Saturday, at about 1:15, the love of my life and I walked into Edgewoods pet shop here in washington...I was amazed at all the WILDLIFE in the place..prairie dogs, alligators, Pirhanas..bird eating spiders, scorpions and birds and oh so many snakes..to name a few..oh and he had a pair of coumidinis (something like that) exotic racoon looking creatures from some country going for a mere 1,699.00$...ALL THIS IN ITSELF WAS UPSETTING, creatures that have no business being there...but what caught my eye was this beautiful ferret curled up sleeping in a cage next to the register. Her legs are a chocolate brown and body and head are roany looking silverish tinge somewhat of a mask very light brown...COLOR/PATTERN anyone??? Anyway Of course I asked to hold her and she snuggled right into me I gave her kisses and in my head I was already doing the math..the questions running through my head..should I? could I? I know I wanted a Phoebe..I already convinced myself she looked like a Phoebe!! So I examined her, I can feel her spine and hips, though she looked plump she certaintly did not feel it, I noticed VERY thin hair on her tail, her whole body had short hair though full, unlike her tail, Then I noticed her vulva looked a little larger than I am used to, though I was comparing her to socks...my feather weight ferret, everything on her is SMALL. Then I looked in her mouth and thats when I began to cry, most of her teeth had alot of tartar one, canine is brown...assumably dead and broken at the tip her other canine is mis-shapen and transluscent in appearance, her bottom inscissors mostly gone. Her teeth and behaviour lead me to believe she was a much older ferret. I asked the staff about the history of this little girl and I was told the owner "rescued" her from a young man who came in with his mother presumably to off load her for a few bucks..($40. to be exact) the day prior to my coming in, all the information the owner asked of this kid was if she was a spayed female, in which he was told yes. Of course he could be lying, because he was trying to sell her for 90, I spoke to the staff and went down the list of things wrong with her and what COULD BE wrong with her..and that I wanted to talk to the owner personally and they got him on the phone but he chose to make the conversation short with the staff and did not want to talk to me, but he lowered the price to 79.99. My SO told me if I wanted her he would buy her for me because I would not let go of her..I held her for so long that day, she peed on me!!!The staff told me he would be in at 6, so we came back an hour or so later..this way he would have to talk to me, long story short, we got him down to $50..of course..HE HAD TO MAKE SOME PROFIT on this poor thing with one foot at deaths door. BUT I AM ANGRY THAT HE DID NOT EVEN HAVE VET EXAMINE HER BEFORE RE-SELLING HER. She is old and so sweet (got my first kiss today) I dont know what this jerk was thinking..well yes I do..PROFIT, with no regard for her life..there are so many things wrong with that store, I feel I WANT to report him to some agency. I just did not want someone who did not know anything about ferrets to purchase her. After getting her home my SO found a grape sized lump around her anus/base of tail...I know I cant afford to fix everything that is wrong with her...SHOULD I START with her teeth and cbc or get the lump removed and biopsied..of course I want to do everything for her but funds are limited, that is where I feel bad, what if someone else could have bought her and afforded the needed surgeries..but I could not risk the chance of a ferret wise person purchasing her, because she might not have been so lucky..I still cry everytime I look at her..she is so frail...eats well though, poops good, moves around rather slowly, does hold her tail sometimes, off to the side or up??? I just wanted her to be in ahome where she will be loved and if she is to die then that is ok, just not in some pet store!! SORRY this is so long.. advice anyone? June, socks, joey, chandler and my little phoebe Thank you Louis I love you for getting me this little old soul [Posted in FML issue 2631]