Dear Ferret Folks-

Ping and Puma are *so* spoiled. And the best part is I barely have to
lift a finger, other people do the spoiling for me. This week a package
came in the mail from Diane Wall at South Shore Ferret Care. Inside
were two marvelous John Deere ornamental tins, (I still want to know
who sent me the John Deere socks!) and in each tin was a package of
Diane's home-made Dry Dook Soup Mix. There were also two little plastic
mixing spoons, and two little clear plastic bowls.

Now, the Soup Mix didn't smell delicious to me, but I don't think I
have the right sort of snout to fully appreciate the fullness of its
aroma. My cat Sterling, however, tried to crawl *into* the bag I opened
for sampling. It was a small bag, but he tried making himself small.
He was motivated.

I had a crazy urge to stick my wet finger into the mix to taste it,
but then I remembered the time I wanted to taste ferretone, and I got
myself back under control right quick. I spooned a little powder into
one of the bowls and added some warm water. As I stood at the counter
stirring, Sterling pushed and shoved and muscled his way between me and
the bowl. He was busily licking the stuff before it was even dissolved.
I simply had to take the bowl *away* from him.

I moved to the free-standing kitchen island, and what do you know! Ping
had mysteriously appeared. He sniffed at the bowl, his eyes darkened
and he lunged. Unlike Sterling, Ping's head did actually fit into the
bowl. Ping licked and licked and made that ridiculous licking face
that ferrets have, the one that looks like a mix between ecstasy and
heavy-lidded agony. I let him fill his belly, which he did with
indecent haste.

Now, Puma is an odd ferret when it comes to food. She will eat kibble,
Ferretone, Chew-Weasels and raisins. That's it. Ping by contrast will
eat almost anything. I mean it. He chows down green bell peppers and
wasabi peas. Roast chicken bones and chocolate are probably his
favourite. Don't imagine that I *give* him chocolate, he just finds it.
And as my dearly missed friend Todd Leuthold used to enjoy pointing
out, Ping's favourite thing of all time was probably that mildly
fermented, dripping, sliced spiral ham wrapper he pulled out of the
trash. (Ping, not Todd! Though Todd might have dragged one around in
his teeth just to make me laugh if life had given him the opportunity.
He was that kind of a guy. I miss you, Todd!)

Food just isn't important to Puma. The taste of perforated human flesh,
however, interests her a great deal. While Diane's Dry Dook Soup Mix
has a variety of good proteins and savory ingredients, human flesh
isn't one of them. So while Puma sniffed carefully at the Soup, she
wouldn't lick any. I don't think that reflects badly on the Soup. Puma
is a hard sell. I might try drizzling a little Ferretone on top of the
Soup some day, just to get her interested.

So- the cat likes it. Ping likes it, and don't think the dog didn't get
her licks in too. Literally. When Ping had finally eaten his fill I
put the little clear plastic bowl down on the kitchen floor for the
dog, the Noble Allis Chompers, who had been dancing around and huffing
audibly ever since I mixed the Soup up and she caught the smell of it.
I think the little clear plastic bowl was probably designed to hold
half a cup. Allis discovered that it would hold one entire pink flappy
dog tongue if she folded it in half and just *mashed* it in there. She
licked the cup around the floor as if the bowl were a puck and she was
playing ice hockey on the linoleum. It bounced off of the counters,
rappelled off of the bottom of the dishwasher, with a forty five pound
border collie in hot pursuit. I don't think she left a *molecule* of
soup in that bowl. In short, the soup was a hit in the Sargent-Colburn
household.

Diane is selling the Dry Dook Soup Mix for the benefit of her friend
Oreo, the little guy who is now missing a leg, but still manages to
drag a heavy vet bill around behind him! For more information, you can
contact her at: [log in to unmask] This is a worthy cause
by any measure. I hope that some of you will check in with Diane, and
learn about all of the good stuff in the Soup Mix. But I don't imagine
that just *every* bag comes with an ornamental John Deere tin.

Many thanks, Diane- Good luck with your fundraising efforts. Dooks to
Oreo.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5883]