Rabid, not Rabbit

Once again I was angered by a petfinder classified ad.  I don't know why I look everyday.  This one was for an 8 year old Lhaso Apso.  Reason for giving up a dog you've had since it was a puppy?  Your daughter wants one that will play with her for Christmas.  What?  I just don't get who has a dog and "loves" it for 8 years then just tosses it aside in it's senior years because it's no longer a playful dog.  It takes everything in me not to email each and every one of these irresponsible owners.  THESE are the people that need to step into an animal shelter.  They need to see what happens to animals that are considered disposable.  What happens when these people get pregnant again and the baby isn't good enough anymore?  Gasp, you say, an animal isn't the same as a child.  Not exactly but when you make a decision to get pregnant, you're making a choice to be responsible for that child, it's the same when you make a choice to bring a dog into your home.  You should be responsible for the animals you bring into your home until the day they die or you die.  Period, the end, no if's and's or but's.  How about we drag them into a laboratory where their unwanted dogs could end up?  How would you like to see Fluffy being tortured for shampoo?  And all because she's too old to play with your brat.  You know how many animals we've had that would've been easier to just drop at the humane society?  But we didn't, we dealt with their issues or ours.  ARGH.

I awoke to find that Gollum, the mother parakeet had passed away sometime last night.  I had a feeling there was something wrong with her but couldn't put my finger on anything.  She wasn't sneezing or coughing and she was eating and drinking.  She just seemed depressed.  I thought it was just the toll of having to take care of the those babies.  I really thought I'd be devastated when I lost her.  I'd had her for quite a few years.  I found an ad on petfinder for five parakeets for under $30.  I emailed the woman and she said she took them from her brother-in-laws house because he was going to let them go outside.  No domesticated parakeet can survive outdoors but this was in the middle of winter in southern Michigan.  They would've died before the next day.  Gollum was the last of those five to still be alive.  I have no idea how old they were or what they lived in before they came to me.  One of them had a broken toe that was always pointing backwards and was missing a toe.  The others were pretty normal.  I lost three of them in the first two years so they could've been older or just in general poor condition where ever they had been living.  Gollum was quite a character in her younger years.  There wasn't a cage that could contain her.  No matter how I tried to fasten the doors, she always found a way out.  Several times she also found a way into a cats mouth.  If there was ever a bird to have nine lives, it was her.  Most birds, when bitten by a cat, will die within two days.  Gollum was bleeding and bruised but never showed any sign of infection.  And this happened at least three times that I can remember.  The only reason they didn't get to eat her was because Charlie, my cockatiel, would scream when she would escape.  He's never liked any of "his" animals to be out of his sight or out of their cages.  He's still like that to this day and when I take the rabbit or the rats out, he will squawk until they are back in "his" room.  It's even worse when I take his cage mate out. (Violet) He doesn't even like her and they stay on opposite sides of the cage at all times but you would think I was pulling his limbs off with the way he yells when I take her into the living room with me.  For a parakeet, I think Gollum had a good long life.  She was always warm, had a full belly and clean cage.  (and when the four other parakeets passed on, I got her another cage mate... which ended up being the daddy to her babies) I feel bad for the remaining three.  They have been quietly chirping for her all day and were trying to get her up when I found her. 

By looking for another ferret, I have made some interesting new online friends.  They all live in my area but they will probably stay online friends.  I posted a few ads on some web forums that are only for northern IN or southern MI.  I didn't get any responses saying anyone had a ferret but I did get many from people saying how happy they were to see someone else who was willing to take in unwanted animals.  One of them took in a ferret six months ago that was living in horrid conditions.  He was fed dog food (ferrets should NEVER have dog food), kept in a small cage (which he was never allowed out of), had no litter box and maggots were crawling over him and everything that was in his cage.  Since she's had him, he's put on 1 1/2 pounds and is getting healthier every day.  She is keeping an eye out for ferrets that need a home and will email me if she finds any.  Even if they don't come with their own cage, I have a smaller ferret cage for the transition.  You can't just throw two ferrets into a room and expect them to get along.  It's somewhat of a process.  Plus, when you get a ferret from an unknown person, you should always keep them completely apart for two weeks.  There is a disease ferrets can catch that there is no vaccine for and some ferrets are carriers so you want to make sure they don't display any signs before you allow them together.  Technically, I don't have to get her any shots.  However, she will be getting rabies and distemper.  My husband says I'll have to make the appointment on a Thursday and take her to the vet as you have to stay an hour after the shot to make sure the ferret doesn't go into shock.  Some ferrets have a severe reaction to the distemper vaccine and must have a vet on hand to reverse the process or it will die.  We're getting the rabies vaccine just in case she were to ever nibble someone.  Basically, I want to cover my ass.  She will never be exposed to rabies but the state wouldn't hear that if she were to bite someone and they had to report it.  (I had to report the bite when I was bitten by my own cat because I had to get medical attention for it)