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Our Ferrets ~ page 1
Gregg had been wanting a ferret for a long time. I kept saying NO. One day in 1996, he called me at work and said he had a surprise for me. I asked if he'd gotten a ferret. He would neither confirm nor deny. I got home from work to find that Gregg had, indeed, bought a ferret. I didn't want him and was afraid of him. It took me about 3 days to overcome my fear and then, little Froderick drove me crazy following me, playing, just being a ferret. Well, we had to get him a friend.
I found an ad for Igor in the local paper. I went to pick him up. I was so angry with the people who had him that I ragged on them for 1/2 an hour. He was being kept in a small animal carrier. The litter box took up at least half of the floor space. He was being fed cat treats and coffee creamer. He was so malnourished and dehydrated that he nearly didn't make it. I hand fed him for a month. I miss him sitting on my lap, lapping up duck soup. He wasn't much of a playmate for Froderick because at first he was so sickly, and then because he turned out to be a grumpy old man in a ferret body. He only wanted to tend to his baby, his baseball cap, and didn't want to be bothered by any other ferret.
When a co-worker told me her client had to find a new home for a ferret, I jumped at the chance to bring Inga home because I was still looking for a playmate for Froderick. She was a sweet, fragile little girl, very laid back, pretty much a loner. Again, not much of a playmate for Froderick. Inga, however, loved to give us kisses.
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We decided to try again. I couldn't find any single female ferrets (ya know, 2 boys, 2 girls, even numbers), but I did find a pair of females needing a home. So we went to pick up Elizabeth and Helga. Elizabeth still had baby hairs, she was so soft, like a powder puff, and very sweet. Helga was a biter. We were warned. So naturally, what did I do? Stuck Helga right in my face, kissed her on her nose and she promptly bit me on the lip! LOL I truly felt untold amounts of ferret love for this wee one. The people we bought these ferrets from loved all over Elizabeth and didn't even bother to say good-bye to Helga. I was furious.
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Helga was ignored because she bit. She bit because she was ignored. She would be ignored no longer, and with lots of love and attention, she did finally quit biting, well, except for earlobes. Our numbers were now uneven and I was determined to have an even number of boys and girls.
Someone else at work wanted to find a home for their ferret. Ours would be at least the 3rd (and now forever) home for Darwin. Gregg was thrilled. Darwin's coloring was like a Siberian Husky he had up until the Husky was "accidentally" killed by unnamed idiots. Darwin's our only "mitt" and he is a beauty. A sweet boy who doesn't get into any trouble, except when a new ferret has joined our busyness. He likes to think he's the Alpha ferret, but, honestly, I'm the Alpha ferret.
Then one day I came home from work and saw Igor in the kitchen. When I walked into the living room, I saw another ferret the same coloring as Igor. I said, "Who's that?!!!" Gregg said, "Igor." I said, "No, it's not. I just passed Igor in the kitchen and he's still in there." Gregg said, "He ran up my arm and begged to come home with me, but I can take him back. :-(" I said, "No, he's home now, we CANNOT take that ugly boy back." Hans turned out to be a tool-stealing thief and a total joy. He really was a beautiful ferret and he, too, stole a piece of my soul.
Inga had had adrenal surgery and just never really recovered. She got to feeling really poorly, so I took her to the vet to help her to Rainbow Bridge. The vet drew some blood and found she was insulinomic, so she came back home with me with a script for prednisone. While at the vet, the tech asked if I knew anyone who would take a ferret.
Someone had brought in a little girl who was adrenal and wanted her put down because they didn't want to pay for surgery. The vet refused and asked the people to just surrender her to the office, to which they agreed. They turned and walked out the door and didn't look back. They didn't even bother to give the vet any information on this ferret, not even her name! The vet performed the surgery and then set out to find a home for this sweet little girl. So I did a quick count in my head: Froderick, Igor, Hans, Darwin, Inga, Elizabeth, Helga. Hrm one more girl makes 4 boys, 4 girls. Yeah, how could I refuse? I picked Ab up the next weekend after she recovered from her surgery.
Ab was almost identical looking to Inga and had pretty much the same temperament. The only difference between Inga and Ab was that Ab would stand up for herself if another ferret was picking at her, while Inga would just cry. We could only tell them apart because Inga's hair never grew back on her tail after adrenal surgery and Ab's did.
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One day I was reading on a ferret board that a couple just across the IL state line needed to find a home for their ferret. Well, after much discussion, Gregg and I met the couple half-way between here (Central IN) and where they live (IL) and brought Madelyn home. She was sweet most of the time but gave the boys a run for their 'tone when she got wound up. Madelyn was a carrier of ECE.
We had 8 ferrets down with ECE at one time. It took us a month to get through it. I was force-feeding 8 ferrets every 4 hours around the clock except when I was at work. We administered sub-q fluids to those who needed them.
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Madelyn
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We had a mess on our hands. At the end of it all, Ab had a severe seizure, probably due to insulinoma. I called the vet several times over the next 1/2 an hour or so and did as I was told. During my last call to the vet, she stated that Ab sounded too far gone and she didn't believe even she could bring her out of the seizure, but I could bring her in. The vet stated she believed Ab would be gone by the time we got to the office, so we did our best to make Ab comfortable and let her begin her journey to the Meadow at the Bridge from home.
In August 2000, we bought a house and the ferrets now have their own room. I went in the ferret room one morning to find Inga had left for the Bridge during the night. About a month later, I found Igor in severe distress. I took him to the vet and they assisted him to the Bridge. Then shortly after that, Hans was having trouble breathing. I thought it was a respiratory infection. I took him to the vet only to find that his lungs were filled with cancer. There was no hope and he was suffering, so we had him assisted to Meadow at the Bridge also.
Froderick had developed adrenal disease. While he was being checked out, a mass was found in his belly and his chest and he had an enlarged heart. I took him to another vet for a second opinion. It was confirmed he was not a surgery candidate. We put him on Lupron and waited until he let me know it was time to help him on his journey to the Bridge. I suspect that Igor had a lot of cancer in his chest as his symptoms were the same as the symptoms of Hans. After so much loss in less than 2 years, we decided 4 ferrets were enough.
That is until a guy Gregg works with decided to find a new home for his ferret. We waited and waited and waited for the guy to let us bring that ferret home.
In the meantime, I saw on a ferret board, again, that a ferret needed a home, but this one was in FL. Luck would have it that JD, the shelter operator of Widget's Halfway House, was coming to OH. I made a deal to trade ferret bedding that I'd made equal in value to the adoption fee for Freddie. He is a trip. A real wild man. He brings a smile to my face even when he's being his naughty self.
Freddie had been in 3 homes and then the shelter in his short 8 months of life. I had to give that boy a forever home. We met JD in OH and brought Freddie home. To this day, I don't understand how anyone could give that that boy up. I know JD didn't want to give Freddie up, I had to practically pry Freddie from his hands, but letting Freddie go to a forever home made room for another ferret at the shelter. I will always be grateful to JD for allowing us to give Freddie his forever home.
A short time later, an Animal Control Officer for the city I work for mentioned they'd picked up a ferret and had it at the shelter. Well, I couldn't have that. The next day I took a carrier in to work and went to pick up Audrey. I went straight to the cage she was in, the ACO unlatched the door, I stuck my hand in and pulled out a little girl with the most beautiful face. After looking her over briefly, I brought her to my face and kissed her, she kissed me back. LOL The entire time the ACO was sputtering about Audrey possibly biting me. When she saw Audrey kiss me, she laughed and commented that Audrey could tell I was a ferret person.
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