A few years ago, we got a phone call, it went along the lines, “Is that Clive?” “We were told by Karen at David Claire Vets you might be able to help us” “We have a ferret, but he is a very sad and depressed and needs someone to try and bring him round.”
So we stick the pet carrier in the car and head off to Haywards heath. When we get there, they bring out a very skinny, smelly, dirty and sorry looking ferret, who has visible fleas and ticks all over his face, which to be honest I am a little surprised the vets did not try to remove.
The other thing was, he had no bounce… he looked like he just wanted to curl up, go to sleep and never wake up again… Hardly taking any notice of anyone who was handling him, even when we put him in the carrier which must have smelt of other ferrets, he just climbed into the hammock and went back to sleep. It was heart breaking.
When we got him home, we decided to go for the cruel to be kind approach, so chucked him in a bath of flea shampoo, de-ticked him, and checked him over for marks, finding quite a nasty looking half healed bite/injury under his front leg.
Once he was clean, we chucked him straight in with our guys, to see how he got on. Our guys welcomed him in, and immediately took him under their wing, and set to work turning him into a bouncy “Lazy-Ferret”.
When it was obvious that no one was going to claim him, we had him neutered, and gave him the name Caramel.
He cheered up fairly quickly, loving having friends, and it took about 2 months for him to actually start to bounce like a real ferret. I think our guys took the challenge and taught him how to play properly with both ferrets and humans. Once he was up for it, we took him to our PR events, and he turned into the ultimate ladies’ man, never failing to kiss and snog any lady who picked him up, he was fairly free with kisses for men too…
He also learnt pretty quickly that humans had nice things, like tea, and ice cubes in their cold drinks, often trying to steal the Ice cubes, even to the extent of trying to get into your mouth to get the last one. Actually, he was never adverse to trying to get into your mouth to recover anything you had just put in there, and many a time I found myself munching on his whiskers.
He was one of those ferrets who never did anything bad, or way out, but was always up for a cuddle and kiss, or digging a hole in the garden, and was another ferret that would make a real nuisance of himself when he thought it was time for soup and bed, running all over us, and knocking empty cups over on the coffee table to prove his point.
A few days ago, he caught his claw in a tube in the cage, and snapped it. We checked him over, and apart from being very sore, it was luckily not bleeding like they usually do. We kept an eye on him, but apart from a limp for an hour or so, he was soon back to his normal self, even digging holes in the rain in the garden, one of his favourite pass times. Yesterday, we noticed he was a bit lethargic, but it was a hot day so we did not take that much notice. He was up and waiting for his soup and raw meat as normal in the evening. This morning, Suz went to get the empty bowls out of the cage, and he threw himself into her arms, but weirdly, he was as stiff as a board. We rushed him to the vets, where they spent the whole day working on him, but at 17:30 this evening, they called me and asked if they could euthanise him, as he was not responding to the treatment, and was now suffering. With a very heavy heart, knowing I was doing the right thing, but still selfishly wanting not to, I gave them permission. They think the poor guy picked up Tetanus from the garden via the cut in his paw.
:angel1:Sweet dreams Caramel
We are going to miss you so badly with your very long and insistent kisses, and we know that Minstrel is going to miss you, especially with you going so soon after her other mate, Galaxy. Sorry we cold not have done more for you.
With his buddy, Galaxy
Hmmm something happening over there...
DIY ferret.... all ferrets need an angle grinder.
Im aving that...
Digging? Me? nah..
Oi.. get out thats my hole..
Woah... where did that hole come from?
All worn out..
Don't forget to tell your friends about this forum, we need more nice people like you to join up. 
