Indiana Kids

16 ferrets had to be removed from a house that was going through

 foreclosure. The ferrets had to be out of there by Oct. 7th. If the shelters

 didn`t step forward, the animals would be euthanized.

The guy didn`t know their names. They weren`t up to date on vacs. They

 had no litter pans. All 16 were very thin. The ferrets had to walk through

 five inch deep excrement to get to their (mostly empty!) food & water

 dishes.The guy took them out of the cage once a month & hosed it out!!!

 The place reeked so badly it would have gagged a maggot. They were

 covered in feces & urine burns. All had fleas & ear mites. Poor things.

 Disgusting.

All 16 got along well--and no one was particularly bonded with any other,

 so it was decided that the group could be split. (Usually it isn`t a good

 idea to split a group.)

 We took the four that would never be adopted by ANYONE. All are

 adrenal, with health issues.

 One has an egg-sized tumor in her chest. She is old, and doesn`t have

 long, but I have promised her we`ll make it as wonderful as possible for

 her. One little boy had a TERRIBLE case of ear mites.

 They had chewed clear through his ear drum. He was badly dehydrated, as

 well as severely anemic. He`s somewhere between four & five years old.

 There`s a long, skinny albino who is missing half his fur. He arrived

 covered with a rash, & scratches, infected by urine burn. Dehydrated, and

 very tender in the tummy.

 The last one, a male--maybe four years old, is

 totally bald, except for his black socks. All four will be on lupron now.

 I know we didn`t need more ferrets, but Heartland Small Animal Rescue

 sent us a plea--and we couldn`t just let the ferrets die...

My wonderful husband Kurt took the 7 hour, round trip drive to Indiana to

 get the Indiana Four. We will spend the rest of their lives trying to make it

 up to them for what the last human did to them. I`m not sorry we took

 them in.

Slinky (adrenal, with egg-sized tumor in chest)

Panda (bald, thin, and adrenal)  &  Foster (adrenal, with urine burns on tummy & feet)

UPDATE:

It is now early March of 2010. Little Slinky lived out her last few months in

comfort, here with us. She loved to cuddle.

Panda left us, several months later. He died with a full, lush, beautiful coat,

but was riddled with cancer.

Foster died as well :(

We knew, when we took them in, that our time together would probably

be short. The important thing is that it was as comfortable & happy for

them as possible.

The only remaining member of this group is Fresno (the little adrenal boy

whose eardrum had been chewed through by ear mites.) He runs with the

Star Wars group, and is pictured below, with his buddy Mac. Fresno gets

along with absolutely everyone.He is one of the sweetest little ferrets I

have ever known--both with other ferties, and with humans.

Fresno is still given special feedings, but you can see by his color & weight,

that he`s not particularly well.  There is a large mass in his abdomen, but

there`s no way he would survive surgery.

The lupron he gets is relieving his adrenal symptoms, but he has never

regrown all of his fur. (This is another indication of more serious issues.)

Still, he runs & plays--and is truly enjoying his last days/weeks/months 

left on this earth. He`s comfortable & happy--and surrounded by love... 

He is such a joy....

                         Fresno "Is it treat time yet, mom?"

UPDATE: March 19, 2010

We lost our little Fresno today. He died in comfort & peace, at home,

surrounded by love. He got to enjoy really being a ferret, before he died.

It was wonderful for him. We were able to make a big difference in his 

life.This is what it`s all about.

I`m so glad he came to us. He was such a gift... 

                                          Love, Zoo