Welcome to Lakeroad Ferret Farm Rescue/Shelter, Inc.

Dare, Fred & George

   • Surrendered to the Shelter June 21, 2013.
   • Dare, AKA Darien was a black sable female. We helped her cross the Rainbow Bridge December 5, 2013.
   • Fred was a male. He left for the Rainbow Bridge July 4, 2016.
   • George was a male. He left for the Rainbow Bridge March 17, 2017.

   • Read about how these three arrived by clicking here, or read their latest updates below.

 

March 18, 2017:
AM: George it still with us. When I checked on him he was more alert and responsive, I offered him soup he did not want any, I gave him another Dex shot. I am not going to push him but I will keep him comfortable.
PM: George is gone.

March 17, 2017:
AM: I found George in a crash this morning I gave him a Dex shot time will tell.
PM: George has not responded to the Dex he got this morning, I tried to get him to take some soup off a dropper, he did not want any of it, I offered him ferretone he did not want that. He is shutting down, I put a round bed and blanket in his cage, he was shivering, he is pale so his little heart is slowing down. I tried to cuddle with him some he did not want to be cuddled. I put him back in his bed, covered him, told him I love him.

March 3, 2017:
  I've had to increase George's med dose.

January 13, 2017:
  George and Clyde - are both stable again, eating their soup with meds all 3 times a day now without much of a fuss.

December 4, 2016:
  George was ready for his soup and meds this morning, alert and responsive.

December 3, 2016:
  I did a BG when I pulled him out to give him his soup with Moxy, it was 96. I am continuing the Moxy, and Carafate I have not given George any more Pred since Friday at noon.

December 2, 2016:
  George has had 3 doses of Moxy - I started him yesterday morning, with a 4 hr fast we have a BG of 56. He was alert and responsive when I got him up for his soup with meds (Moxy) this morning.

PM Update: Doc wanted George on Moxy and Carafate. Fast 4 hrs and get another BG - all done his numbers were 56 this morning. I served soup/meds at 4 am. I served soup only at 11am, when I pulled him out of his cage at noon to put him in a playroom he was gagging and drooling. I served more soup but added 1/2 ml of liquid Pred this time. When I got home from work he seemed to have improved.

December 1, 2016:
  George had the meds prescribed, Moxy and Carafate. I started him on the Wed 11/30/16.

November 30, 2016:
  I did another BG this afternoon before his mid-afternoon soup. His BG was 264 - I am at a loss so I will get some opinions from OFD and Dr Sandra. I am guessing something other than Insulinoma is going on. With 4 am meds he is still drooling and gagging like his numbers are too low, but his numbers are too high. I will let the Doc's help me sort it out.

November 28, 2016:
  George on the other hand had his meds this morning at 4 am then when I went to put him away around 11, he was drooling and crashing, he is now on Pred 3 times a day like Ebony is.

November 26, 2016:
  George was shaking his head and acting funny, I did a BG - his numbers were 36, I started him on Pred tonight. Took the soup only card down and replaced it with the medicine card. When I woke this morning my back was bothering me, but it straightened out as the day went by.

November 3, 2016:
  George was not using his litter box all the time, he was using the cage pad between his sleep box and litter box. I had to strip the entire cage vacuum and wash down. I took the tray to the tub and gave it a shower and scrub. George has a pee pad now, I hope that makes a difference. He is getting old so maybe even the cut down pan is too much for him at this point.

July 13, 2016:
  Maggie was acting very lethargic this morning so I did a BG test, her numbers were 61. Kiwi was acting the same so I did a BG test on her and her numbers are 107. Maggie is now on meds, Kiwi is not. Since Maggie is now on meds and George is getting only soup tomorrow will be moving day for them. I will get Maggie into the cage on the meds bank of cages.

July 5, 2016:
  Gus came in from the playroom last week, I was not thinking when I moved him into Minnie's cage. He is not on meds but Louise is. This afternoon I moved Gus over to the other side of the room in the bank of cages with kids that are not on meds. Well not entirely true, Bruno, Ally and Ricardo are but they need the horizontal cage and there isn't one on the side with all the kids on meds. I moved Louise into the cage Minnie and Gus were using because she is on meds. George is not on meds but he will get soup daily to keep him from getting an ulcer now that he is alone, because of his age I expect he will need meds soon enough.

July 4, 2016:
AM Update: I found Fred in a crash this morning, gave him a Dex shot but several hours later he was having seizures, it does not appear he is going to come out of it this time. I expect when I check in tonight he will be gone.
PM Update: Fred is gone, he was in a full blown crash when I got down stairs this morning, I gave him a Dex shot but he started seizing, he did not come out of the crash this time.

June 21, 2016:
  We are up, Fred is back.

June 20, 2016:
  I found Fred in a major crash, I gave him a Dex and put him and George in the playpen because Fred was really gone. I am not sure I caught this crash in time. Morning will tell.

June 18, 2016:
  I had to give both Fred and Slinky a Dex shot this morning. Slinky was glassy eyed and drooling, Fred was not quite so far gone.

June 17, 2016:
  I had to give Fred a Dex shot yesterday.

May 28, 2016:
AM Update: Fred was iffy this morning, he did finally eat all his soup but I will watch him he may need help with some Dex.

PM Update: Fred was okay, ready to have soup when I got him up.

May 16, 2016:
  Fred ate 2 bowls of soup tonight.

May 11, 2016:
  Fred wanted 2 bowls of soup tonight.

April 29, 2016:
  Fred ate his soup on his own this morning. Fred had 2 bowls of soup tonight, on his own with meds.

April 28, 2016:
  Fred took his meds better this morning by dropper in soup, tonight he took the dropper with meds in soup then ate 2 bowls of soup on his own.. we have rallied once again.

April 27, 2016:
AM Update: Fred has started refusing to eat again, I dropper medicated him last night, this morning he did not even want that. He first thought it was just meds but when I got him to realize it was soup he took it reluctantly, but would not finish it.

PM Update: Fred did not want soup but I got 5 ml of soup, Moxy and Pred in him. He looks like he feels like garbage.

April 15, 2016:
  Fred poked his head out from under the blanket, bright and ready for soup. He ate 2 bowls this morning.

April 14, 2016:
  Fred actually had soup last night and again this morning. He actually ate a fair amount of soup this afternoon. I have him on Moxy and I think it is working. He ate a fair amount tonight as well. He is looking better. Bless his heart he is not ready to leave us.

April 13, 2016:
  Fred is still with us. He looks like he feels awful. I offered him soup he licked it off my finger, then took his nose and dumped the bowl of soup. I tried to give him fluids he fought me - I did not push it.. I will let him be, keep him comfortable. He is curled up in his hammock with George - I put a pee pad in the cage because he is too weak to climb the side of the poo pan. But he got into the hammock by himself.

April 12, 2016:
AM Update: Fred is not doing well.. he did not want soup even off a dropper he refused it.
PM Update: Fred is not going to rally - he is not doing well at all and it shows he is feeling like garbage.

Fred has adrenal disease and Insulinoma he has started refusing to eat again, I dropper medicated, he did not even want that. He first thought it was just meds but when I got him to realize it was soup he took it reluctantly, but would not finish it.
  Fred did not want soup but I got 5 ml of soup, Moxy and Pred in him. He looks like he feels like garbage. With his up and down eating patterns he will live out his life here with us.

April 11, 2016:
  When I got Fred up this morning he was crashed. Fred is still struggling, I had to give him a Dex even after he had his soup with meds. Tonight he was not doing well, he ate some soup but not a lot. I am not sure what I am going to find in the morning.

March 15, 2016:
  Mum gets asked a lot how she knows which one of us fur kids is which.. she uses a lot of different ways to keep track of us, she uses cage tags, ID tags and sometimes some of us look so much alike she color codes us. Fred needs meds twice a day every day he looks just like his cage mate George. Mum had to make sure it was Fred getting the medication he needed. Mum colored Fred with a green stripe.

  

January 10, 2016:
  When Donna and I were doing meds last night we found Fred in an Insulinoma crash, I did a BG test it read low so he got a Dex shot and then some soup. This morning he was responsive so he is now on soup and meds.

March 23, 2015:
  We could not find George last night, I know where he is but I can't get to him. He is in the back of the big cage with all the rolled blankets. I pulled the blankets out from the short wall side but when I started pulling the blankets from behind the cage they are downright cold I don't want to pull them yet it is still too cold out. I can't see him. I am trying hard not to panic...I say these words to others all the time, if they can get in they can get out... I would feel better if I could see him. I know he is there because Big Mike found him they were squealing at each other.

Update: George is found. He was out and about when I took the barrier down to clean cages. He is safe in his cage with Fred.

January 7, 2015:
  I got the stitches out of Fred yesterday.

January 2, 2015:
  Dear far away Mom we got to open our presents today.. wow we cleaned up! We sure love all of it! Thanks for making our Christmas special.. You can see my booboo - I have blue strings in my back, OFD took a big mass off me the week of Christmas, Mum is taking the stitches out this weekend. Enjoy the pictures.
We love you
  Fred and George

                 

December 22, 2014:
  I called Brockport to let them know I was coming in to get Fred.. They are closing at noon so I am going to get the kids put away, and head out at 9 if I can get out by then.

December 22, 2014:
  Very busy day. Patty headed out at 6 with Fred. I called the hospital, Fred did well through surgery, was trashing his cage. I will be picking him up on Wed.

December 1, 2014:
  I called Brockport and made an appointment for Fred to see Doc for that mast cell tumor he has on his back. It needs to be removed. I booked it for Monday the 22nd the first day of vacation.
  It was warm enough to use the porch all day today, that makes life so much nicer for the kids because they get more out time.

March 30, 2014:
  I got Fred and George moved in to their new digs.

December 11, 2013:
  Dear Miss Susann, We got to open our Christmas presents yesterday take a look at the fun we had! Thank you for being our Santa this year.
  Ricardo, Fred, and George

     

December 5, 2013:
  I was afraid to get Darien up I did not know what I was going to find. She is still having difficulty going potty but when I opened the cage she was ready and waiting to get up. She is bright and busy so we will send her to doc to confirm UTI or find out what is really going on. I got her 3rd dose of Moxy in her this morning.
  Just got off the phone with doc. Darien has a large mass that is causing her to be unable to go potty. Doc says it has been growing for a while but it just got to critical mass when I found her straining.
  He is going to open her up to see if what is there can be removed so she can go potty if not we are going to let her go while she is under. He said he has a very long client list this afternoon so he will stay after hours to do the surgery and call when he is done.
  It has been a really long day, I just got off the phone with Doc. Darien is gone. When Doc got inside her she was full of tumors all over, several of which were in the wall of her intestines. The largest one that had been causing her to feel like she had to poo and could not was obstructing the colon.
  Doc said this was lymphoscarcoma there was no way he could make her better, she had too many tumors that were going to cause more issues in a very short period of time. We will pick her up the next time we are in Brockport.
  I have decided if the van is not buried tomorrow I am going to take the boys to Doc. If they do not go tomorrow I cannot get them to Brockport until February. I am not going to keep them quarantined for that long. They are giving me good looking poops for the most part so I hope that means things are starting to settle in their systems

December 4, 2013:
  Darien, 2 yrs old. No underlying medical issues....She is struggling to pee and or poo I keep following her around to watch what she is doing when she gets on the paper. What alerted me was the poo pan in the cage there was small skinny poo - I started paying attention to all 3 until I found which of them was having the problem.
  She is alert, she is bright, she is active, she is eating, I palpated her tummy she does not indicate it is tender, it does not feel full or hard. Is there something I can do for her here to see if I can fix this before I have to call in to run her to Doc.
  I called Brie to see if she could help get Darien in to see Doc we are going to do that tomorrow. Dr Sandra said it sounds like a UTI with my description so with 3 doses of Moxy by tomorrow she may not need to go to Doc but if she does we have her ride covered. She got her second dose of Moxy tonight she will get one more in the morning.

June 29, 2013:
  I got the latest Ferret Nation cage that Wendy brought us on clinic day set up and made the one part a horizontal double for the newest business. The boys are big and take up a lot of room so this way they are not squeezing Dare into a corner.

  

June 24, 2013:
  The new business of 3 seems to be adjusting well, their names are Fred, George and Dare – Dare is a black sable girl. Paperwork says both boys are Panda’s they are not one may have been but not any more. They are difficult to tell apart at this point.

June 21, 2013:
  Susann got here about 12:30 with the new business of 3. There are 2 big boys and a little girl; Dare Fred and George.

 


Initial contact, Susann, June 20, 2013:
Hi Brenda,
  April Steenburgh, a good friend of Rebekah's who runs a small shelter near me with her husband, David Mazur, contacted me this morning to ask if you have room for three of their ferrets. They typically max at 10 and now have about 15. There are three healthy, vetted ferrets they wonder if you could take in. They've been running around with like 7 other kids so I don't know if you could call them a family group, how well they would do if separated.

Here is April's description:
  "They are between two and three years old. It is Fred (panda, but coats are currently more white, male), George (same as Fred), and Dare (female, black sable). I have their vaccination and vet records for when I took them to Vestal Vet, but nothing previous. They were vetted within the past two months. They are all hefty, healthy ferrets, playful, hoarders. No behavioral ticks. They have been together, but in with 7 other ferrets, so I don't quite know if they count as their own business, but they definitely know each other. Just let me know either way, I really appreciate it!!!"

April says she and David could bring them out to Lakeroad with food & stuff if you have room. I told her I was driving out to see my kids tomorrow (Friday) and we'll be clearing out next week, but also that you might have more boarders coming in. LMK. Dumping and vacation season - when it rains it pours, huh!!

Shelter Response, June 20, 2013:
  I am not following the conversation on this what is going on? 3 are with April or 7 with April they want us to take 3 or 7 where are they coming from?

Susann’s Response, June 20, 2013:
  They are asking if you can take the 3: Fred, George and Dare. She says they've been mingling with 7 other ferrets since they came in (April's system is like the Grudens'). From what I understand, they have others in newcomer quarantine.

Shelter Response, June 20, 2013:
  I only have one cage available so if they can not be in the same cage I can only take the ones that can be caged together. You will be bringing them with you when you come tomorrow with their documentation? Is this a hold or surrender to us for permanent housing until they find a family they love? These 3 will put us at maximum. Maximum does not count boarders. Let me know if they are coming so I can have the cage ready for them. Thanks.

April’s Response, June 20, 2013:
Hi Brenda,
  Thank you for being willing to take the three for us. They can definitely be cages together, they are all the same business. I am hoping Susann will be able to bring them tomorrow when she comes, if that works on your end. I will send their records and some supplies with them. If you have any questions, or ever need someone to take a kid, healthy or special needs, drop me a line. We just ended up with a bunch of surrenders at once the past three months, and it is just David and myself with the ferrets on this end.
-April

Shelter Response, June 20, 2013:
  Hi April, Okay as long as they are a business of 3 we are good; they are getting the last cage available. We currently have 15 families looking to surrender their fur kids. A new family on LI has 2 that contacted us this morning.
  Yes, if Susann is willing to bring them and their stuff I can give them a place to stay.

April’s Response, Jun 20, 2013:
  So, Susann if you can pick the 3 up it looks like they can go with you tomorrow.

Susann’s Response, June 20, 2013:
  Yep tell me what times work best for you guys. I'm just packing and sorting as usual so am flexible unless someone requests a showing. Then I would need to get Trixie out of the house. Typically get a few hours advance notice so we should confirm the times for pickup and arrival tonight or tomorrow a.m.

Shelter Response, June 20, 2013:
  No real time constraints on me tomorrow today is the last day of school so I will be home tomorrow.

Susann’s Response, June 20, 2013:
  Ok I'm going to pick up the ferrets between 10 and 11, so that puts me at your place sometime after 1.
  If April hasn't thanked you, let me. :) You're an angel!
  Speaking if angels how is Luna this afternoon? Poops better?

Shelter Response, June 20, 2013:
  Okay I will be here, you are coming in with 3 and Jackie is bringing her 2 for camp. Luna is doing much better, poops are better; she was up eating when I went in to get her for her BF and meds tonight. She feels like she has put some weight back on. Life is good and due to get better when she gets to see you tomorrow.

Shelter Response, June 24, 2013:
  April the kids are settling in nicely, can you please tell me the brands of the foods you sent with them, they are getting low, I have 6 different kinds and they do not seem to be interested in it. I may need to pick up some of what you feed until they adjust to our mix. Thanks in advance.

April’s Response, June 24, 2013:
Hello Brenda!
  We feed Ferret EVO, Wellness Core feline, and the large bits are the Hills Feline t/d. They are most fond of the EVO and the feline t/d. There was another recall on the EVO recently, so we are working on selecting a different food to use instead of that brand right now.
  Thank you again for taking the three of them for me. We had far more surrendered than we could handle at the moment and I do appreciate having someone I trust to be able to turn to. If there is anything David and I go do to help, please let me know. We have a lot of experience with rough rehab cases, so if you get your hands full, and need to send one that needs work our way in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me or send people looking to surrender my way.