Hello and Dooks to all the wonderful Ferrets and Ferret Folk out there!
 
Thank you all for your responses in regards to Ferret Hunting in Germany.
I knew they were used for hunting, and have been used to hunt small game
for hundreds of years, that's why it seemed so odd that wild Ferret's were
hunted.
 
Now, on to my new batch of questions, these hitting closer to home though.
 
As our fuzzy babies have shedded out their winter fur into their summer
coats, I have been watching (like a worry wart mom) for thinning.
 
Now all my kids are under a year old, but for the two adopties from First.
They all look pretty good though one of the three year old's has a bit of
a thinning tail, basically when he bushes it up you can quite clearly see
the tail beneath the fur and the tip in particular looks rather spindally.
Mr. Max, has been his usual happy little self though, if anything he has
been more lovey and playful.  (Tonight he decided to hide under my long
skirts while I was on the computer..  nibbling and licking my bare feet
for almost an hour )  He has also been pear shaped since he came home to
us in January, should I worry??
 
The other concern is Jack..  Jack is about 8 months old and has always
been Mr. Mellow.  He does go crazy-crazy when he's playing, but a lot of
the time he is happy just to lay on his belly or back and watch the other
kids, and cats.  He's our going out Ferret, as anyone and everyone can
hold him and he will just lie there and love on the cuddles.  What is
odd that I have recently noticed with Jack's coat is that his err..
armpits?..  (The patch of fur at the bend of his front legs) is almost
bald.  No fur.  I have no idea how this happened, and he doesn't seem to
be of different demeanor, though he has gained a little weight recently,
heck the boy has a nice pot belly (pear shape) happening now. :)  I have
felt over both boy's tummy's and in neither can I feel anything odd, or
hard, and I would like to spare the kids, and my pocket book, from the
trauma of the Vet's office if it's just me, a nervous Mom, getting overly
worried.
 
My last concern is that the kid's pee has all been really toxic of late.
It's full on ammonia smelling.  I change pans every day, or at the least,
every other day..  but I'm really amazed by the pan in their house.  It
smells like a real outhouse!  Does this sound normal?  Admittedly I'm a
relatively new Mom, and I just want to make sure that my kids are ok.
Poops look good, other then one squirmy gel like poop my baby Magic let
go today..  (It was very odd!  I am watching for more strange poops like
that out of him!)
 
         *OH! and I wanted to just briefly comment on loud kids!*
 
Magic is a screamer to beat all screamers!  As some might remember, I was
hand feeding our baby Magic when he came to us as a deaf, (no big deal),
very underweight, very young, and dehydrated baby with an ulcer.  Well the
boy is doing great now!  He's huge! and only around 15 or 16 weeks old
now.  But due to his being weak and ill, never mind so young, I kept him
separated from the other kids.  Well in the last three weeks we have been
working to slowly intergrade them, and today was the first day he slept
with them in the big cage!!  YEAH MAGIC!!  But the thing is..  for the
last three weeks every time the big boys, (the three year olds) came near
him he would scream and bite at them.  He hates having them lay on him or
scruff him.  Poor baby.  He would get so upset he would poop himself (and
the carpet) while running away, and would bolt up into my lap or into his
little cage home.  Well, in the last few days he hasn't been doing that,
the running away that is, though he still poops on the floor when he's
scared.  (I figure that his bowels might be still not completely up to
par, as he had a prolapsed rectum when we brought him home) And it seems
an uneasy truce has been formed between him and the older boys (I guess
he bit their faces to many times..  they just finally decided, to heck
with you ;)
 
So for those screaming kids out there, and the parents that love them,
patience is a virtue.  Our little screamer and all round spoiled brat,
came around, I am pretty sure yours will too in time.  (Oh.. and I will
say, Belle and Magic, our deaf babies, are both the vocal of the 6..  I
figure they just chat to themselves because they can't hear anyone else ;)
 
Hugs and Dooks to all
Cheryl and the 6 CrazyCrazies :)
[Posted in FML issue 3808]