A Special Ferret's Life, by Pamela Troutman Grant The starting place was a ferret show in West Virginia, September 1989. I was a newlywed. My now ex-husband had two children from a previous marriage and all four of us were at this ferret show. I had started a ferret shelter in 1988 and was placing ferrets in new homes at this event. Towards the end of the day, a woman came to me with this beautiful silver mitt ferret. She had been disappointed in how he had shown and wanted to give him up for adoption. His name was Hob Goblin, an intact hob that had been bred by her in Ohio, and was born June 5, 1989. My step daughter immediately wanted him, and I too was captivated by his looks. I'm very fond of mitt ferrets. So I took what would have been the adoption fee from my pocket and adopted him myself. He was renamed Pokey by my stepdaughter, but I kept the surname of Hob Goblin for show purposes. Pokey grew and became a part of my breeding stock. He competed in shows sponsored by the International Ferret Association (IFA), where he became a Supreme Grand Champion before the organization folded. He also competed in Ferret Unity and Registration Organization (FURO) shows, but was past his prime to make the blue ribbons required to continue in the Masters levels. To my pleasure and surprise, he did best in independent ferret shows. The points didn't amount to much, but Pokey always came home with a ribbon. At exactly the age of seven, he took Best Alter in the Great Lakes Ferret Association's show on June 8, 1996. He also captured Best Silver Specialty there as well. I decided to have Pokey's portrait taken when he was five years old. I have two poses to remember him - one he was perched in a small white rattan chair; the other he is in a little red Radio Flyer wagon. You can tell by his stance that he is defiant to some extent, and that was the way he treated death. Pokey started having problems walking recently. I was checking his blood glucose with my meter, and it was never at a really low level. Sometimes, he was found drooling, but that usually involved an empty food bowl. Earlier this month, I noticed one of his anal glands looked impacted, so I took him to the vet. It was expressed with great difficulty, and he was placed on Amoxicillan. In ten days, his bottom was tender, his stools were liquid, and he was feeling fairly miserable. I took him to the vet where he received injections to take down the swelling and to combat an infection. Unfortunately, the spirit was willing, but the eight and a half year old ferret's body was growing weaker by the day. Finally, Pokey decided to stop eating, and his body could no longer regulate heat. His last night with me, Pokey would not settle down - he wanted me to hold him. I placed him in a snuggle sack and he slept next to my bed that night in my laundry hamper. He woke up cold and I knew it was time to call the vet for the last trip. He is at Heavenly Days for cremation as I write this, and I selected a small red and black box, which his wagon portrait complements. Pokey leaves behind his cage mates, Nanuq and Princess, his great-great-great-great-granddaughter Mia Darling, plus ten other permanent resident ferrets. He leaves a large hole in my heart. I have loved every ferret I have had the pleasure to care for, but certain ones are special. Pokey has been in the top spot for more than eight years, and it is difficult to go to the cages and not look for him. I've already addressed another ferret in the house by his name by mistake. If anyone is thinking of making a donation to my shelter in the future, please consider sending a check to Morris Animal Foundation instead, in Pokey's memory. We'd both like that. Pokey Hob Goblin Troutman-Grant 6/5/89 - 10/21/97 [Posted in FML issue 2102]