RIP Cookie

My beloved baby Cookie passed away on New Year's Day.

I remember when I brought her home. She was still so young, her umbilical cord had not yet fallen. I treated her like my baby and she loved every moment of it. No one could comfort her like I could.

Who will comfort me now that she is gone?

She will always be remembered.

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.

Curious George

My Georgie. I loved him very, very much. When Sugar died we grieved for her even though she had only been in our life for a very short time. While at the nameless pet store we (my husband & I) decided to play with the kits. This is a bad idea; it's how ferret math works. So I see this unusual ferret, his markings were unique; he had a small body, & a big head. Really he was all head, lol. Anyway, I felt a pull something that just called to me. I debated leaving him there. At the time one of the employees was a ferret owner (she had 13 ferrets!) and I was talking to her & she commented how he was unique to her too. I couldn't walk away from him so as an anniversary present my husband bought him for me. Georgie and I were like nails & dirt or as we say in Spanish una y carne (nail & skin). He was so SPOILED, when I brought him home to meet the rest of the family (at this point it was Bandit, Princess, & Bear) he was non-challant. He was a character. George knew he was the king in my heart so I think he took advantage of that because when he would eat ( Sheppard & Greene) mixed with Iams Kitten Food) he would not let any of the other ferrets came near him or he would cry. I know, CRY. If you've never heard it, it sounds much like a parrot squawking. I would come running to the cage to see what was happening, scold the other ferrets because they wouldn't let my Georgie eat, pull him & the bowl of food out so he could enjoy his food. Now this happened primarily when I was not in the room, so I really did not know what was going on, I just assumed the other ferrets were picking on him because he was little. I decided then to buy him his own bowl and I did. I put his bowl next to the other bowl. That was a mistake. I finally figured out what was happening, he did not want any of the ferrets to come near the food when he was eating so he was crying @ them! I found him with his bottom in his bowl & his front paws and face in the other bowl! What a booger!! This made me love him even more, no one in my family was allowed to touch my Georgie, we watched TV together, slept together, played together, and it was awesome! When we weren't together he was into so much mischief! Once he wanted to clear the gate (clear Plexiglas) so he jumped on the couch to try to jump on the oscillating fan, to jump over the gate, well needless to say his plan failed and was hanging on by a nail! When he jumped onto the oscillating fan he slid & I assume he was trying to grip so where the fan comes together in the middle the gap is close, his nail was wedged there. He yelped so loud, my husband and I got up in a flash, ran down the stairs & found him in that state! Geez, I never had been so scared! IT WAS FIVE IN THE MORNING! And I had a really rude awakening so I think that added to my fear. Of course this wasn't the end of Georgie's mischief. At the time I had a 2-tier cage that the ferrets lived in and there was a potty on each tier. We (by we I mean my 2 daughters and I) would take turns cleaning out the litter boxes (by the way I use Yesterday’s News Cat litter) and it was my eldest daughter's turn, and while she was cleaning the top tier litter box, she figured "Oh, they won't try to escape out of the cage while I'm standing here" so she left the cage open turned around and who comes flying out? You guessed, Georgie. Only in his haste he wasn't careful and got himself stuck. Let me see if I can try to help you with a visual (guys you may want to skip ahead), the cage is mostly coated wire, the little "door" has sharp ends, Georgie's opening got caught on the sharp end & dangled by his opening from the second tier. Ouch!! Poor thing yelped again. I took him to the vet right away but because boy ferret openings are so small there was nothing the vet could do except tell me to watch him closely so he can still use it for normal day-to-day functions. Needless to say he ended up with a slit on his little opening and recovered as well as any male ferret could. Oh he's a Curious George and that is why he was name George! By the way, on a side note, in loving memory of my Curious George I am going to see the Curious George movie coming out. OMGosh! It's very late & I have to work, so I leave on this note, Love your companions often because you never know when they will say good bye and my Georgie's goodbye will be a sorry for another time.

Good nite!

Bear

Bear, Bear, Bear. What can I say about Bear? Where do I start! Well Bear we got to be a companion to Sugar. See, when we got Princess she and Bandit were buds so we figured that if we got someone for Sugar maybe she would feel she needed a reason to fight the greenies. So, I just listened & looked were I could for that companion. One day we went to the Pet Store (which will remain nameless because I do not want to advertise for them seeing that they are a horrific store) to buy some supplies when we noticed the ferrets! BABY ferrets! Oh my goodness, they are the cutest little things I have ever seen! So there were quite a few kits we picked them up, played with them, let them nip @ our fingers, and let them climb all over us. My husband, who was against the whole idea in the first place, saw this cute dark ferret. He says, "He looks like a little bear!" "If I had him, I would name him Little Bear because he looks like a bear & he is the smallest of the bunch!" If you could have seen the look on his face when he saw bear, his eyes were all water & the look on his face was so soft & sensitive. I sincerely thought that if we walked away from that store with out that kit he would feel really bad & even shed a tear, so I bought him.

When we took him home, Princess forgot all about Bandit and started dooking & following "Little Bear" everywhere he went. Oh my! I would guess that her maternal instincts kicked in or something because she definitely followed him like she needed to protect him. Sugar was not affected either way by his presence. It was really sad to see her deteriorate but "Little Bear" flourished so much so we don't call him "Little Bear" anymore, he's just Bear.

It's hard to tell but there are 3 fuzzies in this picture. Benjamin (black nose), Cookie (pink nose), & Bear (darkie, can only see his leg). Quite the trio. This is thier favorite place to hang out. 

Sugar & Spice

Well, I took Princess home but I was still new to the ferreting world and I did not know exactly how to handle her biting issues. My husband didn't want to wait around to see if I would ever figure it out so he suggested since I was going to go to the GCFA (see link) to adopt a ferret why not leave Princess there were a more experienced ferret owner could take her (how naive). The day soon approached and Princess had bitten me, not over my clothes but only where she felt SOFT SKIN, so many times! We all had! But still, I fell in love with her in a matter of 2 days. On the day of going to the GCFA, I told my husband I did not like the idea of dropping her off @ the shelter, the idea of the shelter is to place them in GOOD homes, not pick one up and leave one. How could we just leave her there and not even give her the chance to prove she could be shown love and stop biting. Well, we got to the shelter and I told the person in charge we were going to keep princess after all but I still wanted to adopt a ferret. He showed us "Queenie." She was a cute ferret but not what I was looking for. She was older and was an Albino ferret. Well, she played well with our two ferrets and I decided what the hay, I'll take her. My youngest daughter fell in love with her right away. When we took her home we renamed her (I did not like the name Queenie). We were going to rename princess as well but decided against it. Originally it would have been Bandit, Sugar & Spice. Anyway, as I mentioned before, I was still very green when it came to owning ferrets & did not know the quarantine rule. ICK! Never again will I ever forget the quarantine rule. Apparently the shelter forgot to tell me that a VERY contagious illness had been going around & Sugar may have possibly contracted it. It was the green slime disease. All my ferrets got it and unfortunately Sugar never recovered from it.
The only way to treat the greenies is by feeding the ferret Pedialyte (for loss of electrolytes) and a duck soup. And contrary to what "experts" say about how to feed the ferret these things I do not suggest using a syringe. This method can actually cause the ferret harm due to the fact that if the ferret swallows down the wrong pipe it can aspirate. (Just a tidbit of advice)

This is Cookie attempting to skate board.

Bandit begging for a treat

Mittens and Bear.

A Companion for Bandit

This story is about Princess. Bandit was so fun when we got him and he was very spoiled. He got so much attention I don't think he knew what to do with it. Well, as some time passed I noticed that he looked lonely (maybe it was me wanting another ferret) and I told my husband that for Christmas I wanted a companion for Bandit. He (fortunately for me) thought it a good idea and so my search began. I searched in all places for the new companion of mine ... I mean ... of Bandit but I could not find what I was looking for. I knew what the perfect companion for him would be in my mind but I could not locate that companion. I turned to the all-knowing Internet (yet again) and found the GCFA (almost right in my neighborhood). I looked around and found some adoptable ferrets (all of them!). I talked it over with my husband and we decided to call and visit the shelter to adopt a companion or two.

Side note: In the book Ferrets for Dummies written by Kim Schilling I read that it is better to have the ferrets in groups of three because ferrets are very sensitive and if their companion passes away they can become very depressed and pass away too but with three they still have their other companion to keep them company.

After I made the appointment to see the ferret(s), I heard about Princess. I did not know what I was going to find out about her. I talked to my husband and he said okay go check it out. I went ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Jaw dropped and feeling of dismay in my heart) Oh my goodness! You will never believe what I encountered.

When I left my home, I left with a carrier and a blanket ready to take home a ferret. I was still very new to the ferret experience and did not know what to expect ... plus I had not read all the way through my" bible" Ferrets for Dummies. I show up and I looked at what her surroundings were and what habits she had. She was the perfect color and exactly what I imagined Bandit's new companion would be like. He immediately took to her and she took to him. They romped around the room like a happy couple. As they played and I kept a watchful eye on them I listened to the "owner" of Princess tell me about her. From the information, I gathered I deduced that poor Princess went through a couple homes and she was not wanted by anyone. No one wanted to play with her or give her any attention and when she did receive any attention, it was to do something awful to her. This "owner" has three very young children, and I am not saying that people with young children shouldn't have ferrets, but the "owner" shouldn't have ANY pets with these young children. MY, MY, MY! They grabbed princess by her tail, picked her up by the throat, squeezed her middle and dangled her by her tail. I was so very upset. The worst part is that I knew these people and had to remain polite. I think that was a true test of character for me because it took every ounce of will I had not to tell them off because the next thing they told me was that Princess liked to bite so they took a pair of NAIL CLIPPERS and CLIPPED her canines! How could anyone be so cruel?! ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Remembering this event brings deep feelings into my heart. I hurriedly picked Princess up (using a towel because she had been so brutally abused that she would bite if you came near her with your hands) and put her in the carrier and rushed home.

Our Ferret Story

My ferret story begins when I saw the movie “Beast Master.” I met Kodo and Podo. They were so adorable. I remember saying to my sister, “I want one of those!” I had not a clue in the world what they were called, but I knew I wanted one.

The summer of 2001 I went to visit my “mom” and it just so happens she had a HUGE cage in my sister’s room with a lonely ferret in it. It was love at first sight! I would not have asked for him if it weren’t for the fact that when I saw him his cage was full of poop everywhere, he did not have water, and he did not have food in his bowl. His nails were long and he wanted to come out of his cage. I felt so sad for him. I got really mad at my sister for not taking good care of him, and then I asked her if I could have (buy) him. She said no, but then I asked my mom. Hehehe! Mom said I could, of course, but there was only one problem… I had to convince my husband of letting me bring him home.

My husband is so fickle. I told him all about the poor ferret and how he really didn’t have a name, how they called him stinky, how he was living, and how much I wanted him. Of course I gave my husband the puppy dog eyes and he said yes. “YEAH!” I thought, but I waited to long. My husband changed his mind. ARRRRRGH! My husband was working out of town during that time so I had to wait for him to come back to ask again. I guess I could have asked over the phone but it doesn’t work the same. Can’t give him the puppy dog eyes over the phone. When he got home, I asked again, and again he said yes. I thought, “YEAH!” I tried not to delay and bought the ferret some food and other miscellaneous items and I didn’t for a second think he would have changed his mind a second time, but he did. I asked him why?! He said we didn’t know enough about ferrets to take care of one. So I did what anyone else does, I turned to the all-knowing Internet. I found some really interesting websites and some informative websites. I printed them out and feeling accomplished I showed them to my husband. He tried to find other excuses but I found answers for those excuses. He had no choice but to say yes! That day I called my mom and told her we were on our way! We jumped in the car to claim our ferret! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY!

We brought him home (and I don’t think I was fully prepared for a ferret) we (I mean my husband) cleaned his dirty cage and gave him a name. Bandit, the curious lint trap!

This is one of my babies. He is now only 6 months old.

Ferret Frenzi

The picture I posted is of my very first ferret. His name is Bandit. My husband gave him that name. We adopted him from someone who thought it cool to have one but didn't want to do the work that came along with owning one. It took me three months and lots of research to convince my husband to let us have him. Three times he said "Yes." and twice he said "No." On the third yes I did not hesitate, I immediately went over and picked him up. We now have SEVEN ferrets in our home and four that have passed. Of all the ferrets we have six have been "adopted" (more like rescued) and the other five have been purchased (can't say no to the cute little faces they make; especially when they are babies). My husband and I love these little critters as if they were our children. One ferret we had, Roxy (aka Baby), used to climb in our bed and sleep in between us. It was really cute. She had a stroke a few months after we "adopted" her and went into a seizure. We took her to the "emergency" vet clinic and had to have her put to sleep. The ferrets we have had come through our home or are still in our home are (in order that they came): Bandit (the one to start the Ferret Frenzi in our home) Princess (sad story about her) Sugar (got her from a shelter) Bear (aka Burrito, Houdini or Evil Canevil) Georgie (he was deaf) Panchito (aka Shadow) Mittens (aka Muñeca and real naughty) Roxy (aka baby) Ginger (my daughter's ferret) Benjamin (I constantly call him Georgie cuz he reminds me of him) Cookie (She is soooooo cute!) I have to go bake a cake for my husband's birthday... so I'll blog you later!

My name is Bandit.

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AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG! I have been typing for 30 mins and in a bad click I lost it! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!