, readied a pet carrier for transport and headed out the door. What I was presented with when I got to the office was heartbreaking. He was emaciated, severely dehydrated, had diarrhea and was so weak he could barely hold his head up. I force fed him some duck soup immediately then gave him a quick exam that seemed to indicate his whole problem was lack of food and water for who knows how long, loaded him into the carrier and brought him home. After a few days of intensive care and frequent feedings he improved and gained enough strength to be able to walk around the house for short periods of time on very wobbly legs. August 8, 1997: Today I let Wally out of his cage for his exercise period and he war danced!!!!!! -- Bev Fox North Coast Ferret Shelter Serving Northeast Ohio http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html [Posted in FML issue 2028]