Lost and Found Ferret

We had a lost and found ferret situation that gave us quite the scare. As I mentioned in my last ferret related blog post, she is getting older and requiring morning and evening doses of medication. It’s also worthwhile to reiterate how quiet Blaze is.

The story: as usual, I was up early to wake Blaze up, watch her eat breakfast, and give her medication. I had her out of her cage and left the room as she munched on her dry food pellets. I tend to buzz around the basement area, putting things away, working, or doing hobbies when I have Blaze out of her cage. When I came back with her medicine, she was no where to be found. I checked her typical hiding and napping spots around the basement, and could not find her anywhere. I confirmed that the door leading upstairs was closed. After some time, I decided that she would turn up after she woke up from her nap, so I went about my work day.

As I was working from my basement office, I would hear some scratching noises, but I couldn’t place where they were coming from. I gave Daddy O. updates throughout the day, alerting him that Blaze was lost and did not receive her normal dosage of medicine. Around 3pm, I had to leave to drive to a meeting. When I was driving home around 8pm, I called Daddy O. to see if they had found Blaze at all; they had not.

After getting home and talking with our kids, we were getting worried that Blaze’s end of life hiding instincts may have kicked in. Perhaps she had felt her health decline, and wanted to hide to peacefully pass away. We were guessing that she wormed her way into the old couch and fell asleep.

The next morning, my emotions started to kick in. I was talking with Little Brother about the possibility of Blaze no longer being with us. Little Brother offered, “Maybe she went down with her ship, the couch being her ship.” We were sharing some of the things that we loved about her – how sweet she was, the way she would crawl into the kids’ sweatshirts, giving us occasional kisses, playing fetch with her favorite toys, etc. I couldn’t even walk downstairs without shedding tears. Big Sister and Little Brother had worried looks on their face as they left for school. We were all sad about the idea of losing her.

As Daddy O. and I were discussing how to handle the situation, we went down to the basement together. Daddy O. opened the door to our storage room, and exclaimed, “Well, there you are!” Blaze silently stood in the middle of our storage area. She must have snuck in when I went in that room 24 hours prior! We guessed that she wiggled behind the basement drywall, which might have been the scratching noise that I couldn’t decipher. Poor Blaze was without food, water, and two doses of her medicine! We quickly scooped her up and gave her food, water, and her prescription. This was a picture I took of her to share with the kids as proof of life!

I hugged Blaze gently against my neck. I returned her to her cage, so she could snuggle under her fleece blankets and sleep.

This lost and found situation reminded us how much we love this adorable, sneaky ferret! We’re so relieved that she merely snuck away and hid. From now on, I am trying to be more vigilant when I get her out of her cage. This silent, sweet ferret can still quickly disappear! We will enjoy our time with her for as long as possible!

Here are some of her recent pictures of Blaze in her Christmas tree bed and after a recent bath (much floof)!