Roxy / Baby

I can't believe how much time has passed. I remeber baby so well. She was another favorite (not that I love any of my fuzz balls any less). She was so special. She inched her way into our hearts (my husband and I).

Roxy has an unknown past, I don't know how old she was, where she came from or what history she had. I only knew very little. She initially belonged to a teenager who was the son of a friend of my friend (makes sense??). Apparently this teenager was doing all kinds of things they were not supposed to do (big surprise) and the mom put this kid out. When she put her kid out (he was of age) she had a HUGE mess to clean up. This kid had a HUGE mess in the basement / room. My friend went to help with the clean up and discovered this ferret with no food or water. Roxy was lucky to be alive. I guess my friend initially tried to call me to see if I would take it but I was unavailable and her son decided he wanted the ferret. When I called to see what was up she told me she had given the ferret to her son. I was a bit disappointed because I felt that it would be better of with me (another factor of ferret math).

Well a little time passed and her son decided he did not have the time to watch over her so they gave her to me. I did not consult my husband for this one and when I brought her home he was upset. So I set out to find a good home for Roxy but I would keep her in the meantime.

I found a home that I thought would be suitable for her and I could keep a close eye on her and I gave her away. When my husband came home from work he immediately asked me about Roxy. I told him I had given her away. He was upset.

Apparently he had bonded with her but did not want to tell me because he was upset I brought her home. Now he was feeling bad because she was gone. Well, she wasn't gone for too long because she bonded with us too. The home I had taken her too was to a friend of mine and she called me to tell me she thought there was something wrong with the ferret. I asked her why she thought that and she told me that Roxy would not come out to play and she would just lay there.

I went over to see what she meant and when I was there she seemed to be playful enough. My friend said she did not behave that way and she must be missing me. I took her home. When we arrived home my husband was so happy she was home.

Roxy had to be let out in a different area than the other ferrets because she did not get along with them (especially Mittens). We would let her out in our room. I would let her stay out overnight and this is where she got her nick name Baby. When we were sleeping Baby would climb up onto our bed and sleep between my husband and I like a baby would. I made a bed for her on the floor next to us and she would still climb up on the bed between us. I moved her to the one side of me so my husband would not accidently roll over on her. She moved back into the middle of us. She was not happy if she was not sleeping in our bed in the middle of us both.

Baby was sick, but I did not know the severity of her illness. Her hind legs would give out from under her when she was walking. I thought that because of her size, she was very young and that might be a handicap rather than due to an illness. For Baby to climb up onto our bed was a feat. She was so specail and loved for so many different reasons. She was a very special ferret.

Baby did not last very long with us (less than a year) when we had to have her put to sleep. She suffered a stroke and the whole left side of her was paralyzed. Shortly after that she went into a siezure (it was not caused by low sugar) and would not stop siezing. We took her to the vet and of course we could have prolonged her life by trying to figure out what was causing her to sieze or we could do what was humane. It was her time and we loved her enough to let her go so we did.

I will always remeber my baby, Roxy.

Panchito

Panchito was adopted in 2003 and he was with us for a few years before he passed. Panchito was acutally Princesses brother (they originated from the same home). When Princess was given away the family kept Panchito but when thier circumstances changed they could no longer give him the same attention they asked me if I would "babysit" him. They never came back for him but that's okay because we loved our little shadow.

When we took him in I was really sad at the state of him. He was treated more like a dog than a ferret. He had a harness that was double wrapped around his neck so tight that it cut his skin. He had open wound under face. I was so upset. How is it that we can not think that this is wrong. Can we honestly claim ignorance? This is another case where I really bit my toungue about the state he was in because I knew the family and did not want to cause any friction. I was glad when they never claimed him back.

Panchito was a dark ferret and everywhere you went Panchito was sure to go. We nick named him shadow for that reason. It was really cute when he wanted attention he would come up to your leg, put a paw on you, and look up at you with these eyes ... and if that didn't work to get your attention he would then lick your leg (if it wasn't bare he would find or make a bare spot to lick). I could not resist his wiles! Sometimes his licks turned into lick, lick, chomps. This was when he was feeling very persistant. He loved to eat french fries and steal Bandit's stash of raisins. Why save for later what you can eat now. He was the biggest fan of Golden Raisins.

Panchito passed away an old fert altho he was not without a few complications. He passed away at home in 2006.

Mittens

Mittens got her name because she has 4 white paws. Really they look like socks but since she was a female we thought it more appropriate to name her Mittens (I ALWAYS nick name my ferrets so I call her Muneca (doll in spanish) & Mickeys which is a combo of the two names). Mittens was too adorable and of course seeing her as a kit they are so very irresistible! Careful when playing with kits they will capture your attention and make you want to take them home, immediately!

We were not looking for another ferret. We still had Bandit, Princess, Bear, & Georgie but she was too cute so we took her home. When we took her home Georgie reacted to her much like princess reacted to Bear. It was too funny. When we would let the ferrets out Georgie would grab Mittens by her scruff and drag her away. I would scold Georgie, put him in his cage for a time out and then let him out a little while longer. He knew what he was doing was naughty because he would watch me and as soon as I wasn't paying attention he would snatch her up and drag her away. Sometimes I would catch him in the act of dragging her away and he would see me in time to RUN off with her out of my reach! He was such a little booger and I adored him for it! (SUCKER!)

Mittens and Georgie were really good friends, he eventually stopped dragging her around. Mittens is (of these original ferrets) the only one left alive. We brought her home the summer of 2001. She is now 7 and fit as a fiddle, spry as the day we brought her home. She is afraid of heights tho but then she was always afraid of heights. She climbs up then starts shaking and looking around for someone to rescue her from her predicament.

We have a new generation of ferrets but she doesn't get along with them so she is in a cage by herself now. This is very difficult to evenly distribute the attention they all neeed but we manage.

Well, that's it for now about Mittens.