>Do any of you have ferrets that don't like when you wipe something off
>the floor?  Nexus hates that motion and tries to bite me.  Chance was the
>same way.  If Nexus splashes water out of his dish and I take a paper
>towel and wipe it, he gets mad.  It could be anything I wipe.  I couldn't
>have him in the bathroom while I was cleaning the floor.  He just doesn't
>like the wiping motion and wants to bite.
 
First.  MY Arthur who is Mr. Mellow .... goes BERSERK with any wiping
motion.  I don't know why , but he really gets aggitated and BITES.  ???
he is the only one of six who does this , but will not stop.  I cannnot
clean the floor or anything with that motion when he is near.
 
Second.  I read a post of a woman who has a "shelter" with 56 ferrets in
a room near her kitchen.  I consider this abuse , and i don;t care what
sort of conditions she keeps there.  I have a home shelter and my max is
10 ferrets.  I cannot give more the proper care, attention, excercise on
any ongoing basis..  I am stressed when i attempt it and cannot keep up
with proper cleaning and care.  It is cruel to "warehouse" them .Many
people start off with good intentions but the shelter situation can
quickly become out of control , when you go it alone on limited space and
resources.  Running a home based shelter I question this womans sanity
and her intention.  Often I've noticed many people do not have the sense
to ask for help , and all, mostly the ferrets suffer for this.
 
Third..  and I will try to make this as short as i can.  I lived only
a few blocks from the world trade center.  A few months after sept.  11
both humans and six ferrets alike suffered the same symptoms.  We ALL had
hair loss, the ferrets mostly on the tail.  Inflamed,itchy, burning skin,
ear and eye infections.  Allergies or in any event allergy like symptoms.
Lethargy.  Weight loss, which in my case is not a big deal for for my
kids and the ferrets a veery big deal.  The ferrets "smelled wrong" .  I
know how nuts that sounds but they smelled wrong..The hair or fur that
remained ( for all of us) was brittle, coarse , thin.  Two of the six
and myself had what all NY'er call "the cough" Despite what anyone hears
on the news , half of new yorkers had " the cough" for months... Our
apartment i am sure had mold contamination after sept 11..  The air
downtown is still full of fiberous dust.  I don't know what else goes on
there, except my daughters high school was closed down for asbestos
contamination.  MY fears for us humas is one thing , but here i deal with
the ferrets.  I moved out of the neighborhood in sept 2002.  Very quickly
the ferrets re gained weight, became active, smelled like ferrets, grew
back soft, thick winter coats.  Lost the allergy symptoms, the red itchy
skin,eyes,ears,paw pads... Very gradually i am feeling better myself.
BUT Pooky, a 2 year old male , badger is still having bouts of redness on
his belly ,paws , ears.  He is miserable with scratching .  He seems
tired.  He loses a small amount of weight.The rims of his eyes and inside
his mouth become very red.  There is a discreet network of caring vets
and ferret owners in NYC and boroughs.  Two vets are bewildered but
suspect an environmental cause.  Pookys bouts come and go now while the
others are completely well.  Unless I subject him to thousands of dollars
of tests which could yeild nothing I don;t know what else to do.  I have
learned to keep them , their bedding and the home in general VERY clean.
 
Anyone have any ideas?  could pooky be suffering something in addition
to the environmental thing??  symptoms of redness( especially on paw
pads and belly) tiredness,weight loss while still an appetitie?  is
there anything I can give him for relief because the cause seems to be
"unknown"?  i HATE TO see him in such discomfort.  benydryl?  , oatmeal
baths?..  anything?Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.  He is given
amoxycillin when his ears become a problem.  I bathe him in
hypoallergenic baby shampoo and that affords him very temporary relief.
 
Christine and the weasel ward...alternate e mail is
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[Posted in FML issue 3998]