Dean and Martin I've always had a soft spot in my heart for albino animals. Their ruby red eyes and soft white fur are so beautiful to me. How can anyone not like them? I was so surprised to find out that some people can't stand to look at them. I think they are beautiful, special animals. When I had learned enough about ferrets to know I really wanted one, I immediately knew I wanted an albino ferret. However, the special personality was first and foremost in my mind. I looked at someone's ferrets who lived only 30 minutes from me. He had a silver, black eyed ferret and a sable. Both of them bit me a lot and their fur was not soft. The situation just didn't feel right, so I left without the ferrets. Then I saw a girl's ad online for a sable ferret in Portland, Oregon. I just had to go down there to see him. Mom and I hopped in the car on October 11th, and drove the full 2 hours from our place in Washington down to Portland. The college girl was really nice and friendly. She took the little sable boy, Martin, out and I watched him play, and even saw him try to run off with my mom's purse! He was so funny and adorable. He licked my fingers and looked so full of life and happiness. My heart melted and I knew I had to take him home with me. The ride home was amazing. I held the animal carrier in my lap as Martin slept inside, on the hammock. I was mesmerized. I actually had a ferret. After six months of reading about them and wanting one, I was actually holding him in my lap, watching his little body breathe as he slept. What a beautiful experience that was. He was so much fun to play with! He stole my remote control all the time, learned to climb inside my cabinets, curled up in my sheets and bounced on my bed. One evening, he even crawled onto my lap, rested his head in the crook of my elbow and closed his eyes. He just sat with me for 20 minutes!! It's hard to describe how wonderful that felt. Tears ran down my face as I looked at my precious little friend. I was the luckiest girl in the world!
Martin was the most awesome "first ferret" in the world, but now I felt like he needed a friend, someone his own size to wrestle with and play under the bed with, someone who could chase him through those tunnels. I was too big to do those things…. I also still had the idea of my perfect albino ferret in mind. Well, my dreams were answered, when, on my mailing list for the ferret association I belonged to, I read an email. Some woman who never really treated her ferrets well had contacted a member of our association, Charlene, to meet her at a pet store. Charlene finally agreed to visit the new baby ferrets there with her. Charlene didn't get any ferrets, but this other woman did, and then said, "Oh , I have Beanie Bear in the car with me and I don't have room for him anymore. Will you take him?" The whole trip was just a final attempt, one of many, to pawn this ferret off on Charlene! Charlene did rescue this sweet ferret, and wrote to the list about what happened. She asked on the email if anyone might want him. He was a very big albino boy! I wrote her immediately!! She said I could see him at the next meeting, and I said I would bring Martin to let them play together. The next December 6th, Mom and I drove out to Charlene's house for the monthly meeting. Everyone was ooh-ing and aww-ing over this amazing ferret. He had a bald patch on his back, near his tail, which gave him sort of a scruffy look…. But he was beautiful. He was so gentle and just wanted to be held. I don't think he'd ever been cuddled the way everyone at the house was cuddling him that day. Everyone who found out I was the one interested in adopting Dean kept telling me how lucky I was, but that was something I already knew, already felt so strongly in my heart. Martin got along really well with him, but was interested in the other ferrets, too. They didn't interact a lot that night, but when they did, they seemed fine together. So, when it was time to go, I put them both in my carrier, and off we went, back home. It was great having one ferret, but two was even better!! They were hilarious together, wrestling, and making all kinds of happy ferret noises. I laughed at them all the time. I decided very quickly that my albino boy needed a new name. I asked Charlene if I could change his name and she told me he was mine now and I could do whatever I thought best. It's not that Beanie Bear was really such a bad name. But, I used to call my chinchilla, Hazel, Beanie sometimes, and that was his nickname. I never wanted to call anyone else Beanie. It just didn't feel right. And, I'd had one special hamster named Bear who died suddenly when I was younger, and a ground squirrel name Bear, too. So! I thought and thought and then the perfect name came up… Dean! As in Dean Martin, one of my favorite singers! My younger brother deserves credit for that; it was perfect! And the best part was Dean even came to his name, since it sounded so much like Beanie. I couldn't have been happier! Dean was amazing. He stayed very close to me the first several days I had him. He slept in my lap and inside my sweatshirt on my stomach. He felt so warm since he was missing so much fur from bad nutrition. It will never cease to amaze me how quickly ferrets can capture your heart. I was completely in love with my sweet little boys. Now, I knew I was the luckiest girl ever!
The time came to get a check-up at the vet's office. I looked forward to taking them, as I loved my vet. It was always fun going there, which was new to me. Usually, visiting veterinarians' offices was just a regular, mundane chore. But visiting this doctor was really great. She adored my ferrets! She was amazed at how big Dean was and kept showing him to everyone. He was 4 pounds! It's difficult to remember exactly how it came up, but it was eventually confirmed that Dean had adrenal disease. That is what was most likely causing his fur loss. Ferrets often needed surgery because of this, and I knew several people had lost ferrets to adrenal disease before. My ferrets were so young, though. Martin was only 2, and Dean was only about 2 and a half years old. Around the age of 3 is when most people find out if their ferrets do have any tumors or adrenal disease, though, I later found out. My doctor reassured me, informing me we found out early and that with shots of medicine, he should grow some hair back and live for a while longer. So, we began the shots. Slowly, I noticed a tiny bit of hair growth. I was really encouraged by that. Dean never acted sick, and played with Martin all the time. Everything was great! I was also excitedly making plans for college. I had only applied to one school, down in Los Angeles. I knew it was where I wanted to go. Before I ever got Martin, I swore I'd stay in Washington. But I just couldn't. I felt lethargic all the time, and I felt sad a lot, too. I didn't really know why. One day, I felt so happy and full of life, like my sweet little ferrets, and I had to think to myself, "What's different about today?" I looked around and realized… the sun was out! I guess all those years growing up in the South, I had grown used to the sunshine. I'd been travelling to see my boyfriend every two months down in Los Angeles, and I knew it was the city for me to be in. I decided I would take my ferrets with me, despite the fact that they were illegal in Calfornia. I started doing some research and people sent me tons of stories. Some were like, "Oh I did it and it was easy," followed by tons of details of some crazy covert operation to sneak their little ferrets into the state. Other people really did have easy stories and some other people told me about ferrets being taken from them or their friends, and never knowing what happened. They could be euthanized or just placed somewhere and the owners would never know what happened to them. Other people gave me advice for after I got into the state, like never mentioning ferrets, always saying I had kittens, never writing checks at pet stores, use cash only… It was so much. I was already stressing out, just reading it all. I remember coming home from the vet's office, considering giving my ferrets up before I moved to California, and just crying as I drove down the freeway… I am the type of person who worries excessively, anyway. Knowing I had to take Dean to the vet every month for his medicine made me consider what would happen if I had to drive him to the vet every month in California. Every month I'd be taking a chance of getting in some unexpected accident or speeding ticket, some unexpected encounter that would lead my wonderful boy whom I love more than I can even put into words, to be taken from me. And what about visitors or repairmen in our home? Would I always be watching out for possible ferret-enemies, and watching over my shoulder? It's sad that owning lovable, wonderful, domestic pets can make you a criminal. I needed time to think…. I moved to California and left my ferrets with a friend. I told him I'd tell him my decision after 4 weeks, when I'd be visiting again. About 3 weeks after I had moved to California, I decided I just couldn't do it. No matter how small the risk, or how miniscule the chances of having my ferrets taken from me, it was just not a risk I could take. I'd rather choose their new home, choose a good future for them, than bring them into an uncertain and possibly dangerous future. It was such a hard decision to make, but I knew it was the best thing to do for them. With that, I asked my friend who was keeping them if he wanted them. He already had so many, so he couldn't. That was the answer from many people, in fact. They already had many, or they already had ferrets with adrenal issues. I wrote a few more people, including a man, Richard, I had corresponded with earlier but hadn't exchanged email with in a few months. I hoped and prayed someone would respond. Very soon, I heard back from Richard. The email started explaining how many ferrets he had....
Another rejection letter, I assumed. I continued reading as he explained how all his 16 ferrets have their own tiled room with central air.
He also talked about his vet that visits their home and vaccination times, etc. Then I got to one specific line, "You know, it's my birthday today, and maybe this is my present?" And the tears just poured down my face. Richard and Debra and their wonderful Ferret Heaven household literally was the answer to my prayers. I couldn't believe it: I really had found the perfect solution. When I visited Washington again, Mom and I drove to my friend's place and picked up Dean and Martin. It was so great seeing them again. Oh, how I missed them and loved them…. We piled their cage with them sleeping in the hammocks into the car and soon we were on our way to Yakima. The 3 hours drive is actually quite beautiful. The tall evergreens gradually become more sparse and are replaced by smaller trees until soon, we're driving through the desert. There are no trees to be seen on the hills, only short shrubs and brush. It's gorgeous in Eastern Washington. We were there before we knew it and seeing the ferret room in person was even better than the fantastic pictures! We let Dean and Martin play on the floor and Richard took pictures of me holding both of them. Richard and Debra are wonderful, friendly people. I felt so comforted knowing this was their new home. I knew they'd always be safe and happy here. Feelings of gratefulness and happiness overflowed inside me. As was expected, I missed Dean and Martin terribly, but I never doubted that they were in the best home in the world. It also helps that Richard sends tons of pictures, and I always get updates. My favorite pictures were the ones that showed Dean with a full body of beautiful, long, fluffy fur! It brought tears of happiness to my eyes to see how well he was doing!
The letters Richard sent about Dean and Martin showed how much he had also fallen in love with them. To know how much he loves them, especially big ole Dean, and to hear how Dean bonded so closely with him and gave Richard kisses all the time just melted my heart. I loved hearing how Martin was stealing their remote controls, too! It really is the perfect home for them. Also, knowing I can visit Yakima anytime makes me really happy! All in all, I know I did what was best for both of them, and I don't regret it at all. Ferrets are amazing, wonderful creatures, and I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have had Dean and Martin in my life. They will always hold a piece of my heart.
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