Would it help most to change this into a ferret proofing discussion?
Many, perhaps most, of us have had times when we've had to have ferrets
caged due to illness, but there is also the basic reality that ferrets
are ***beings*** rather than possessions and therefore we have
responsibility for their happiness and health, too, a responsibility
we ***chose*** to assume by making them family members.

I know that during the 18 months when i was walking around in braces,
and even more the bad months before then when I could walk only by
leaning on walls and cane, that things here were NOT optimal, BUT WE
DID FIND COMPROMISES, so the ferrets might not have had ideal
situations but they certainly had reasonable ones. I was in bad enough
pain that I constantly shook and lost considerable weight from pain
(and wish I had kept it off) despite barely moving around. Granted, i
have a wonderful, wonderful husband (married 27 years) so Steve did a
huge amount of work, but still we had to get creative to find ways to
protect the ferrets and me. Easy? Not really. Possible? Yes. Necessary?
Yes.

To me what all this says is that everyone could once again be helped by
discussions of ferret proofing tips and barrier tips. Besides, I love
those topics. Even after over a quarter century with ferrets in the
family I wind up usually hearing something new to learn about and think
about when those topics come up!

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
Sukie (not a vet)

[Posted in FML 5749]