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A Close Call Story that We ALL Should Read
In a message dated 10/12/01 9:53:55 PM Central Daylight Time, LisetteLu
writes:
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 17:34:28 EDT<< When it was all over, I fought back choking tears, and kept saying "oh my God, oh my God: my God." I was home late from a long days work and errands. Ferret soup and meds given, I was cleaning litter boxes, washing dishes, laying fresh papers, spilling a huge Tupperware container of duck soup all over the cabinets, walls, and refrigerator. My neighbor stopped by for some prescription cat food I picked up for him, I had the dishes put away, and headed past the den. Too chilly for the porch door to remain open any longer. It was then I saw the screen door open and a large black feral cat with glowing jade green eyes standing in front of the open door. All the ferrets were lose, the wild animals were out, and the screen door was open. Oh my God. I grabbed my emergency squeaky toy and flashlight-always kept in the same spot, and began squeaking, calling, searching, and grabbing ferrets. I would search a room thoroughly, then close the door so no ferret could get in, and go on to the next room. Maria-the tiny bald burnt girl who is now too funny looking/adorable for words- Gone. I grabbed some warm clothes and out I went-scaring away an opossum and the black feral cat. The raccoons were not present. I walked up and down the back of the house up to the waters edge calling her name. I looked on the ground for her little body. I looked on the ground for the blood I so often see. I found her within a few minutes. She came up onto the porch and stood there peeking up at me. I found her. Alive. Many of you know that fear. Know that panic. I thank God tonight for the miracle of the little old girls life. She walked among hungry wild animals and was not hurt in any way. She walked up to me on a cold dark night. She could have been long gone. I put her to bed with the others and walked into the kitchen. The pain just zapped me. The reality of how close she came to death. My God-Thank you with all my heart for saving my little girl. My God, My God, My God. >> From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: New ferret-hideous looking 
Some boys at the park told me about a gross freak that was supposed to be
a ferret at the pet store near by. I drove there today to see. If I did
not have my stomach tightened up by how Little looks with pred belly,
seizures, no fur on belly, and now adrenal baldness: I think I would have
been grossed out.
I brought it home, and it is sleeping in a cage. Another cage is being
sent over in an hour that will fit underneath this one. I don't know if
it is a boy or girl. I did not look. It did not matter. It was kept in
the sun, and is burnt on top of its bald head. It is all wrinkled as
though I am looking at its brains!!!!!!!!!!
There is no fur on the nose or throat, and its anus scrapes the ground when
it walks on its naked feet. It is emaciated looking.
The owner of the pet store guesses that it is about 5 years old. Someone
left it on their doorstep. Four other deserted ferrets were also there.
But this one was something I would have been disgusted looking at a few
years ago. No one is going to bring home this "freak" Not in this hotsy
totsy neighborhood. None of the ferrets are related, the store owner said.
I was not going to bring anymore animals home for care. But the owner
would not even move the cage out of the direct sun, and the ferret was all
red. It was hot and bright. Owner said there was no other place to put
the ferret. It was really jammed with stuff and cages. And there was the
water bottle hanger broken on one end so the bottle did not reach into the
cage.Huge butt muscle hanging to ground and top of head looking like the shape
of brains and baldness elsewhere and wasting is adrenal-yes?
Gotta clean up now. Litter is everywhere mere hours after i vacuum and
sweep
Lisette 
[A later P.S. follows:]
Correction on "freak" ferret I must make an immediate correction on the ferret I just brought home a
few hours ago. The rectal muscle is huge. But it is not dragging on the
ground. Must have been walking funny in the cage with its very long nails.
They are trimmed now.
Little sores on the sunburnt body: little red blood clots. Scratching with
the long nails on dry burnt naked skin?
She is very friendly. No bites at all. Lots of licking. Perky and nosy
and clear eyed. Maybe surgery is not too late to help her, though it would
be a month or two before I could arrange that. She needs her distemper
shots first--two weeks apart, I believe.
Love the new cage I had to buy if I was going to bring home the "freak".
After a little rearranging, it Fits perfectly. Have 3 guys in there
checking it out for the night now.
My turn . I am going to check my bed out.The little girl seems happy.
Sometimes animals just pine away and die. I don't think that she is going
to do that. Remarkable living being. I think it weighs less than a pound.
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 23:31:17 EDT From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Have We Entertained Angels Unawares? The little half naked burnt ferret still lives. She is a bright purple
today from being burnt, and flinches to touch her head and upper back. I
am syringe feeding her, as wise and loving members of the FML have told
me to do.
The wrinkling that looks like I am looking at someone's' brains that makes
up the epithelium on her emaciated body may be partly from dehydration.
The thick anal aperture jutting out like a fat, shorter leg could be from
dehydration.
I do not have enough nerve to push it back in with a q-tip. This sucker
is Huge. I am afraid she will hurt, and then be afraid of me. And I
don't see how this thing could possibly fit back inside of her.
Poops just fall out of her as she walks. So whatever musculature is
supposed to be in the anal area that is now on the outside of her must be
damaged.{?} But I have rescheduled my week to be home for syringe feedings
at lunch, and to leave work earlier this week. I normally don't have time
for lunch, but have shuffled around the schedule. This way I can also take
the poopie blankets out and get her new ones at that time, AND in the
morning, and when I get home.
Anymore ideas will be appreciated. I am keeping her in the dark. And she
sleeps in baby blankets. The air conditioning is set for 74. It is nice
and cool in her room. ************I need two more of those hanging bed thingies. Hammocks! Any
shelters you guys know of selling them?
She goes in for exam, full work up, and first distemper at one of the best
ferret vet hospitals in the country on Sat., and is scheduled for surgery
there in early July--if she lives and is strong enough.
I told the neighbor who helped me catch the ducky that the little baby
was dead. She is a macho, loud, resourceful, strong individual. But
that really choked her up.That made me reflect on all the helpless animals
that need our help, and I went home so saddened. I grabbed the Bible for
comfort, and it fell open onto this:
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained
angels unawares."
Hebrews 13:2 How many of us-trying our best to save another living being- a stranger--
have actually been with an angel?
What a comforting thought to sleep on.
Lisette
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 09:21:21 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Princess Poo-pa-la-ta and Bat Woman/THANK YOU I woke up this morning to the a`-a``-a`-a`-a`-a`-a`a`-stacatto dialogue
of Miss Mini-Me. Only she was not trying to find out how to get under my
covers so that she could nip me hard all over my ankles and feet.
A dialogue was ensuing!!! Two voices chattered in harmony. Then one quick
high rising blast. I peeked into the ferret room.
There was Mini-Me. She was like a tarantula. No--like a BAT. She had
climbed up the side of the larger three floored cage to the smaller two
leveled cage on top, and was nose to nose with the burnt, half bald ferret.
Mini ran sideways- like a bat- up and down the side of that cage with
ease-chattering her little heart out. She clung on -her body sideways to
the floor. Then she scampered to another area--following the little burnt
girls every move. The two were discussing living arrangements, I believe.
Mini-Me was so intense, she did not seem to know she was high up and
standing sideways. She was like a little Bat Woman.
The burnt one is still alive, with pus gobules dropping out of her butt
along with tiny pieces of moist poopies as she walks. Her name for today
is Princess Poo-pa-la-ta. You could not even begin to imagine what it is
like crawling on the floors to clean the dozens of poopie pieces she drops
as she walks. I got to bed at 2 am. Way too late for me.
Princess Poo-pa-la-ta is cureous, cuddly, placid, and friendly. She must
have been loved by someone once upon a time: I pray that she will live
through all of this.
Awwwwe. She just came in. Kisses all over my ear and then my wrist.
Still looks like brains on top of her head. But the cuts or sores on her
body are healing.
Aloe Vera and A/D are being applied . Ferret Dad-the hemoroid medicine
with a gloved finger? O.K.--I promise. I will purchase stuff today and
do it. No q-tips guys. Glove fingers needed for this.
Thank so many of you for your help. The bath and Aloe Vera have been a
comfort to her.
P.S. *Years ago-I had just purchased my first ferret and went to a GCFA picnic.
There were these disgusting bald ferrets that smelled funny, looked
terrible, and felt hot and ichy. I knew I should not ge grossed out. I
was ashamed of my self for even a moment of such feelings. But they were
my feelings.
Beauty IS in the eyes of the beholder. Today, I see these bald sweety
pies, and I want to care for them. Cheyene was entirely bald except for
head when I brought him home. For me the change in feelings was a
transition.
Life CONSISTS of change. I thank GOD for the changes He has wrought in my life--in me. Lisette, Bat Woman, and Princess Poo-pa-la-ta( just her today name) Lisette Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 18:04:24 EDT From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: I don't know my butt from a hole.... The little half naked burnt girl does not have cancer coming out of her
rectal area. The large protruberance that looks like a penis with cancer
is actually her vulva!~!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boy--do I feel sheepish.
Don't put pH Hemmeroidial stuff on grossly enlarged vulva, by the way.
The appearance of a brain on the top of her head is due to the muscles
having waisted away. The masseter and occipital muscles should have nicely
rounded her head. Instead-it is heavy wrinkles shaped like a brain.
She has the two tattoos of Marshall Farms. Vet guesses that it is another
incomplete spay. This, he said, can cause the fur loss and muscle
waisting, and grossly enlarged vulva.
I will let you know if she lives until and through the surgery scheduled in
July. There is pus coming out of her vulva AND anal area. So she is on
antibiotics. The drug will change the white blood cell count on a blood
test-but will not interfere with what the vets will be looking for.
She has ear mites. She had her first Ivermectin shot.
Of interest**********Do not give a distemper shot for at least 7 days
before a blood work up(which she is having Sat.) It interferes with the blood platelet count****** Glad I did not have you guys send me a bunch of butt medicine. :-) So
Ferret Guy--I won't try and push her vulva into her rectum with a q-tip
OR a gloved finger. Butt-thank you for the words of encouragement.
The end:
Lisette
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 11:51:53 EDT From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: It is NOT the will of your Father... When my niece was growing up, she spent several years in and out of
Children's Memorial Hospital. She was in terrible pain for years after
that.
She would fall into comma like sleep and high fever. We could not wake her
up. Back to the hospital she would go. They thought it might be leukemia.
Maybe rheumatoid arthritis. Whatever it was-she had little to no immune
system. We had been told that she might not live long.
This sweet 4 year old -who weighed less than 25 pounds-woke up one day: We
had to carry her around, stand her up, put cold water on her to get her to
come back from where ever she was. She finally opened her eyes to say-
"Mom, the hand of God reached down and touched me. "
It was never determined what she had in totality. But God decided to keep
her on this earth instead of taking her that day. She has suffered for
most of her life, yet has grown into a 13 year old who cares about the
environment, wild life, and the under dog.
She sees the burnt bald ferret for the very first time through wise eyes
beyond her years, and says: "What a pretty face you have little mouse."
and picks her up and kisses her. My sister see the ferret: her body and
face display her revolt :The face sneers. The body backs up and cringes.
My nephew says-That's gross, Aunt Lisette. It looks like E.T.!
Maria exlaims-"She is not E.T.:look how sweet she is. She is small-like
a little China doll." Now ferret and girl kiss one another.
I have decided to name the half naked little ferret Maria: after a
thoughtful, sensitive, and loving living being: my niece.
Maria, the amiable kissing ferret ,who is well over 5 years old-probably
closer to 7-, is trotting around like a youngster under the tutelage of
Miss Mini-Me. The terror and terrible of the household -the tiniest alpha
being-has taken Miss Maria under her batwings. :-) Chatter, chatter,
chatter. Two magpies talking up a storm, trotting side by side. Maria
trying to kiss Mini-Me again and again.
Thank you all for helping me with names, information on burns, vet tips,
etc.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes
astray, does he not leave the ninety nine and go to the mountains and seek
the one that is straying?.... ***" Even so, it is not the will of your
Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." ***
Matthew 18:11 
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 20:48:59 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Hammocks for the girls from Ferret Guy and Anne My smiley thanks to Ann Ryan and Ferret Dad for the WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hammocks.
Mini-Me has her own cage to teach her proper potty manners, and she now
has her first hammy. You should hear her talk about it. She keeps
popping in and out of it, tilting her head, chatttering away the whole
time. What a riot.
Maria will have more than one hammie since you two were so kind.. She
poops and tinkles as she walks. I can change the hammy every day for her
because of you guys. She is mostly naked and wets her binkies. There she
is all wet and the binkie all wet and she is shivering in the morning cause
mom has to have the air on at night. No promises--but she did not wet her
hammy last night, and I found her curled up inside.
Thank youss! and Maria kissesss and Mini-Me chucklesss to Ferret Guy and
Anne.
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 21:19:22 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Bald and burnt Maria vet exam for anyone interested 1. The way it looks like Marias brains are on top of her skull is from
being kept in the blazing hot and bright store window for day after day
with no covering to block the sun, or fur to keep the skin from burning,
or medicine to ease the inflammation. The vet pointed out the thick
rubbery tissue here compared to elsewhere. This is a different theory
than previous vet.
2. Maria looks adrenal-and incomplete spay, but vet is hedging more towards
adrenal.
3. Bubbles showing up on x-ray show gas or fur ball or something that is
not right.
4. Maria stopped breathing when they put her under for the x-ray. Vet
will have to be very careful with anesthetic to keep Maria alive.
5. Blood tests look great, vet says.
6. Maria weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces. She is smaller than the rotten Miss
Mini-Me-who is now 1 pound and 8 ounces thanks to syringe feeding her
Bob C. chicken soup.
So surgery is coming up
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2001 09:34:27 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Mini-Me proclaims: Mini-Me says:
As one of our great stinkers--ahh,I mean Thinkers-- proclaims, as she
watches Maria walk and poop at the same time:
Don't poo off until tomorrow what you can dew today.
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 19:59:05 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Surgery for Maria. Donations/Prayers Several kind people have asked if they could help to pay for Marias'
surgery. She is going in next Wed., and I will pick her up next Saturday.
1. Maria is about 5 to 7 years old, weighs 1 pound 2 ounces.
2. She ate Bob C. chicken soup out of bowl instead of syringe for first time today. She has a good appetite. 3. The pus has stopped oozing out of her in globs. She has been given her medicine twice a day. It is doing a good job. 4. Vet says blood tests look good. Heart looks good. 5. The sores all over her body are gone now. 7. Burn is turning pink. She is healing well, and being kept hydrated. 8. She is adrenal and needs surgery to correct this, has a grossly enlarged vulva, may have an incomplete spay, and has bubbles showing up on the x-rays. May be fur balls. These bubbles were the vets main concern. Pancreas will be looked at also. Black teeth will be cleaned. If anyone would like to help me out with Maria-they can send whatever they
can to
Midwest Bird And Exotic Animal Hospital 1923 S. Manheim Rd. Westchester, IL 670154 For Maria Ferret--Account 2174 They say her chances are strong and good. Her cage was over $180. The two vet visits were over $320. thus far.
Surgery will be around $500, plus time in surgery room, IV, meds,room and
board.
Please send your e-mail address so I can personally thank you on behalf of
myself and this little one: Maria.
I do not ask ever for donations for me. But having just rescued Mini-Me, and purchased the largest nonprofessional side by side refrigerator to hold Bob C. chicken soup in the freezer for the other rescues, and having put in all new doors that are almost wall to wall so that the ferrets have something new to pee on, and new drapes and blinds for them to ruin (-; ---Maria was not at ALL in my financial plans. Maria would not have lived more than a day or two in that window in the
blazing heat and sun on her naked body with the water bottle hook snapped
off on one end: siturated such that Maria could not get any water. There
really was no other place in the shop that I could see to put the cage.
So, she was going to burn to death there.
Many thanks to those who suggested this. Any help will be appreciated.
Please say a prayer for this helpless one to make it through surgery, and a
prayer for all the millions of abandoned animals.
I found this "freak" because of children playing in the park who told me
about this hideous thing that looked like one of my ferrets. I believe
that God gives us these hints and chances to guide us to help one another.
May we open our hearts to those in need, and share a part of ourselves
with the less fortunate.
Lisette 
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2001 19:43:11 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Correction on address to donate to Marias surgery Thank all of you for calling this to my attention so promptly:
The address of the vet is Midwest Bird and Exotic Aniaml Hospital
1923 Manheim Rd. Westchester, IL 60154 Account #2174-donation to Maria Ferret.
Sorry for the error.
LisetteDate: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 09:53:47 EDT From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: Time for Marias Surgery Prayers I know you are all very busy. But if as you read this you could pray that
Maria-the half bald older ferret, with the gigantic vulva sticking out of
her, come out of surgery alive and healthier? Surgery is Wed. morning.
She has been dumped in her old age into a steamy hot window where she was
burning alive. It was so hot here in Illinois, that the minute I walked
outside, my glasses steamed up. There was no air conditioning I could feel
in the store. It was stiffling.
She appears so happy here. Mini Me has shown her how to get into the
garbage and roll in it. This was passed down from Sunny Rhino Mudd to
Lovely to Mini Me. And now Maria.
Maria ate two saucers of Bob C. Chicken soup all on her own yesterday and
today. She rolled in and burrowed in and kicked out the fresh kitty litter
just like Sunny showed her. The ferrets just love her. She baths everyone
while they try to sleep. She trots from room to room cavorting through
tubes, leaping into mounds of blankets, scampering in and out of the
childrens play house, brimming with dooks and curiosity, gaily dropping
out little c shaped turds as she trots along.
And last night, i took her to church. A young lady there held Maria in a
baby blanket and rocked her and kissed her, and ran her fingers down Marias
tiny,bald, brain -looking head: while talking about the struggles in her
life, and how God has been there for her-even when she could not believe
in HIm.
Three times she said-Lisette knew I needed this tonight-to hold this little
one. But it is not true. I did not know. Yet, there was Maria-blissfully
sleeping in the arms of a distraught, concerned lady--easing her tension.
Truly making a difference in someones day-simply by existing.
In such a short time-she is in our lives. A part of our routine. A member
of our community.
Please ask God that the surgeon perform surgery to the best of his ability,
and provide excellent post-op care for the few days after surgery, and that
the "bubbles" showing up in the x-rays be something that can be seen and
treated, and that Maria come out of this a healthier little ferret.
In Gods name we pray for this little wonder that He has created.
Amen.
LisetteDate: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 23:18:03 EDT From: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: The F words It was a Fearful morning-dropping off little Maria-not knowing if I would
ever see her alive again. Would the surgeon know that Maria had stopped
breathing when x-rays were taken? Were the bubbles on the x-rays cancer
spread all through out her little body?
There were soooooo many people praying for the little older ferret left
with no water to burn alive in the pet store window, that even God had
FAITH that Maria would make it.
During the exam, the vet found a fat FLEA on Maria. I quickly bathed
everyone with flea shampoo and washed all bedding, and sprayed the
carpeting. Mini-Me was loaded with 6 fleas. Marias bedding had 2
hopping fleas.
The day ended with Lovely FLEEING home after her abhorred flea bath. I
don't know how I did not see her. She ran to my neighbors--thank God.
Thank you all for saving Maria with your prayers, and for your financial
help. And thank you to Dr. Ness of Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal
Hospital. I have not seen Maria since surgery, but Dr. Ness is one of
the few vets I have personally encountered who does a thorough exam as it
should be done, is an expert flea slayer, sutures like a work of art, and
has had years of experience with ferret surgeries. He is also a nice
person who likes ferrets.
Maria had her left adrenal removed. Dr. Ness DID read the chart, and
realized Maria stopped breathing under anesthesia last time. We decided to
just close her up and do no surgery if she had a problem like that again.
But she made it.
I still cannot believe it. She made it??? I cannot believe totally yet.
But I will go to sleep smiling.
Lisette 
Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 00:36:57 EDTFrom: LisetteLu@CS.COM Subject: "The elite entourage" The motley crew had clamored through the clear dryer hose to
converge like drunken sailors in the bathroom. Large fluffy
blankets, a cardboard box, paper toweling, tubing,
chirping-hissing fighting ferrets, leaping and flipping
ferrets, and jumping ferrets hopping on thick blankets like
trampolines: my favorite kind of morning.
Miss Maria skipped out of the room, down the hall, and
rounded a bend. She had suddenly become a leader of men, for
the hoard galloped directly behind her.
Her emaciated form backed up and stopped-and a little brown
squiggle and small round liquid emerged on the papers set in
the corner.
"Good Girl!" I shouted over and over. This drove the crowd
wild, and ferrets fell on top of one another, and leaped in
the air in the excited tones of my voice.
Maria trotted like a thoroughbred horse-a high stepper-into
the next room with papers. She backed up and stood
still-leaving another brown squiggle and small wet spot.
"Good girl Maria. Good girl.!!!" I gleefully exclaimed.
Maria had excrement fall out of her as she walked all these
weeks. Here now, was some bowl control, AND corner paper
usage. Naturally I was thrilled.
Maria was still in the lead, and briskly galloped into the
den. She made her way Into the middle of the room-- the
masses of bouncing ferrets ran through the carpeted
airplane, and into a large plastic box with blankets and
toys. Chaos reigned. The crowd was eating out of Marias'
hands. Into the middle of the carpet she backed, and a
little squiggle and wet spot extruded. The riotous crowd
frenzied into leaping off the airplane onto silly ferrets
below, and did not notice my lack of delight.
Directly, Maria was off again looking for adventure. The
crowd-drunk with MIS-behavior-rolled and leaped and chortled
after her. Chirping, hissing, chortles.scritch, scritch:
silence. I remained on the floor peering with dismay at yet
another poopie spot in the carpeting--my great mood a bit
dampened. Ahh well-get this stuff up now. Where is that
rug cleaner?
As I knelt cleaning the residue from the carpet, a loud
sharp crack of glass hitting tile startled my ears. A
Mini-Me long and angry war cry followed. As I ran out to
investigate, I realized that my honorary privileges for the
morning had ended. I stepped out of the room now a
caretaker, poop cleaner, and frightened mother:::::no longer
a member of "the elite entourage."
Lisette |
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