ferrets

This is Cooper. He was found cowering in a maintenance shed on the California University campus in Washington, PA. We’re pretty sure someone let him loose on purpose, since when he first came, he bit like a little chocolate barracuda.

He was brought to us on 5/23/08. We guessed his birthday as 10/26/06. When he came here, he was about 1-1/2 years old.

Cooper played for hours, and did well in his lessons on how to play nicely with other ferrets. If his previous owners had spent more time with him and taught him not to bite hard when he was a baby, Cooper wouldn’t have needed these lessons. He seems to really like other ferrets, but sometimes comes on too strong.

Cooper also did well in his lessons on how to play nicely with humans. After a month or so, he no longer automatically bit when he was picked up. A large part of his rehabilitation was discovering that Ferretone is yummy. Finally, he progressed to where he would poke your ankle with his nose (and not his teeth) to get your attention.

After another month of two of shelter life, Cooper developed into a lively, handsome young ferret who was showing signs he could learn to be a good boy.

Finally, after another couple months, Cooper mellowed into a very nice young ferret. He hadn’t bitten anyone in a long time, and rather than beating up other ferrets, now it seemed he was the one being beaten up.  

In late May of 2008, he was adopted by a young man living in apartment in
Oakland. The young guy had a job, was going for an advanced degree, and was living in apartments where pets were allowed. He’d lived there for a while, and things seemed stable. 

Cooper’s new dad asked the shelter if we could babysit over the Christmas break. He didn’t want to leave his ferret, but his family couldn’t find reasonable passage on a flight to Texas. Cooper was happy enough to come to visit. We were happy to see how fat and fluffy he was. He’d become much more relaxed, and his new daddy spent lots of time playing with him. I spoke to the mother of the young man, and she told me how he was always telling her stories of funny things that Cooper did. She said Cooper was very much loved. 

Only a few days before the young man was due to come back from his break, the mother received an email from the landlord saying that pets were no longer allowed in the apartment complex. Apparently a few students with dogs had been irresponsible and now they’d ruined it for everyone. 

Cooper’s dad is heartbroken. The mom called me today and even she was in tears at the unfairness of it. She told me her son was sobbing. So now Cooper is homeless again. A young man’s heart is broken and rather than being the center of attention and getting out to play for hours every day, Cooper will once again have to share the attention with 35 other ferrets and only get out to play as the schedule permits.  

We try hard to get them out every day, but between my having a full time job and there being so many ferrets here, it’s not always possible. We play with the ferrets, they have lots of toys, but it’s just not the same as having your very own mommy or daddy.  

I hope Cooper knows he was not given up for doing anything wrong or that he wasn’t loved.