Trisha & Fawna Rae

Trisha being held by Cathy in 2002

Fawna Rae in 2000


Fawna Rae was dumped along with Trisha at a pet store in 1999. Their previous owner brought them in a cardboard box, sat them on the counter, and walked out. The pet store had Cathy's business card for anyone who wanted information on proper ferret care and called her to ask if she'd be willing to take them and try to save them. They were in such bad shape that neither Cathy nor the pet store staff were sure if they would make it through the night. The vet placed them at somewhere between four and five years old at the time.


Trisha had an open, bleeding tumor the size of a quarter on her chest  and needed immediate surgery. The vet had to remove an incredible amount of tissue, but she recovered nicely and has also learned to trust.

It took Fawna Rae months to trust anyone and she is still a bit shy around strangers. Fawna Rae had adrenal surgery in 2000. The tumor was benign. She got all her fur back and is doing wonderfully.


UPDATE (by Zoo): August 3rd, 2003

A year ago, Trisha`s blood panel showed highly elevated liver and kidney enzymes. We expected we`d be lucky if she had 6 months more of quality life. That was August 15th, 2002. She fooled everyone---even me. She lost weight but didn`t start to go down until the last couple weeks. She
had some ups and downs after that, but still wanted to live. She still ate on her own, loved her soup, and still went in the box (most of the time.) Trisha also toddled around the room when it was her turn to play. She did very well for an 8-9 year old ferret, let alone the fact that she was ill...

Monday morning, between 8:00am & 8:10am, she slipped away  peacefully in her sleep. We will miss her, so much.......

Fawna Rae is still with us and has become a part of the Star Wars group. To date, she has not shown further signs of adrenal gland disease.


UPDATE: September 2005

Fawna Rae`s surgery only stopped the adrenal disease for a while. It appeared in the other gland in early 2004. She was on lupron, with good results until September 31st, 2005 when we lost her. Fawna Rae was somewhere between 10 & 11 years old. She was the last member of the original Star Wars group... We will miss her so....

Love, Zoo