FML'rs, one and all,

Ferret hearing tests a la Lipinski. Remember the box and the two carpet
tubes with ferret access holes cut into them? Recall the cardboard box,
two holes cut into each side so the carpet tubes could be inserted
halfway into and through the box, such that a ferret could be placed
into the box and the box sealed? The ferret was to respond to signals
inserted randomly into the ends of the carpet tubes, remember, yes?

This test was to determine if a hearing ferret would approach the end
of a signal tube after entering that tube inside the cardboard box,
and ultimately exit the tube onto the grass directly into the face of
the gentleman producing the sound of a rabbit or other small rodent
being torn to pieces by a simulated predator.

Remember? Sound pretty gross, yes? Believe me it's not gross at all.
Even the ferrets seem to have fun. I know I did, and I made money
doing it. What a life: having fun and getting paid for it.
This was a one day affair, a ferret frolic/olympics, during which
times various events were staged to determine some few capabilities
of the ferret. The hearing tests were conducted to find out how many
of the ferrets seemed deaf or were partially at a hearing deprivation,
possibly due to nearly plugged ear canals. Ferrets that were
unresponsive to the predator calls (I used 10 different calls so that a
wide range of frequencies would be presented) had their ears inspected
for obvious blockages. The owners were instructed to have a vet check
their pet's ears.

The purpose of this post is to invite ferret owners who clean their
ferret's ears themselves to contribute a few lines that describe their
methods of ear cleaning. Most of us already know that a ferret does not
respond favorably to having its ears messed with and will vigorously
object to cleaning, especially when it involves the insertion of a
cleaning tool into the ear canal.

I will describe my method if I read of others here on the list telling
us how they clean their ferret's ears. You may find this rather unusual
when I tell you that I use Fleet enema as the cleansing agent. Later
I'll tell you just how I use it. It works very well and is a lot less
costly compared to having your vet do it.

Looking forward to reading your methods of ferret ear cleaning.

Edward Lipinski

[Posted in FML 6231]