About a month and a half ago, one of my ferrets passed away. Her name was Maple and she was a sweet little ferret, about 4.5 years old. Ferrets typically live to about 6 or 7 years old, but some can live up to 10 years. My remaining ferret, Mr. Choco, is also 4.5 years old, and went from being a playful, frisky ferret, to a very sad, lonely ferret. He still plays with us sometimes, but we can’t keep up with him like a ferret. He misses chasing and wrestling with Maple, and snuggling with her after they’ve tired out. In ferret lingo, they were “bonded” (nothing to do with mating as they were both fixed).
We could quite easily go the pet store and buy a ferret kit (the term for ferret baby), but we are not sure if we want to make that kind of commitment. We would rather get a ferret close to Mr. Choco’s age, preferably a female, that is playful and is looking for a friend. We’ve searched all the ferret shelters in Alabama and surrounding states, as well as animal shelters that occasionally have ferrets. The thing is, most ferrets immediately find another to bond with, and we wouldn’t dream of pulling away two bonded ferrets. We eventually found a couple of potential friends for Mr. Choco at a rescue shelter in Georgia, which is over 6 hours away roundtrip. One is Mr. Choco’s age, looking for a friend, but can’t bond with her cagemate because he bites her sometimes (he has a tragic background that I won’t go into).
So here’s the dilemma. The people who run the ferret shelter are conditioned by years of tragedy. They trust no one. They demand the adoption agreement included unimpeded access to my home, a custody agreement stating whether the ferret will go to me or my wife in the event of a divorce, as well as the understanding that they will be calling us throughout the ferret’s life to ensure we provide the ferret with proper medical care, meet vaccine deadlines, etc. Also, they insist I bring Mr. Choco to meet the potential playmates to see how they get along. Then we can come back a week later and pick up the ferret, because they want to get the ferret checked out with their vet one last time. The man who runs the ferret shelters is beyond rude, and told me “There are no exceptions, no extenuating circumstance, no special considerations. All of these rules will be met. And we will come to your home after the adoption at least once to make sure it’s ferret-safe.”
I have had four ferrets in my life. I have ferret-proofed three homes. When I buy furniture, I make sure it is ferret friendly or that I can modify it to be so. I bought the largest, most comfortable ferret cage on the market and made further modifications for my ferrets’ comfort. I have spent thousands of dollars on medical care for my ferrets over the years, including two major surgeries. I clean my ferrets’ cage religiously, bathe them as needed, cut their nails, play with them, keep the AC running at all times in the summer to keep them cool, and provide a loving, caring home. I do not want suspicious strangers calling me to see if I made the vet appointment, coming to my home to judge whether I’ve properly ferret-proofed my home, forcing my wife and I to sign a custody agreement, and intruding into my business.
And finally, my remaining ferret does not like to travel. He hates it. He refuse to eat or drink while traveling, even if I pull off to the sie of the road and pour cold water into his bowl and try to hand feed him food. When I dropped him off at a friend’s ferret shelter back in Houston when I’d return to Austin for a visit, he would run and hide the entire time. He is the most playful, sweet ferret, but he takes time to get used to other ferrets. When we moved to Alabama, it was two months before he stopped running like crazy when anyone would walk around the corner. If I bring him out to that shelter in Georgia, he’s not going to want to play with the other ferrets. He’s going to be stressed as well from the three hour drive, find a place to hide, and avoid other ferrets. I asked the shelter owner if I could just observe the potential playmates interacting with other ferrets to decide who would be a good playmate, and he repeated, “NO EXCEPTIONS. BRING YOUR FERRET HERE OR GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.”
The problem is, the contract is standard, and the other places I called anywhere near my home (up to 3, 4, and 5 hours away) have the same policies. They want unimpeded access to the ferret and they want to keep tabs on her throughout her life. They want to do home inspections. They don’t grant exceptions. But I’m a private person. I don’t want some stranger involved in my life or coming to my home with or without my permission. I resent the insinuation that I’m a bad pet owner. I resent the whole intrusive process.
So I’m left with buying a ferret kit at the pet store (they ask no questions at all, which is the other extreme of the spectrum and much worse for the ferrets in general), which I don’t really want to do, or adopting from the shelters, which are going to invade my privacy. And this leaves Mr. Choco a very lonely ferret, despite all the attention we give him.
I am very frustrated, and think I really need a fresh perspective. I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you guys could offer.
