Lielah

I took some pics of Lielah before she starts her Lupron shots. I will be glad to get her started.

Lielah with Adrenal

My worst nightmares have come true for my little half pint girl. She is adrenal.



We had a vet visit they other day. They palpated her and could not feel any noticeable tumors.... they did an ultra sound and saw 1 spot they felt surely was a small tumor. They do not feel Lielah is a good candidate for surgery because of her age (5) and her petite stature. 1 lb 4 oz. I don't think she has a lick of fat on her. She is a lean mean war dancing machine. She has no lethargy.... bright eyed and into everything. So we discussed lupron-depot and meletonin. Because we are catching it so early Dr B feels very confidant that she will have years ahead of her for a happy life as long as nothing else sneaks up. Dr B is checking on pricing. *double sigh*


I have decided to go the way of drugs vs surgery, because Dr Barkley and Dr Lightfoot agree her age and petite structure make her a greater risk, not just from the surgery aspect but from the anaesthesia aspect. I am surgery shy because I lost a 3 pound, 2 year old during adrenal surgery. I just can't take in my bouncing little girl only to bring her home in a box......I am confidant that this is the right choice for my wittle pwincess ferwet

Heartbreak-Goodbye Little Man Oscar

A friend today, lost one of her ferrets to adrenal disease.

Oscar was a special guy. He came to Toni a naked and starved skeleton. She fed him, loved him and nurtured him back to a happy, active, life loving character. She got him back in August, I think, of 2007. I watched his progress has he strengthened and grew hair. His personality bloomed and in November I had the pleasure to meet him in person....well in ferret. What a lovely little man he was.

I started to wonder why God brings these creatures into our lives, entwines them into our heart strings only to pluck them away so soon. How cruel, I thought. Our hearts fall so quickly and we give everything to them only to have our hearts broken.

It isn't fair!

It isn't right!

As tears filled my eyes and as I cried for my friend and the emptiness I knew she was feeling...... I realized I was looking at it the wrong way. I was looking at it the "all about me" way. This isn't about us, this is about the little fuzzbutts that are brought into our lives. ............. and its not just ferrets, but all animals............. I think that sometimes God knows he is taking a four legged child from the earth soon. God sees they have been mistreated, abused and neglected. So he drops them into our lives.... into the lives of special people who cherish animals, spoil them and understand them. He does this so that they can know what it is to be loved, wanted and needed before their time comes to an end. God gives them to us, to fulfil their needs, not ours. So we love them and give them happiness in their final days, months or last year, so that they can feel what God truly meant for them to have.

Fly high little one.......Dook and Dance at the bridge until mom and dad come for you.

Cassie the Cassinator

Cassie has become known as the Cassinator. I never expected what has come to surface. She has a bad biting problem and sometimes just lunges at you and takes a chunk and other times she runs by bites and keeps going (we call this a drive by biting.) We are making some headway with her but today I have the blues from working with her. We were having a nice play session and when she would come after my arm a "no bite" was sufficient and play would continue. Well as I said things were going well when all of a sudden that switch went off in her head and she lunged at me and bit and bit and bit. I would scruff, drag say no bite and release and she would come back with a vengeance. I finally did a scruff and drag turned out the light and left her in her cage in the dark. A long time out...... I felt so depressed, not because I feel like I am failing at teaching her not to bite..... hell I expect it to take a while, Tauvi was a good 6 to 8 months..... I got depressed because I was trying to imagine what happened to her to put the anger in her. What is the motion or action that makes that switch flip and get the rage going? Are there that many cruel people out there, or is it just ignorance at purchasing a pet we know nothing about? I have seen Cassies sweet gentle side....... kisses galore, happy weasel war dancing .... tug of war and falling asleep in my arms. But she has another side and we can't figure out what trips it. It makes me cry when she gets like that. What did someone do to her? What horrible things can cause so much anger or fear in such a small creature? And then this leads me to think of all the other ferrets that are mistreated, neglected and dumped. Are we as a human race that cruel? Are those of us that have compassion for animals and other humans a dying breed? I know that when we adopt animals from shelters there are always ones that are damaged goods...... Tauvi was damaged and in many ways still is. She will bite strangers and and strange loud noises will still sometimes startle her and send her into the shakes. I am sure Cassie will be the same. I can only hope that one day she can dump the old suitcases filled with fear and replace the contents with the hugs and kisses that we constantly shower her with.

Ping and Puma Discusion

By Alexandra in MA

It is a beautiful raw fall night in Central Massachusetts. The day's bone-cold rain had made the ground give up its rich scents of earth and moss, and the wind blew drifts of crimson and gold leaves along the grass with every gust. They tumble weeded across the hoomin's back yard,and came to rest tangled in the line of blueberry and mountain laurel bushes that ringed the lawn, the wide expanse open to the stars, now that all the clouds had gone. Two small ferrets sat on the wooden planking of the back deck facing that lawn and in full view of those stars, huddled together in a warm fleece sleepy sack, just their heads out and pointed up at the dark velvet night sky. Stars twinkled in that sky. Big red giants. Blazing blue white ones. Twinkling yellow ones.Ping said quietly to Puma "But what does it all *mean*? HSUS. Apis.S.O.S. And PETA.""And DMK," muttered Puma, darkly. Both shuddered a bit at the mention of those letters. The two weren't sure what that one, especially,meant but they knew they wouldn't like the reality, whatever it was.The two were quiet for a time, considering. And in that time particularly sharp gust of wind ruffled the fur of their faces, and each helped groom the other one back to their proper state--Ping grooming carefully around Puma's ears (she was ticklish there) and Puma spending extra time on the fur right on top of Ping's snout, which never quite lay flat the way she thought it ought to. Then the two went back to gazing up at the stars, comforted by the moist presence of one another's scents that the grooming had brought out.Finally Ping broke the silence by asking "Is this a Shelter?"Puma replied "This is a home."Ping continued "But what if our hoomins are hoarders?"Puma repeated "This is a home.""The cat hoards fur mice, you know that he does" said Ping. "He has maybe twenty under the sofa."Puma calmly replied "This is a home, Ping--our home. You, me, the cat, the dog and our hoomins. It's our forever home."Time passed. A sharply etched white star streaked across the sky,and fell on the other side of the world. Both ferrets murmured their pleasure and appreciation of the event.Finally Ping, his dark bandit mask tight with concentration asked more than a little fearfully "We're not going to get rescued, are we? I don't want to be rescued.""No," answered Puma. "This is a good home."Time passed, quietly.Finally Ping turned halfway around in the sleepy sack to face Puma and asked "Are there stars in Ohio?""I'm sure of it," answered Puma."Wishing stars?" he continued."Wishing stars," said Puma "lots of wishing stars just like here."Ping turned around to look back up at the sky once again. "I bet they wished hard in that...place.""Very hard," said Puma."Very hard," said Ping. "And one finally listened."

McKay Ferrets

So 10 McKay ferrets arrived in Florida last night up in Jacksonville, another 10 went to Broward county. I am pleased that Florida has done their part. The ones in Jacksonville have homes for the most part 1 maybe 2 have a home with me. I am pleased with the way everyone has worked on this project. No ferret was left behind.

McKay Ferrets

I have spent many hours e-mailing and speaking with shelters in regards to the McKay ferrets. The lack of response and I can'ts is depressing. If you take the lower 48 and remove CA for their stupidity, that leaves us with 47 states. 850 ferrets divided by 47 states. Each state would only need to take in 18 ferrets. That could be 1 or 2 ferrets per shelter. I can get maybe 7 homes right now. If I could take them all in I would.....but that is unrealistic. I guess I will keep plugging away and hope that some more Floridians will step up.