I don't think anyone will ever want to adopt Coco. She's a happy-to-be-alive little worm who knows her name & listens to your every word. She's an animated, high energy, gotta-go sweetheart w/a real lust for life. She's very neat in her cage & always *goes* on the paper during out-time. She never nips. How could no one want to adopt a sweetheart like this? Well, maybe it's because she's not much to look at right now, she's a victim of adrenal disease. She was a convenience surrender who came to me w/fur on her tail (of all places), & a few scraggly tufts on her legs, face & neck. She resembles corrugated drainage pipe w/all her ribs sticking out, & w/the size of her vulva could pass for a male at 1st glance. I hope we can fix this when she undergoes surgery on Thursday. If all goes well she'll recover, grow a beautiful coat & be irresistible. Then someone won't be able to resist adopting her, right? Probably not. She's 4 yrs old. She has 2 strikes against her when it comes to being adoptable. As adorable as she is, she's not what most people are looking for. Most of us doing foster work can attest to the fact that the majority of potential adopters want a young, healthy addition to their family. Who wouldn't want a little one who will expectedly have a long, healthy life? We refer to our unwanted ferrets as unadoptable or permanent residents, but they don't have to be. They don't know they're medically challenged or "older." If you didn't know any better they'd be just as enamoring as any other ferret. They only know that they want a loving, permanent home. We so often describe their personality as that of a 2-year-old, so I'll compare them to any other orphan. Do you think a child would fair better w/a family in a secure home or in an institution w/new faces coming & going, if abandoned by his/her parents? Consider that your kit will one day grow old, possibly debilitated or sick. Imagine what life would be like for your little one in an unfamiliar place being handled by strangers, where everything smells different & nothing is the way it's supposed to be. Our special wards might not be around as long as you'd like, then again, what fuzzy ever is? You may have to nurse them at the end, just the way you would for any in your care. And yes, when it's time for them to die you will hurt, the same kind of agonizing grief you will feel w/any ferret you love. They are the same ferrets you've grown to cherish, they just didn't find you when they were young. We as caregivers do the best we can. But we can never take the place of a real home -- only you can do that. Please search your soul to find if you are that unique person who can make a difference in the life of a special ferret in need of a home. This post is not intended to offend or provoke guilt. It's my attempt at bringing to light the plight of our, & other devoted shelters', less-than-physically-perfect foster ferrets in need of a home. My fosters & I thank you for permitting me to ramble on again. [Posted in FML issue 2231]