First off, I'd like to thank all the people for input about Tank, my
incontinent fixed male ferret (peeing short and frequent, no pain or
straining, following the fixed female *everywhere* with much butt-sniffing
and licking (ick)).  He's getting an ultrasound Monday morning, and a
more thorough urine test Wednesday.  We're looking for either prostate or
adrenal problems, although there's been no fur loss.  I'll keep you all
posted on what develops.
 
Second, I'd like to tell you all about a situation that could have been
the end of the ferrets.  We are showing our house, and went away for the
weekend so as to avoid the open house.  My mother was to look in on all
the pets (2 cats, one on medication, and the 2 weasels), and we gave the
realtor her number.  She got a frantic phone call Sat. afternoon from our
realtor that the ferrets were out of their cage.  She came over, found
Snowy and put her away (Tank had returned to the cage to sleep), and
cleaned up all the poops she could find.  She also found that the upstairs
door had been closed, stranding one cat away from the litterbox.
 
Clearly, the house had been shown that morning, and either (1) a realtor
had let someone try to pet the ferrets, and Tank got away from them, or
(2) a realtor let someone go around unsupervised.  Either is unacceptable,
although it could have much worse: I had been moving the ferret cage to an
unfinished portion of the attic each morning, so as to avoid exactly this
situation.  I didn't this weekend because it was supposed to get very cold.
If the ferrets had been released in the unfinished portion of the attic,
they'd have been lost and dead in the walls by the time we got home.
 
Moral: Put actual combination or key locks on the cage doors if you've got
strangers (realtors, contractors, etc.) letting themselves in when you're
not home.  Signs are *not* enough.
 
-- Joyce
 
--- Joyce Miller, [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2995]