I bought my first ferret, a sable female who I've named 'Potpie,' about
a year ago.  Since then, I've discovered I'm utterly and hopelessly
hooked :) First, I have a few questions, then some comments...
 
I live in Michigan (hence the anon). When snooping about looking for rules
and regulations and investigating the chances that my ferret might be
discovered and confiscated, I heard some rumors about legislation going
through the House and Senate to legalize ferrets in Michigan. This true?
If not, where can I find out about it?
Where, if anywhere, are there organizations in Michigan that are lobbying
for the legalization of ferrets in this state?
 
What, again, is the danger from mosquitoes and how do I prevent against
anything happening to Potpie should I take her outside?
 
I try to keep Potpie on a bathing schedule of about once a week; she's musky,
and it doesn't bother me, but I don't live alone. However, I've noticed
she has dry skin problems after bathing (I use baby shampoo). Is there any
way to moderate the dry skin effects, especially in the winter?
 
She's also got the bad habit of digging at the floor/carpeting when she wants
to be somewhere and her access route is blocked. Is there .any. way to
get her to stop, since a good deal of the time she's running around
unmonitored? :)
 
 
Thanks, and now the anecdotes *grin*.
 
I keep her claws really well trimmed (see carpet comment above), but when
I'm running around in my thermal underwear, if I stand still for long enough,
she's able to hike her way up my leg, at which point she'll hang from the
cloth covering my thigh and stare up at me plaintively until I set her on
my shoulder. I need someone to take a picture of this :)
 
A miracle, or so it seems, about Potpie: She doesn't chew my toes, she
doesn't chew on electrical wiring, she uses only her litter boxes and not
the floor or any corners. I'm so _proud_ of her. :)
 
Ob-cat-story: Our cats Loki and Zephyr are both grumpy teenaged cats who have
extremely low tolerances for hyper-geeked furry slinkys. :) Potpie has
the run of the two upstairs bedrooms, and the stairway is blocked off by
a wall that Loki can jump over, but Potpie can't get around. Whenever Loki
comes upstairs, Potpie flattens out and tracks her, darting from hiding
place to hiding place, until the cat tries to curl up on my bed for a nap.
Formerly, Potpie would harrass her by running around the cat's ankles and
nipping; this until Loki beat the daylights out of her once or twice for
being cheeky :) Now, Potpie goes under the bedcovers and bites and nips
from there, confounding and frustrating the poor cat. It's _hysterical_ to
watch (or was, the cat gave up on napping in my rooms :).
 
A side note: I'm using the clumping type of cat litter for Potpie's litter
boxes. She doesnt have any sneezing problems (standard litter gives off
more dust and causes her to sneeze), and it's pretty damned easy to keep
clean, although she tends to scatter it a good deal; however, the mess is
worth the other conveniences. Anyone know of any problems surrounding the
use of clumping litter? So far it's worked astonishingly well for me and
a few friends of mine.
 
As far as treats go, Potpie's current favorite is unbuttered popcorn (must
be the styrofoam texture :). She also eats rubber bands, when she can find
'em. :P
 
One final question: Anyone know how to keep them from digging in potted
plants (besides keeping the plants out of their reach :)? The other person
living in the house is about to go nuts with cleaning up all the dirt
(although she seems to have gotten tired with this pasttime lately).
 
Yrs,
 
Potpie and Melissa.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0726]