Hi there,
 
Just thought I'd let whoever may be interested know that I came up w/ an
idea which seems to be helping a little w/ Hope's "pooping all over the
place" problem!
 
The problem (if you didn't read about it before) was that she'd begun
using a corner on the 2nd level of her cage to "go" (probably due to her
chronic diarrhea - another issue), and when I attempted to put a small,
makeshift litterbox in her new "corner of choice", she would back up next
to the edge of it, and poop outside it!  That eventually led to her
pooping practically everywhere.
 
I originally isolated her in our "cat" carrier, but she is so used to
snuggling w/ her buddies, that it concerned me a little bit to have her
out on her own.  Plus, w/ her being so thin currently, I was concerned
that she might also be chillier w/out some warm bodies next to her.
 
When I gave the cage the big once-over this week, I decided to try
something a little different.  Rather than leaving their flooring
covering that corner, I flipped it in a different direction, so there's
nothing covering the wire cage platform right there.  No makeshift
litterbox, no flooring, just a regular corner, now.  Then, I took the
modified container she wouldn't step into and hung it w/ twist ties BELOW
that corner.  I know it sounds gross, but at least she is now using just
one corner again, and since it's of thinner consistency than usual, most
of it falls into the litter-filled container just below.  A *really* old
cleaning toothbrush helps to clean the wire.  The biggest pain is having
to undo all of the stupid twist ties each time so I can empty it!
 
One of the people who wrote and responded to me earlier commented that
when their ferret was having problems w/ diarrhea, he didn't want to use
the litterbox, either.  I think the suspicion was that it was just too
gross for him to want to climb in the litterbox with it!  The same thing
could be going on here...if she stepped into it once or twice, she
might've decided - "To heck with THAT!".  I do remember discovering once
that she had some pretty crustified gunk under one of her claws.  (Eww!)
 
So, at least for now, it looks like this new method is helping to reduce
the amount of cage space that was being trashed.  I did still have to
wipe up a couple pee spots in other places, though, so apparently, this
isn't a 100% perfect solution.  I just thought I'd share the idea, in
case anyone else runs across similar behavior at some point.  It might
be one other way to help combat the situation!
 
As for how she's doing in general, she is really liking the babyfood
combination we have her on.  I heat it up just slightly for her, and she
laps it right up!  I've even had to go back for 2nds, several times.
Luckily, her cagemates were curious, but not interested in eating any of
it.  They just come over and look at me like, "Where's MY special thing,
huh?!". :)  It's going to take awhile before we really know how much the
diet change is helping, but I am hopeful that some of her trouble may
have been due to an allergic reaction, as someone suggested was possible.
When I pick her up, I could be imagining it, but it seems like she's ever
so slightly less bony already - as if there's just a teeny bit of padding
back over those bones - HOORAY!
 
Thanks again for all the support,
Sue H.
w/ Bo, Hope, Jasper "SunBear" & Shiloh
[Posted in FML issue 4023]