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The Long Island Rescue
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September 25, 2013:
CODA: Little Miss Ferret continues on her journey to health and happiness and LFFR/S continues on its journey to celebrate the value of volunteer networks and charitable animal rights organizations. Wow! What a celebration! While Liz referred to herself as a "failure" for not personally taking responsibility for the vet bills for Miss Ferret, I think her a "heroine" for putting Miss Ferret in the hands of knowledgeable vets and then surrendering the critically ill furkid to a no-kill shelter with access to charitable resources, To those who question why Miss Ferret had to be surrendered and then not returned to Liz, the issues of "personal gain" from charitable contributions is an IRS technicality that we all are learning to understand. The Long Island shelter and veterinary services could
not choose to cover Liz's vet bills without covering all personal pet vet bills that come through the door. LFFR/S pays the vet bills for our sheltered furkids and, similarly, not the vet bills for personally owned ferrets.
This has been a journey- and along the way LFFR/S has made new ferret friends, has expanded our network of care and concern for ferrets, has increased our strategies for collaboration with distant and bigger organizations - and all the while kept our focus on the furkids' well being. I'm proud of us all!
Shelter Mum Brenda
September 23, 2013:
I HAVE GOOD NEWS! I called the vet who took in Miss Ferret and it appears she is responding to treatment and will be rehabilitated!! I was told she had pneumonia (which I didn't even know a ferret could get) an ear infection and they were testing her for Insulinoma (however you spell it...ferret diabetes). Evidently she's sleeping soundly and is enjoying the treats and hammock i left for her and the nurses are loving her and play with her on their down time/breaks. I was told that once she's 100% (or as close as this old girl can get) they will find a home for her which, it seems, will be with one of the vet assistants who have grown to love her just as quickly as I did. I may not have been the one to keep her permanently but I can finally relax in knowing that the
choice I made was the right one :) nice work, Brenda! Teamwork saved this little girl.
Liz
September 22, 2013:
Hi Brenda,
Today is a terrible day for me...after doing bloodwork and xrays it seems that Miss Ferret is beyond my ability to rehabilitate. She needs IV medication to fix whatever is going on in her lungs, they are talking diabetes or pancreatitis *sp* as well as possible adrenal gland disease. The bill for tonight alone was almost $2k and, whereas I would give anything to keep her, I have no where near that amount available in my bank account. Talking to the vet and nurses I told them how she was found and that she was living in complete squalor- they offered to take her as their own if I surrendered her to them---turns out they are one of the two ferret-accepting shelters on Long Island and are a no-kill shelter at that. I made the heartbreaking decision to do just that--but, though I am
a failure, I know it was the right thing to do for her.
She is currently at the Veterinary Medical Center of Long Island in West Islip who also works en par with STAR (Save the Animals Rescue Foundation) who accepts ferrets through veterinary clinics and Good Samaritans.
Words cannot describe how sorry I am that I couldn't financially support this little girl. I only had her for less than 24 hours and I loved her dearly. I'm so sorry for this--I know that won't bring her back into my house but at least I know she will be taken care of and get all the medical treatment and attention she needs now.
Again, I'm truly sorry for how this ended
Regards,
Liz
September 21, 2013:
Hi Brenda!
Sorry for the delayed response--things have been a little crazy over here.
I picked up the girl this morning at 10am and she's in pretty bad shape. She's about six YEARS old but weighs less than a pound. she is a tiny little thing. She has a pretty bad case of rat tail, her nails were curling under themselves and she has sores on her underside from the acidity in the urine she was living in.
Regardless of all this she is a sweet heart--
I took her home and gave her a bath which she actually really loved. Then we had mani/pedi time. I notice that she has a bad cough--I'm thinking bronchitis. I wish there was something i could do for her but my vet isn't open until Monday and all of the emergency clinics in the area don't see 'exotics'. In the meantime I'm giving her ferretvite and vitamin treats (that she gobbles down). She's happy to have a bowl of water--she is always drinking out of it (after she accidentally jumped in it lol) and, once she realized that she had full reign of my apartment, she started doing a happy dance and running from room to room happily. She's eating (little by little) and she follows me around like a puppy.
The only problem that I'm having is that one of my previous boys, who normally has the most sensitive demeanor and plays with ANY other critter, is not liking this new addition. I am having to separate them or else he tries to bite her. I know this might be Gambit trying to assert his 'dominance' being that he is the alpha male in the house but this little girl is such a weakling that i don't know what he's trying to accomplish. Either way he is now mad at me for breaking them up and is pouting in my sock drawer. I hope he can get over this nonsense..T'm ashamed of him and the way he is acting.
I haven't thought of a name for her yet but I'm working on it. I'm really concerned about this cough of hers--I figure it's gotta be some sort of respiratory distress after what terrible conditions she had been forced to be living in :( I really hope it doesn't get worse in the next 24 hours...and i hope it's not contagious...if my boys get sick as well I'm never going to forgive myself :/
In the meantime, Miss Ferret is sleeping in a hammock--she has taken a liking to jumping from one hammock to the next and then chirping :D So even though she may not be feeling well she is in good spirits.
If you happen to know anything I can do to make her coughing/wheezing subside I'm all ears...or if you have any tricks to making my big boy not be such a jerk.
I'll give you an update tomorrow after i see how she does tonight :)
Thank you!!!!!
Liz
September 20, 2013:
We did it! Thank you! The little Long Island girl is in the hands of her new mom; look at that smile on Liz. That little girl is well on her way to a happy well cared for life.
This save is all because of you folks with the love and caring for these fuzz butts. Pat yourselves on the back, we saved another from neglect!
Shelter Mum Brenda
September 20, 2013:
The ferret we are trying to move is at this time on Long Island. She is being cared for the best these folks know how to care for her.
We tried to find her a home in that area that fell though, we had 4 ferret folks in the area to help us with the kids that need help in that area. We are now down to one of those folks and she is committed for this weekend so we need help from others this time around.
Ideally finding her a home in her area is what we would like but because we no longer have the vetted folks in the area we need to get her up here to us. We would like to get her to Naples.
Questions about time frame--
Again, ideally ASAP however we are aware folks have lives to live and commitment they must meet so the time frame is when we can pull the transport together. Once we have some idea of who and when we will start the coordination with Carol and her nephew the folks that got her out of the bad situation and are caring for this little one at this time.
If you think you can help contact me directly. I will compile the offers and see where we get. Sheilla takes care of our face book page she will not be manning that page this weekend so PLEASE contact me directly I personally do not have access to facebook.
Again, thanks for all you do to help us. Expectations from us is: IF you can, WHEN you can. NO pressure we appreciate all you do for us. We will get this done.
Responses:
When do you need the ferret transported and from where to where? I may be able to help.
Thanks,
Kathie
Hi Brenda
Sorry to bother you again but I just want to make sure you know that I live on Long Island and am willing to adopt this little guy (I have two furkids already). I understand that you are trying to move her to Naples but I'm letting you know the option is out there.
Thank you!
Liz
We can take this ferret in if you want to re route her to Ohio.
Cathy
Furetti Ferrets
4 Li'l Paws Ferret Shelter here, we are in N.H near Hampton Beach. If you can find transportation part way here we can take her. Have to work till 8or9 tonight or tomorrow would work.
Sue
Hi Brenda
If someone could get her near Moravia I can bring her the rest of the way to you. Weekends are a lot better for me to do this, but there might be a day I could take off work, or part of a day.
Let me know.
Leslie
Hi,
Read the post on FML, I can take the ferret, I am in Wheeling WV. I have a private rescue, currently have 4 fuzzies here. I would also have to arrange to have the ferret transported here or close to here, could possibly meet near Pittsburgh, PA.
Just reply to this email if interested, and at that point I can exchange phone numbers if the ferret has not yet been homed.
Howard
David's phone is ---, Aprils email is ---. I do not have her phone# at hand. You have Rebekah's info from adoption, right? Maybe one of them could get to Scranton our run a relay to you...good luck!! Susann
Dear Brenda,
How are arrangements for the little guy from Long Island? I want very much to help. I will need to drive my brother into work at 6am tomorrow and I will need to be back at 4:00pm to get my mother to Saturday night mass. Other than that Saturday is free. Let me know how I can help.
Love,
Mary Ellen
Hi Brenda
This is Michele, Marshmallow's far away mom. I just read about the poor little girl on long island. My friend James (who i had gotten my ferrets with when we were dating and who currently has a little girl ferret of his own) is interested in learning more about this little girl and possibly even adopting her outright. he lives just north of Albany and i can absolutely vouch for him. He is a loving, devoted ferret dad and we both use an excellent veterinarian.
If you could somehow get her to Toledo, Ohio, we'd be glad to take her. I'm sorry I can't travel further than that but our car might not make it further. LOL
Jan
Wixom Weezels
Hi Brenda,
I can post your call for help on the AFA FB group if you would like. I'm just being dense here, the ferret needs to get from where to where?
Tracy
September 19, 2013:
The beginning of the week we got a call from a cat shelter on Long Island that had been told about a little ferret living in a home in a cage in her own pee and poo up to her little knees. Carol called us because none of the ferret shelters down her way responded to her call for help. She reached out to us. Carol was willing to get this little girl out of this awful condition if we could find her a place to go.
Carol does not have the knowledge or a place to take this little one in.
We have a woman down that way set up to help us out to take these kids when this happens. Brandi was to meet up with Carol yesterday to retrieve this little girl. She did not show. Carol and I found out later today that her husband was rushed to the hospital so Brandi is not going to be able to take this little girl.
The ferret is at Carol's nephew's home in the basement in a carrier. That is all they had to put her in.
We now need to see if we can get her a ride to Naples since she no longer has a home to go to.
Carol is going to see if she can find her a ride up to Scranton PA we could use one or two folks to get her the rest of the way.
We would appreciate any help we can get to save this little one from any more neglect. Carol and her nephew are doing the best they can with the information I am giving them to keep this little girl going until we can get her here.
If you can help please contact me we will work on a relay to get this kid up here.
Thanks
Shelter Mum Brenda