ferrets

Meet Buddha. Buddha was severely neglected during the early part of his life. He is deaf, and deaf ferrets are easily frightened and quick to bite. The people who originally owned him physically abused him for biting, fed him inferior food and only when they felt like it, locked him in a cage and put him in the basement.  

A neighbor heard about his plight from some children, and went to see him. She said the cage had months’ worth of feces buildup, the ferret was severely malnourished, covered in fleas, filth and open sores. The children of the family would taunt him, poking at him with sticks through the bars of the cage. He never got out to play like a ferret should. 

As a result, he is very, very small. He’s the size of an infant female ferret. When the neighbor took him, he was completely impossible to touch or handle. He bit viciously. He was frightened out of his mind. She took him in and worked with him, fed him well, cleaned him up, and gave him room to play. Things were fine until a visiting relative’s child disobeyed and poked their finger into the cage at the ferret. As a result, Buddha attacked and bit the child severely. 

He was either going to be put to sleep, or “disappeared” to some safe place. She chose to bring him to my shelter. 

When he arrived, he was still showing the signs of his severe neglect. He was thin and had dry, brittle fur (a common sign of malnutrition). The woman had only had him a couple months, but had gotten him to the point where she could handle him (carefully), but he still bit frequently. If one reached into his cage, you were guaranteed a set of 20 “machine-gun” bites that would leave you well-punctured and bleeding profusely.  

When he was let out to play, everyone had to be very, very careful, or he’d attack and bite repeatedly, then run and hide, shivering with fear, in the nearest hidey-hole. He didn’t play with toys. He watched any humans carefully for quick moves. He was ever-diligent and always tense and frightened. 

We worked with him, fed him well, gave him treats (he really likes Ferretone!) and most of all, let him out to play every day. He would spend every moment that he was in his cage trying to get out. At first it was funny, until we realized he was expending more energy biting and shaking the bars of his cage than he was taking in. Finally, one of the volunteers discovered that completely covering his cage made him calm down. I suppose he felt more secure. 

Day by day, Buddha relaxed just a tiny little bit. The day I touched him while he was sleeping and he DIDN’T puncture my hand, we celebrated. The day he actually looked at the toy in front of him, we celebrated. He didn’t play with toys; he just walked around the room. He’d walk through the tubes, but wasn’t playing per se, just looking. It was almost like the toys were invisible to him. And always, always, he watched the people. He kept out of our way. 

The day Buddha played with a toy, we called the volunteers and we all got misty-eyed.  

The day we realized Buddha was following us around begging for treats, we celebrated, too.  

But the day Buddha actually gave kisses, well, that was truly a day to celebrate! We’d been kissing him every time we took him out of the cage before putting him down to play. He came to accept it, and would even extend his little nose. But just a couple weeks ago, he kissed us back! 

The little champagne blaze barracuda had become a loving little ferret! Now he plays with several toys, and seems to add a new one every week or so. He follows us around and will stand up, putting his foot on our leg, begging for some Ferretone or an N-Bone or a Dooker Delight. When we walk into the room, he comes to greet us, not running and hiding like he used to. 

He’s a happy boy, who “talks” almost constantly (dooking) as he explores his world. He’s terrified of other ferrets and viciously attacks, but we tell him it’s okay, and that he doesn’t have to like other ferrets. 

Buddha is finally ready for a real home of his own where he will be hugged and kissed and loved and played with. It’s best that it be a home with no children and adults experienced with ferrets, but he’s been “stranger-tested” and he did just fine. We took him to our club picnic and he was handled and walked by a number of people. He loved the grass! He rolled and dooked and danced in it. He stared wide-eyed at all the people and the sunlight and all the sights to be seen. Most of all, he never once bit.  

Buddha is still a tad neurotic…if his cage isn’t covered, he will bite at the bars of his cage. He plays for hours and hours and hours. We think he’s making up for that year or so he was stuck in a small cage in a dark, boring basement. He will occasionally nip an ankle if you don’t pay attention to him, and he’s been known to nip fingers if you dangle them in front of his face. But Buddha is ready to finish flowering into a wonderful companion for someone ready to handle him gently and with love. Buddha is definitely our biggest success.