Hi All:

First of all, thanks to those who sent prayers and good wishes for our
Theo-dorable. Teddy is coming along nicely. Enlarged spleen and liver
with high fever and lower than normal PCV had us a bit worried. He is
doing very well. This a.m. I spotted him eating kibble. He's been
taking his soup from a syringe and eating the moist 8 & 1 Ultimate
which my kids seem to do after a serious bout of anything. Nice option
for them with illness, I've learned. Ted goes back for blood values
next week as I requested Doc give me a little more time to do healing
work on him as well as provide helpful supplements to boost his red
blood cell count. He'll accommodate us if we need to visit sooner.

Once Ted had all four feet on the ground, White Bear, who has IBD had
a major flare-up with bloody stool which helped my heart skip a beat.
Thanks to help from our beloved Auntie Jackie, Mom got her feet back
on the ground and within the morning had White Bear headed down the
road to recovery. Today it appears all is well here. **Shelter Moms
and Dads - know that especially at times like this I pause and say a
prayer for all of you and the wonderful work you do and wonder -- how
to they do this day in and day out???**

I've tried to catch up on the threads running on the FML about food
tastings, losses and TF. I too am sad to read the unkind words shared,
but thankful for a variety of insights and support given by others.

One of the things I learned the hard way was that when picking foods
you have to keep your individual ferrets in mind. A few years ago I
allowed myself to think I was not best serving my ferrets and changed
to foods recommended by others. Was I using the best foods for my nine
kids or not? Well, the short story is that by the time I got done
screwing around changing foods all I had done was screw up my ferrets.
Moral of the story -- "If it is not broken, don't fix it." Now, that
does not mean I do not try new brands or different soup recipes. I
have had some work for one and not the others. But generally if it is
working with healthful results, I leave it alone, while reading and
being aware.

I also wanted to comment on Totally Ferret and the humans and animals
behind the name. Earlier this year when the mid-west and southeast was
getting hammered with tornadoes, I was involved with behind the scenes
recon work for any shelters with emergency needs. Part of the
networking included calls to April at Totally Ferret to see that food
was sent to shelters in need. I don't know how many people on this
list even have a clue how close TF pays attentions to the shelter
situations, not only in times of disaster, but just day to day. Let me
tell, you they had those shelters taken care of immediately! These
folks have got the ferret community covered - I swear they have a
crystal ball and they tune into each shelter. I fully believe without
the silent donations made by this company (really the people behind it)
some shelter doors would now be closed. I also learned that April knows
first hand about sheltering as her Mom runs a ferret shelter. Imagine
that. I didn't know, did you?

Prior to my Jillie Feet's annual exam she had gotten on the computer
and e-mailed Isabella Gucci Jones on Face book asking for some guidance
in appropriate food selections as she was concerned that her Doc was
going to recommend a weight reduction program for her future. Isabella
suggested Jillie tell me to call her Mom and as often is the case, the
Moms worked out a solution. In conversation with April she made some
suggestions about ways to present the foods that had not occurred to
me. They were successful and I find that the kids are still making up
their minds about these choices even four months later. Doc did not
recommend a weight reduction program sparing Jillie's feelings, but
did suggest she continue her daily exercise program!

I have also talked with Liz and she was quite helpful in sharing
samples and expalantions to specific choices to determine which way to
go with orders since we do not get TF foods or products in this area.
I would also like to support the product Vivify which I ordered after
inquiring and receiving rave reviews from users on the FML. Every
ferret in this house will trade in an N-Bone for Vivify! I truly
believe this product helped keep Teddy (emotionally) strong while
taking his terrible tasting meds knowing he could get a few drops of
Vivify to cleanse his pallet of the yucky tastes. I wish I had bought
it sooner!

Whether you opt to purchase ferret, dog or cat products from Totally
Ferret (Performance Foods, Inc.) is up to you the individual. I just
wanted you to be aware that this company and its employees (human and
animals) do care about their customers and the communities and members
they service and they do it with grace and humor --- and sometimes
ghosts and pink duct tape. After all, we ferrets gotta stick together!

Cathy Ryan

Feed rescued animals in two clicks
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

[Posted in FML 6838]