Possum's Special Additions, AKA Rants - 2011 Edition    Possum left for the Rainbow Bridge on February 13, 2012.    Reporter Sarah's special additions to the Newsletter    Rants from 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, & 2010.

 

December 21, 2011:
  *Sarah crossing her arms in front of her chest in a snit* I am not doing the news this month – mum has too many notes for me to put in the news – Mum says I have too – Possum is laughing at me – I'm not! I'm not! I am not doing the news! – Sarah over whelmed Psst Possum here – I told mum I would help Sarah, Sarah is correct there are a lot of notes so the news is going to come out after Christmas – I am going to let Sarah stew in her own snit for a while before I tell her I will help – Possum feeling vindicated

October 22, 2011:
   Okay – Sarah here – Mum told me I needed to update you on some things – The Snoozy mini beds we were looking for have been discontinued – so scratch that idea – sorry to make you all work so hard for naught – Hey this is kinda cool I think I just might like being the shelter reporter! Sarah

August 24, 2011:
   Monday as I was getting kids up and putting them out in the play areas I found a cage with green poo in it – Sarah – she had not been tagged so she now has a suspect tag on her cage as of this morning - Tuesday I found the new kid Penny with green slime neither of the girls are sick at this time, so two new cages have been tagged with suspect tags. Maci has improved enough to eat kibble as of yesterday however this morning she is struggling to walk so I will give fluids she has had her carafate, I will get some soup in her as well, as I write this she has her face in the kibble dish. Stevie is doing much better he could go back to his cage mates however Sugar has decided he is an invader not her cage mate so she beat the snot out of him when I put him in the play area with her and Milo – I will not try again until I know he fully recovered the stress of being beat up can cause him to get sick again. All the kids that were leaving green poo, and /or were sick last week have recovered – we are still getting intermittent green throughout the shelter cages but I understand that could go on for up to 6 months. The shelter kids are stable at this time; if I can keep Maci going until her mom gets home life will be good, mom said she is not going to get back in the US until September 2, 2011. Oh I got word from SOS yesterday that they put $250.00 on our vet account, the kids and I thank you for supporting SOS, having them do that for us is a huge help on what we have run up since this hit the shelter in July. Shelter mum

August 19, 2011:
   I had the best surprise ever this morning – when I get done with meds and soup in the shelter I come up to take care of the sick ones in my space – in the sick pen – treat sickest ones last so I do as little passing this around as I can - As I was getting the fluids put up – meds set up – while doing all this - I was prepping myself for a cool body in the pen – when all of a sudden Stevie comes out from under his blankets walks over to the pen - stands up on his hind legs to tell me it is time to let me out of here! He no longer looks like he feels poorly – he no longer needs fluids – I will continue with meds and carafate to keep his tummy protected – Today is an awesome day for Stevie – Maci however is still struggling – we will continue with the supportive care – Shelter mum Brenda

August 18, 2011:
   It has been a few days since there has been an update from here – last week I think – anyway things were going along pretty good for a while – the little boarder that is here is still struggling but she is still with us – he mom is not going to be home until the 26th of August Titch started showing signs if icky poo – he even looked sick - so we got him started on Albon right away – we now have awesome looking poo and he is happy to bounce around because he feels better – We are getting intermittent green poo throughout the shelter but not a lot – not terribly concerning because the next time I go to the box there is none – taking a deep breath of gratitude – no new cages tagged with suspect tags Then Tuesday August 16th when I came down to the shelter in the morning I found a lot of florescent green slime all over the ferret room floor – no doubt in my mind we had another sick kid – Stevie – he is one of 3 fur kids in the same cage – his cage mates are doing well - I started them on Albon because they were exposed to the poo of his sick cage mate – Stevie is very sick so I brought him up to the sick pen to keep him out of the cage with his cage mates – he is not eating – we have black sticky poo – he looks like he feels sick – I am doing fluids, carafate and Batryl – trying to supplement with soup but he has no desire to eat – their cage was tagged back in July - So at this point we are not out of the woods – hopefully I will only have one or 2 sick kids at a time so I can keep up with it – Oh on the food issue – I spoke with Liz at performance foods extensively on what it would take to get the old batch of food tested – she has their food tested in their lab and an outside lab for the analysis that we read on their packaging – What I found out is you must first tell the lab what it is you wanted it tested for – Liz said we could be looking at many different things that could be an issue and each thing that is tested for - is a cost – starting in the range of $100.00 – So after much discussion Liz and I decided that because I took out all the old food and started over with the new foods that have come in from you wonderful shelter supporters – that would probably be the most cost effective way for the shelter to fix what may have been a problem – Thanks again for your kind words – thoughts and prayers – money on our vet account – new bags of food and cleaning help around here – Shelter mum Brenda

August 11th:
   I expect you noticed I was not around yesterday – here is why - I got a late night call Tuesday about a ferret found running down the street in Syracuse – the family that found her put her in a cardboard box and fed her some dog food – I was told they called all different places that could not help them so they found our site on the internet – thank you Mindy - after helping them decide what to do with this little one for the night – they got her into a carrier with cat food and water for the night – The family lives in Syracuse but mom works in Penn Yan at the hospital so I met her there Wednesday morning – talk about commutes she goes a long way to work – it was only about 25 minute ride for me to get to her - The little ferret is a year or younger – tiny little female – looks healthy enough – had fleas so she was treated with Revolution when I brought her in – Jackie and Bob are taking her to Doc for me so I took her to Honeoye last night - first thing this morning she got to see doc for vaccines and check up – when I spoke to Bob at 8:30 am he was already on his way home with her – I will pick her up on my way to Honeoye this afternoon – I am called her Syracuse – for the purpose of getting her on the schedule for check up today but decided last night I was going to call her Penny – so Penny it is – Now for shelter news - Titch was not feeling well yesterday however his poo looks better this morning – Maci the little camper that came in before all hell broke loose is sick – she has black poo – I started adding the second mix of food to the cages again – I got some done Tuesday - Wednesday morning I found about 8 cages with nasty poo – not green or black but slimy and nasty so I immediately took that mix out of the cages! I will start with a new mix – this weekend I will open the new bags of food that have come in and get them mixed up – start from scratch – I thought I would let you know what was going on here – Brenda

August 10, 2011:
   Possum here – Mum told me I needed to send out a very important post – a post that can save your ferrets life – one that you need to pay close attention too – Soup! Duck Soup! Teach your fur kids to like and get them on some kind of Duck soup! Mum says it matters not what kind you wish to use – except for the stuff on the store shelves – Uncle Jims real duck soup - that is not going to keep your fur kids alive – however if you use one of the many real duck soup recipes out there you can maintain your sick ferret long enough to get them better – you can give them medications in the soup so they do not even know they are getting medicine – Mum says she is fighting to keep a fur kid alive that was never taught to like soup (not one of our kids) so not only does this fur kid need medicine she does not like - but she is getting soup she does not like – this means this fur kid is not only feeling poorly she is getting stressed when mum needs to give her meds – If you teach your ferrets to like Duck Soup when they are not sick you will have them ready to eat it when they are – when they get sick they are more likely to eat for you because you can hold them while they drink their soup – this link will give you more information on our soup as well as links to other soup recipes http://www.ferretfarm.org/QandA_Duck_Soup.htm Mum says please get your fur kids on some form of Duck Soup so you can make them feel better when they are sick! Don't wait until they are sick to teach them how to like it – Thanks for taking the time to read my post Possum

August 9th:
   Late yesterday afternoon when I was getting third sift up I found some funky poo – Titch had a box full of slimy green – his cage was tagged back in July so I am not surprised to find intermittent green but he had a box full – he is not acting sick so that makes me feel a bit better I found Mau crashed this morning with black poo – I believe that is more his insulinoma than what has been going on but I will watch him close – because of his insulinoma what ever this is could be complicating his underlying medical issues - The rest of the shelter seems to be stable at this time – the kids that had been sick are doing better – Dexter is happily waiting for his soup when I come in with the tray of cubes – he is not finishing the entire bowl but he is waiting for it – that makes me smile – he was such a sick fur kid – To say I was disappointed to find as much green poo as I did is an understatement – but again we seem to be on the down side of what ever was going on here – Brenda

August 6th:
   This morning because it was cool out on the porch we were able to let the 6 pack start out there – as I got kids up and moved them into play areas I looked for signs of icky poo – no green some a bit loose but it is hard to know if that is just because the box was used all night – it looked as though that may be the case. No one is showing signs of illness! I am relieved Dexter popped his head out as soon as I put his soup down – he is still not asking for a second bowl but I am thrilled he is eating one Tinker Stinker was bouncing around waiting for her soup Possum was sleeping so I did not disturb her It seems as though things are calming down and becoming more stable For those of you that sent food – thank you it got here – the food that we removed from the cages and play areas will be dumped – we are starting with new – more because when we took it out of cages and play areas we dumped it all in the same bucket – I was told we could go back to using our mix but because the food in that bucket came out of cages with very sick kids and some not so sick I have opted to not use it – because we got food from you we are able to start from all new sources – a huge thank you for that ! For those of you that called/emailed yesterday and could not reach me – I went to Geneva to celebrate Old Lady Kay's 94th birthday – we had candy bags for all the residents – ice cream cake for all – that however was between summer bus runs so I was out of the loop for most of the day – I am fine - the kids seem to be getting better - thank you for your thoughts, prayers and concerns Brenda

August 4th:
   Well I thought we were out of the woods – but I had to tag 2 more cages with suspect tags this morning – The poo was not real bad or real green but it was green so I tagged the cage – the kids are not showing signs of illness at this point so maybe there is no cause to be concerned – All the early morning cages were in good shape – Dexter was bouncing and playing with me last night – even gave me a little nip so I know he is feeling better Possum is hanging in however she looked a bit out of sorts this morning when I put her away Tinker Stinker did more dancing and chasing this morning than she has in a very long time so she is feeling better. So at this point we are still disinfecting everything to the max – watching that no one gets sick and keeping our fingers crossed that this will be over soon. Brenda

August 3rd:
   As of this morning things are stable – so far – with extensive conversation with the medical personnel involved we have decided and debunked the toxin theory – we are leaning towards something else going on - we have yet to get any answers – the pathologist wants more samples – he requested I send him the next kid immediately if one dies - I believe you are aware that Pork Chop has passed away – yesterday I found one more cage with green poo – not a lot – but if I find green - I tag the cage – So we have 19 cages tagged with suspect tags – one is tagged with black poo but that is Dexter and he is now being recorded as well – he is eating drinking and even looking for soup The remainder of the cages that have tags have not been upgraded to black poo – I leave them tagged even if the poo gets better – it helps me to keep track of when that cage showed sings if illness – It has been suggested that there be NO adoptions or surrenders until we have what we are dealing with nailed down. Humans are more than welcome to come help at the shelter if you wish. I hope that things are calming down and that no one else will die – this has been going on now for almost a month – the first death was recorded on July 9th – the real nightmare was realized on July 14th Oh yes I saw Possum do a little dance yesterday so it appears she is starting to feel her self again – Time to get back down stairs to get some kids moved Have a great day – thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers Brenda

August 1st:
   Dexter has improved enough that he is eating his soup - he asked for a second serving last night – this morning he ate only a portion of what I gave him – but he may have been eating kibble prior to my serving up soup – The cages of kids that are marked with suspect tags (green/slimy/icky looking poo) have all dissipated – it is now intermittent with no one showing signs of illness – maybe just maybe we have got what was going on under control – we still have no concrete answers – IMHO it is not a toxin issue but who am I to argue with an expert – I have several experts working on this with me so we may get to the bottom of this yet - Big Foot is still not feeling great but I think it is more insulinoma that is going on – his blood glucose numbers are still lower than I would like – he is on pediapred – I am slowly increasing his dose so I do not cause any ulcer issues - he is responding – however slowly Pork Chop – I think I am loosing him – this morning he did not want to eat – I gave him a Dex shot – when I got home from work he was on the cool side and not looking so good – I brought him up here with me to see if I could warm him some – but he does not look like he is going to respond – I will however continue to try to make him feel better until he tells me he has had enough – we will then reassess what to do next - this too seems to be something other than what we had going on – he has adrenal disease – and it looks like it may have progressed enough to cause other issues – This weekend was quiet – I was able to get a bit of down time – Miss Donna came in Sunday to work out in the yard – some of it needed attention – she even went out to our veggie garden to get the high grass down – I have not even had time to go out there to look at what is going on – So that is our shelter report – with things seeming to be calming down – several reports a day are unnecessary – I will send reports if things change - Thanks for your thoughts - prayers and concerns – Brenda

July 28th:
   Things went nuts today – there are a few more cages with green slim – one with black poo and one kid crashed on me. Jenkins has brown good looking poo so far he is not showing any signs of feeling ill – I still have him on Albon Mau has brown poo – he is still on Albon in his morning soup - Dexter is still eating – so I do believe he is on the mend – his poo is now brown – I am still giving him carafate to keep that tummy coated so his ulcer does not return – I let him have the kitchen this afternoon – he did not toddle around much so I guess he still does not feel well I found Big foot crashed – so I did a blood test on him - it was 43 – so he got a Dex shot and then tonight he got some pred in soup – he did not want to eat soup so my guess it his tummy is not feeling good either – which would make sense because if his tummy is off he is not going to eat – if he does not eat his BG is going to drop – When I got Pork Chop up he was lying in a lot of black poo – I had to bath him and then strip the cage completely because it was all over everything – he has a cage mate Skooter so far he seems to be okay – I have Pork Chop on carafate – if I can get the bleeding to stop I will start him on Albon I spent most of my day stripping and disinfecting cages of green slim as well as the black poo – I found a phone message from Doc this morning when I got up on Opie and the pathology – he said they had trouble with the first slid so they were doing it again – I was supposed to hear more today I have not. He may call tonight after I go to bed – Shelter mum Brenda

July 27th:
   Things are doing okay – there are a few more cages with green slim – but those kids are still eating and drinking – hopefully they will continue to eat Jenkins has had 2 days of icky poo so far he is not showing any signs of feeling ill – I have started him on Albon Mau left a huge pile of green slime – I have added Albon to his morning soup - he was having trouble walking this morning – he is acting like he does not feel well - he is a concern because he is more compromised then most - he has insulinoma – so if anyone is going to have an issue it is going to be Mau – I am watching him closely – he is still willing to eat his soup so that is a + Dexter is eating – not much but when I offered him some treat tonight he ate it – so I do believe he is on the mend – his poo is now brown – I am still giving him carafate to keep that tummy coated so his ulcer does not return - I have been stripping and disinfecting any cage that has any sign of green slim – so far no black poo in any cage so that is a huge improvement – I went back to the internet to read more on ECE – this virus can stay in the shelter for up to 6 months – http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/med/green.html I am not sure I can last that long – I am really wearing thin – NOT COMPLAINING – just stating a fact – Still no word on Opie and the pathology – I have no idea how long is should take I was under the impression it was a week to get the results – Gail and Dick took Opie to Doc on the 15th so it is going on 2 weeks – I guess that is all there is to tell – I think I am going to call it a night – fingers crossed that I do not find any more green in any more cages – Shelter mum Brenda

July 26th - PM:
   Good Morning – Dexter ate soup this morning and actually had some normal looking poo – I called the vet yesterday to see about a report - still no word on the pathology from Opie – good thing I am not depending on them to keep these kids alive – I would have an empty shelter – Jenkins - I tagged his cage as suspect – in the play room where there are only 4 cages - hopefully because he is younger he will not get real sick – Possum had her face in the kibble dish this morning so I am pleased about that – At this point all things considered I am feeling good that we do not have any more kids on deaths door – I am not sure I am ready to hold my breath but at least there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel – Oh - I had a family that needed to surrender 2 – 6 yr old fur kids – they lived in the Bronx – I contacted a shelter friends that live in the Bronx – Maria and James took them in – Bless them for helping me find the kids a home – I am off to move some kids – we used the porch early this morning – but shut it down about 9 when it got hot – Thanks again for all your good thoughts – prayers and universe box -

July 25th - PM:
   Dexter has turned to bad again – has black sticky poo and he is not eating tonight – he would not even allow me to dropper feed him – he fought me all the way – I got some carafate down him – hopefully that will help his tummy to feel better so he eats the soup I left him Possum is eating but still not herself The rest of the shelter is stable at this time – Thanks for your prayers - good thoughts and get well cards Brenda

July 25th - AM:
   Molly gave up – she is gone – so sad that a little heart will break and just give up on life when the only family she has known gives her up – I could not convince her that she was loved and I would keep her for the rest of her little life unless she found someone she wanted to love – her choice not mine to leave for a home if she found one – She did not want me she wanted the family that gave her up – On the brighter side - Dexter – he is in the bank of cages that will get up until later this morning – only this morning when I walked into the shelter he jumped out of bed and started banging the bars – if he had a tin cup like Miss Gail says - he would have been running it across his cage bars – I took him out and gave him the play pen – gave him a bowl of soup – he dove in – so maybe just maybe he is getting better and will stay better – Jenkins and Sarah I found some iffy poo in their cages this morning but I am not too concerned yet – they are brown not green – it stands to reason this is going to affect each of the fur kids – the younger healthier ones will show signs but not get real sick – hopefully that is the case this morning – these two kids are younger and not compromised with other illness – Possum is leaving good poo but you can tell she if still off – she does not dance – whine and complain – I had her out with me yesterday – she had no interest in hanging out and letting me love on her - So I hope this is almost over – seems like a life time ago that we were moving along with no glitches – I will say it again – I feel we are blessed – the friend that had this hit her shelter lost 35 fur kids – I can not imagine the feeling of devastation and hopelessness with that many fur kids sick and dying – 5 is too many but certainly better than 35 – Brenda

July 24th - PM:
   I offered Dexter more soup – he got up and started eating it – I am so pleased he seems to be feeling better not eating a lot but he is eating – that is more than he was doing 2 days ago – the best part we have normal brown – well formed poo – You know you need a real life when you get excited over normal brown – well formed poo – Molly has not improved - Thanks for the good thoughts and prayers – they are working Brenda

July 24th:
   Good morning – some grand news – Dexter was waiting to get up – wanted out - now! I put him in the play pen to give him some stretch room and out time I can monitor – when I walked in to do something he had his face in the kibble dish! I got him a bowl of soup – set it down for him - he stuck his face in it immediately – This is such a treat to see him feeling better – On the other end of the so so report – Molly – I found her lying in her own black poo – this poor baby just wants her mom back – I can not convince her that I love her and will care for her – not what she wants – she is giving up on life and I can not seem to stop it! It breaks my heart when the older babies come in and just do not understand that their family no longer wants them – Last night Miss Donna was here – she stuck around to help me get all the kids medicated – what a blessing that was – it is not hard to get this done – just tedious and time consuming to medicate all 42 fur kids before shutting the shelter down – the ones that will eat soup are easy – put the bowl in the cage and walk away – the others that will not eat the soup are forced to take the meds by dropper - The cages I worked in this morning all looked good – Maybe we are on the back end of this night mare – Have a great Sunday – Shelter mum Brenda

July 22nd:
   One week & one day – seems like a life time ago that this nightmare started - Brooklyn is gone – she finally decided she had had enough – she was so pale my guess her ulcer was bleeding into her tummy – Possum had her face in the food dish this morning so I was pleased about that – Molly is still with us drinking water but still not interested in eating unless I force her to do so Dexter continues to struggle – he will not eat even when I offer him food, unless I force him to eat then I can only get a ml or two into him – his little eyes look so sad and sick - The rest of the shelter is doing okay – except for the kids I have listed here the cages that were tagged suspect have not been upgraded to confirmed so I figure that is a + no new suspect cages either – I still have not gotten the report from Opie – I called on Thursday I was told there was no report yet and they would call me when it came in – Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers Brenda

July 21st AM:
   Well I was hoping that things were turning around but when I got Possum up for her shift she is now sick – not eating – so I have 4 that are not eating – I think I am loosing the battle with Molly – she is just not happy here at the shelter- and not feeling good on top of being 8 yrs old is taking its toll on her little body – her family decided after 8 yrs they needed to dump her – She was dumped at a HS that does not take in ferrets – they called me – she was picked up and kept for a few days at a shelter friends house then brought here to me – she has eaten little since she got here – she is one of the fur kids I am force feeding – Brooklyn and Dexter are eating if I insist – literally – I will start doing the same for Possum – other kids so far are doing okay – back to the shelter to get more cages done – Brenda

July 20th PM:
   There is not much change from this afternoon's report – I am still getting small amounts food into the three that are the sickest so that in its self is an improvement – no new cages tagged with suspect tags so that too is an improvement – Dexter is now giving me green slim instead of black goo – (that is an improvement) Brooklyn is giving me black goo instead of black puddles (that also is an improvement) – Molly no change - Other than that; things are stable at the moment – again thanks for your prayers and encouragement – they help Brenda

July 20th AM:
   There is not much change from last night's report – I am getting small amounts food into the three that are the sickest so that in its self is an improvement – no new cages tagged with suspect tags so that too is an improvement – Ili got here about 10 she is still here – she is down in the shelter working – she has been hanging laundry and taking dirty toys to the laundry room – you would think this was a day care center with the amount of toys that we need to sanitize - Ili brought water in - I have all the dishes removed from the only bank of cages that were left to do – they are running in the dish washer now – when I get home from work they will be ready to put back in the cages – fill with fresh food and water – Other than that things are stable at the moment – again thanks for your prayers and encouragement – they help Brenda

July 19th PM:
   I hesitate to say Brooklyn seems to be coming around – we actually got some turkey baby food in her today – she has responded to us when we opened the cage – she still has the bleeding ulcer but maybe she is turning around – Dexter's black poo has turned back to green – he too has eaten some turkey baby food – he even wanted out of his cage today – neither of them want more than a few ml of food but that is an improvement to the nothing they have wanted the past few days - we have 12 cages tagged with suspect tags – 2 of which are still marked confirmed – the others that had green have improved – hopefully will continue to improve - Mindy and I were just struggling to keep moving today – we did not do a lot of heavy work we focused on getting all the dishes out of all the cages and into the dish washer replacing with fresh clean – disinfected dishes – we continue to disinfect all the litter boxes in the cages – as well as laundry – Mindy left a bit after 3 when we had all the dishes in the cages done. Neither one of us saw any point in her staying any longer we were both struggling to keep climbing over barriers – they seemed to be 10 feet tall today – amazing how 29" can become a large hurtle - I just got more turkey food down Brooklyn and Dexter – I have soup in the blender – I will soup and meds everyone then I am going to call it a night – I go back to work in the morning – Iliana is coming tomorrow – Thanks again for prayers and good thoughts Brenda

July 19th AM:
   Brooklyn is still with us – Dexter is struggling - we now have 11 cages tagged with suspect tags – 2 of which we have marked confirmed – Mindy and I kept moving longer than we would have liked last night - but not as long as the days before – Mindy is focusing on the play areas – I am taking care of cages/kids/meds – night time meds Mindy helps me get done as every single kid gets them - we are both doing laundry – that is never ending – toys are being stripped from rooms and run though the washer as well – I found more suspect cages this morning when I went down - Mindy is going home today – Iliana said she would come in tomorrow – I go back to work tomorrow Thanks again for prayers and good thoughts Brenda

July 18th :
   Brooklyn is still with us – Dexter is now suffering black poops – as is Tinker Stinker – we have 8 cages tagged with suspect tags – 2 of which we have marked confirmed – Mindy and I are wearing thin – but we keep moving – disinfect and more disinfect – not much more to tell we are fighting an uphill battle – on the + side - some of the cages that are tagged suspect the kids poo is looking better not worse - Oh I am not going away to Lily Dale today – I called them – they are going to give us a credit – I can not leave this many sick kids with shelter help - Time to get back down stairs and get more cleaning done – I am so glad Mindy is here I can not imagine how much more tired I would be feeling if she had not come to help – Thanks again for prayers and good thoughts Brenda

July 17th - PM:
   Mindy and I were getting kids up to do fluids and injectable abs – Dominic was gone – not unexpected but certainly sad – when we got Brooklyn up she was responsive – had some life in her eyes – she is not bouncing but she seems to be responding to treatment – Mindy got the play pen stripped and disinfected – we are removing everything to be washed - hosed - hung on the line or laid out in the hot sun to kill what ever it is that is taking these kids – break is over – back down to the shelter to strip and disinfect more cages – Mindy is disinfecting the play areas - Brenda

July 17th - AM:
   Dominic and Brooklyn are still the only too in real trouble – still not eating – doing fluids upwards of 4 times a day – Yesterday is a blur – Donna was here - Mindy still is – Donna dealt with the kitchen and feeding us – the weather being what is has been the lawn is burned up so she trimmed bushes – and kept up with laundry – OMG do we have laundry to do – pile after pile after pile – every time I saw the whites of Donnas' eyes she was hauling another arm full of clean laundry up from the laundry room - Mindy kept me in clean fresh disinfectant water so I could wash down cages – did odds and ends that needed doing – hauling armfuls of dirty laundry to the basement – both helped me move kids when they needed moving - The rest of the kids that were acting off appear this morning to be coming around – I am not going to hold my breath – because Dexter still does not want to eat soup - we are not out of the woods yet – Mindy and I marked each cage with a card stating the day and date when we found suspect poop – starting last Thursday up to yesterday - We tagged 2 more cages yesterday – Donna and Mindy helped me get the kids medicated last night before Donna left – I gave it up and came up to bed about 7:30 – Mindy bless her heart stripped the bank of cages the night shift came out of – I was going to strip them - then in the morning disinfect and put back together – Mindy volunteered to strip she was not ready to go to bed – When I got down there this morning the cages were all put back together – I guess she was up a whole lot longer than me - J So at this point we seem to be staying ahead of things so far – Thanks again for the good thoughts – prayers – and the message from Opie – I keep saying to Mindy – how do the shelters with 100's do this and stay ahead of things – I have to say without the folks that help I could not do what I am doing and only loose a few kids to what ever it is that came in to us – We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives – Brenda

July 15th:
   Dominic and Brooklyn are still with us – Brooklyn is fairing better than Dominic at this time. All ferrets in the shelter are on some form of antibiotic medication some of them are on two kinds - the real sick kids are getting fluids as well. The fur kids that were iffy yesterday as still iffy – but stable – I have had 2 more yucky poop boxes turn up today. liana came today to help me get caught up – she was here before I was home from Avon delivering Opie to Gail and Dick for transport to Brockport – his pathology will take about a week – Gail and Dick brought the kittens to Naples so I would not need to leave home again, they have the entire 12 acres of property to hang out in – food and water available – I decided I did not have time to try to tame them and take care of a shelter full of sick kids – so instead of trying to make feral kitties into house kitties I let them loose – I am tired I am going to get into bed – I will check in with more reports about the fur kids as the weekend progresses – I was told Mindy is coming down tomorrow – she is going to stay as long as she needs to so we can get things at the shelter under control Thanks for your words of encouragement and prayers Brenda

July 14th:
   This morning as I was getting second shift up and putting first shift away - I found lots of very sick kids – 3 were on deaths door when I got them up - Opie and Dominic – I found them both in their litter box unable to get out – they were both on deaths door - did warmed fluids – did 25 units of Dex – warm bath – tucked in a bed with warm water in a latex glove – with blankets – live together are being warmed together – Opie seemed to be the one most likely not to survive this – he did not – I lost him this evening about 5:30 pm – I am not sure Dominic is going to survive - I am having trouble getting his temp up – I use a digital flexible anal thermometer it kept beeping Lo temp so I was not getting a numeral reading Brooklyn tiny little girl – did warm fluids – gave 13 units of Dex she lives with Philly - he is showing no signs of issues – treated him with Albon – Brooklyn is looking and acting better tonight – so I started her on Moxy she did not need fluids this evening Dancer is not showing any physical signs of distress but he has some nasty poops - started him on Albon – lives alone Possum small girl – did not need fluids – gave her 13 units of Dex – lives alone she is now on Moxy – nasty poops Dexter he has some pretty nasty looking poops too – he usually eats soup and wants more - I see he did not finish his soup this morning – did 25 units of Dex – lives alone – he is now on Moxy – I have 2 vets working on this – we at this point are treating for ECE but until I get Opie necropsy I will not know for sure what is going on – Just got off the phone with Gail – she and Dick are going to meet me in Avon tomorrow morning to get Opie up to doc for a necropsy – they will bring the kittens home – we have not yet decided how we will get them to Naples – I am going to bed – I am beat – it has been a very long day - Brenda

June 22, 2011 - later in the day:
   *** Possum crossing her arms and tapping her foot *** I am only sharing this with you because mum told me I had too – Hannah is the long tailed friend of Titch - her mom is Miss Kathy C. Dear Possum: Please tell all your shelter buddies and their sponsors and their shelter human friends that Mum is going on vacation! Like every mom or mum, your mum takes care of you every hour of every day because she loves you. And not very often your mum has a chance to get away for a tiny vacation. Your mum is going to Chautauqua Institution on Saturday morning to hear a very special concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra. She will stay with ME, Hannah Cat who sponsors Titch. I know everyone will be talking about ferrets and shelters and how Mum loves you. And she will miss you, and you will miss her- BUT, when she comes home and talks to Miss Mindy who is sooooooo kind to take her vacation days so Mum can have a vacation, we want Mum to get a good report about everyone including you! So, right now, stop your pouting and spread the word that Mum is going on vacation! Mum is going on vacation! Hannah

June 22, 2011 :
   What is going on? I just found out that mum is going away again this weekend. Miss Mindy is coming to stay with us this time. Were we too hard on Miss Donna? Why is our mum leaving us so many times this year? Miss Suzie leaves for Rainbow Bridge and mum keeps leaving us days at a time! I think Mum does not love us anymore! Mum says she is leaving Saturday morning and will be home Sunday or Monday. Miss Mindy is coming in Friday staying till mum gets home. That means no shelter day this weekend! Please tell our mum to stay home Possum

June 15, 2011 :
   Okay enough is enough! When is my mum going to get to stay home? She went to Arizona, then it was clinic day - run here run there - now it is Regents Exams week! There are 3 days of exams this week and 3 next week, 6 full days of mum being gone! UGH! Regents week is when we get to cause havoc in the shelter and mum can't do anything about it because she is not home! Because the students that have testing are not allowed to be at school unless they are actually taking a test mum has extra bus runs to get them in and out. She has her usual morning run to take elementary 2 legged furless kids to school, then she will take high school kids home at 11 - pick kids up at noon- take more kids home at 1 - then take more kids home at 3 – each of the runs mum does takes about an hour so she is gone a long time during regents week. Last year we got into the cupboard and opened up her cereal and had it all over the kitchen floor when she got home. She had puffed millet from one end of the kitchen to the other, we thought we did a great job scattering it for her. Mum was not impressed. Anyway if you need mum put in the subject line important – she is not going to have a lot of time to be on the computer so she will pay attention to that. I am so ready for mum to be done with the big yellow thingy for a while. Possum

February 21, 2011 :
   So - mum was going to have an open house on Saturday February 19th to show off our new digs but the weather decided not to be cooperative so mum moved it to Sunday February 20th – only 3 people from far far away did not get mums message about changing the date so Miss Nicky from Corning – Miss Christine from Auburn and Mr. Pete from Ithaca all showed up Saturday afternoon for the open house – Miss Donna from Rochester got here about 3:30 to help mum around the shelter - That was some weather they drove in to get here – mum put on a pot of coffee – Mr. Pete opened the box of goodies that Miss Christine brought in – and they all went into the shelter to admire the new cages – Miss Christine was new to the shelter so she got to see fur kids and visit with Miss Nicky and Mr. Pete while mum worked – they all stayed for a couple of hours – Sunday morning the weather was much better so mum sent a message that the open house was on – 14 people showed up to visit and join in the food and fun – Miss Mindy, Mr. Dick, Miss Mary B, Miss Iliana, Miss Loana. Mr. Clair, Miss Kathy H. and her friend that mum does not remember his name, Miss Genevieve, her mom Miss Siobhan, a new family that wants to adopt a ferret – 3 children and their dad – mum does not remember their names either but she does remember the sparkle in the eyes of the children when they got to hold and love on us – mum says they have been bitten by the ferret bug – There was tons of food, soda and coffee to drink – Miss Mary B held an auction – she said it seems the things she auctions off get passed around and around by all the folks that help here at the shelter – it does – the stuff gets donated by them to us – we use it for a bit then we pass it on for the auction – so mum says the auction is a round robin – we ferrets got put away early and kept away for most of the open house – mum took 4 barriers down so the humans could move freely – that makes it easy for us to escape – or get stepped on so mum just kept us locked up – she told us she has this full week off so she will give us extra out time in her space for being locked up most of the day – Mum says the open house was a success – she was happy so many were still able to come after we had to move the date – thanks everyone for visiting with us and spending time at our shelter open house – We love our new cages – mum loves the new cages and was happy to share the new shelter with everyone - Possum

February 19, 2011 :
   6:14 AM - Hold it – at 4:30 am it was cold and clear out side – at 6 am it is snowing and blowing – with significant accumulation - I have had people north of here call already to say they are not coming – so we are going to move this open house to Sunday – tomorrow the 20th – I do not want anyone to get hurt trying to get to Naples today - - I am off to Geneva - shelter mum 5:21 AM - Possum here – mum wanted me to remind you that today is our open house party – she is going to go check on old lady Kay this morning before everything gets started – mum will not be back on line until tomorrow - so if you can come hang out with me – I am in the bottom cage on the east wall – I am willing to sit in any arms that want to hold me – treats work too - See you later today – Possum

January 26, 2011 :
   Possum here – mum's computer is back – Mr. Dave is a genius! He got the computer all put back together – Miss Kirstin got it to Miss Donna D – Miss Donna D got it to Mr. Dave – Mr. Dave made the computer all better – sent the computer back to Miss Donna D – who got it to Miss Kirstin – who got it to mum - Mum is so excited – me and Suzie are so excited – mum now gets to weed though 400 emails – now we can get to all of mums notes to do our next news – Thank you Mr. Dave you are the best computer fixer – upper we know – Possum Suzie and Mum