The joys of ferrent-hood and ferret rescue

LaComadreja14

I am a very loving ferrent and a loving chihuahua mom... but for me ferrets (as a species not just mine) are just more needy than other animals. People more commonly 'neglect' their ferret's needs, not because they don't care about their ferrets but because of the common misconceptions of ferret care. It really pains me to see/hear about a ferret in need. A while ago I put an add on CL looking for a new cage for my four beloved carpet sharks and I got one but I forgot to take the add down and today I got an email from someone looking to rehome their ferret. It is five years old and they don't even know its gender- that kills me. You don't even know how much. A friend and myself work to rescue needy ferrets and find them homes, the problem with that is people looking for ferrets want a kit so we rarely place the older ones in homes. Ugh. On top of that these older fuzz that come to us commonly have health issues, we aren't an official rescue so we rely on the kindess of our vet to help with the high vet bills. Ugh x2. He is usually really good about helping but we understand he has a business to run and feel aweful about constantly asking for help. My fiancee has been very understanding about ferrent hood, he even helped me put together our four ferret's bedroom. He did, however, say that three was our max.. then my friend and her boyfriend broke up and he took 3 of their 4 fuzz, one of those fuzz had belonged to my mother and I begged him to let me take custody of at least that one.. and my fiancee understood my feelings toward that one so he let me have four.

Now, I get this email. I am nearly brought to tears by this poor little creatures plight and I just can't leave this new needy fuzz to fate. I need new foster homes in my area. Ugh x3. What to do, what to do?

YukonJoy

I grew up with ferrets and I love them to pieces. We were a foster home for the local shelter (but we always kept them).

I wish I was in your area

foremant86

so sad

they are such neat animals and i'd probably like to have one someday but not now, one of my dogs does not like small animals of any kind.

GemmieNoWobbles

That is so awful... how can you not know what gender your own pet is? I have 2 ferrets (they are just over a year old), and I love them to bits. They can be a pain in the butt sometimes but they just need to be loved and cared for and played with. Some people shouldnt be allowed pets at all.
:flowerforyou:

LaComadreja14

I know this (and when I say this convo I mean the one I'm having with the current owner) whole convo has put me in an aweful mood, they are such little angles. I couldn't imagine life with out my four (in my tracker thingie they are Southern Comfort but we call him SoCo (the only one who we didn't adopt) he is 9 months old and is a little 'slow' but very sweet, I got him this past 2/27/11. Captain Morgan who is about 3- he is the one who was my moms then my friends, now hes mine... at my moms his nickname was the devil and that suits him.. he is the most curious, one of my most intelligent and one of the most destructive lol- I got him 8/2/11. Mojito, he is about 6-7 I adopted him as a gift for my fiancee a little over a year ago, he is incredibly intelligent and amazingly energetic for a ferret who has Adrenal disease, Insulinoma, prostate problems stemming from adrenal, and a few other issues. He is also deaf and has waardenburgs- hes a total handful on his own. Last but not least is Kahlua, my little lulabear. She is my only girl. I adopted her 2 years ago. She is the reason that she is my only girl, she hates other females (except a select few) she also hates SoCo for some reason. She was nearly dead from neglect when I got her but she quickly perked up with a ton of TLC. She loves my dog more than the rest do, i think, but not in a cuddly way- she likes to attack and torture him lol. He is her favorite playmate. She is about 4 yrs old and generally in good health, shes my second most cuddly next to SoCo.

My friend has 11 atm, we foster out when we can find someone who passes our home check- but its hard to find anyone willing and when we do they usually aren't responsible people, just people who are into 'exotic pets'. My friends living situation allows her to keep more fuzz than mine does so she houses most of them. Thankfully shes agreed to keep this new one until we find a foster home for him/her(almost all foster homes, luckily enough, agree to become forever homes). I got some more info from the woman who emailed me, she said the ferret goes to the bathroom all in one pile so I am assuming its a little girl. Poor baby. Fingers crossed we get our hands on her tonight!

LaComadreja14

That is so awful... how can you not know what gender your own pet is? I have 2 ferrets (they are just over a year old), and I love them to bits. They can be a pain in the butt sometimes but they just need to be loved and cared for and played with. Some people shouldnt be allowed pets at all.
:flowerforyou:

Gotta say, adorable babies- what are their names?
All ferrets have their OMG-WTF-R-U-DOING-*insert name here*?! moments, lol. Sometimes they're the moments that give us ferrents a heart attack and sometimes they're the moments which throw us into fits of uncontrolable laughter but each is a memory to be cherished forever
As you continue your dive into ferrenthood, you will find a lot of people don't know the simplest information that you think they would obviously know. Unfortunately, after a while, nothing will amaze you anymore. Ferrenting and fostering are incredibly rewarding and I cant express enough how happy my babies make me, the heart ache of finding a ferret in need though- that is a total ugh moment. Or several. I just pray that I can save each one I tumble upon Thank you for ferrenting

One of my favorite ferret sayings (and its so true) is: Ferrets, nature's anti-depresent