Hi All,
 
I absolutely must say this OK?  To the anonymous vet concerned with
non-professional advice.  I agree with not taking everything said here as
gospel but I must inform you that I found it a bit cowardly of you to hide
behind an anonymous posting.  You are a vet and I can't conceive of why you
feel you must hide your name.  I am extremely grateful to any and all ferret
knowledgeable vets that are willing to join us in this forum.  Unlike
yourself, at least the lady vet tech.  gave her name and an address where
people could contact her even tho she might get unpleasant mail at some
point.  I can not honestly take much of anything you say without knowing who
you are and what your credentials may be.  There could easily be kooks
around that think it is terribly funny to impersonate a vet at our expense.
So please introduce yourself and state your credentials so we may take what
you say to heart.  Thank you.
 
To the anonymous poster wishing me luck, thank you.  And to answer your
question IMO it is definitely a better thing to introduce new ferrets
immediately in the situation you were asking about.  If you have definitely
decided to get a 2nd then by all means do it before your 1st "becomes
king/queen of the house" and is all settled into a routine that may be
difficult to break later.  Besides take it from me with 9 that 1 is simply
NOY enough :-) LOL!
 
To Bill Waters.  The day after I got Tribble he started sneezing up a storm
and so hard I thought he would get hurt.  It turned out to be an upper
respiratory infection that was easily treated with antibiotics.  As for the
sneezing what I found to really help was a bottle of "Vet RX" given to me by
David/Hawk.  It is basically a liquid mentholatum smelling stuff and perhaps
even Vick's mentholatum would help.  I put it on the fur at each side of his
nostrils and did it very often.  It helped a great deal.  If you want to try
Vick's ment.  gel stuff ask your vet 1st if it could be harmful if licked
at.  David/Hawk can give you more details on where he got it and ingredients
and such at [log in to unmask]  Good luck and get him checked out at the vets
ASAP.
 
To AnAh and others, I recently began petsitting and I charge $3.00 a day for
each ferret kept plus extra if they are ill in any way meaning, to me,
quarantine, medication giving etc....  I got a rude lesson in this when the
lady with the 2nd group of 2 ferrets to be sat called today to tell me she
was at the vet getting shots and they discovered ear mites!  Yikes!  Now I
have to quaratine them alone in the spare room, administer ear drops, let
the 2 kits free in all the house but for my bedroom where Pearl the attack
ferret deins to live most of the time and then put them in the kids 3 tiered
cage while I sleep so as to leave my bedroom door open for Pearl to have at
least some freedom time.  AAARG!  Wish me lots of luck guys, I shall need it
desperately.  I increased the charge to $4 day/per ferret due to this.  I
know I am MUCH cheaper even at this than any petsitting services or boarding
facilities here plus they get 24 hour a day care and loving attention from
me with freedom and toys and bedding and, and, and, which they would not get
anywhere else.  No one else here will even take them into their own home and
do this so I feel it is very reasonable and a much needed service for them.
I am keeping them for about 12-15 days but you might want to make a lump sum
fee if they were going to be gone a LONG time ie.  several months etc....
Tho I doubt anyone else would do that.  Good luck and remember your time,
love and care are most valuable just as their ferrets are.  Check out the
established petsitters to see if they would even do it and their cost plus
the cost of straight boarding in your area to gauge your fees.
 
Meg, Husband deducing ferrets now shitting on kitchen counters, WAY TOO
FUNNY!  I was ROTFL for a good long time with that one and I really needed
it too since Lightstar has decided to emulate Pearl today and jump on one of
the kits and poor big sweet Tribble.  He jumped Tribble 3 times in 15
minutes even with a good scruffing and shaking with my teeth (not to hurt of
course) and so now for the very 1st time he is relegated to the cage
completely by his lonesome for awhile.
 
BUDDY, hang in there baby we are all praying for you and it sounds like
you have a fantastic Daddy and a good vet watching over you.
 
Please so I need not search FML's who was it that said their little girl
never gets mail but the little boy does and thinks he is all that because
of it.  I absolutely MUST write your little girl and even things up so
please tell me who you are.  THANKS
 
Merry Dook-mas and a Chortling New Year ALL!
 
*****************************************************
*          Kelleen & The INSANE Animal House        *
*          [log in to unmask]                           *
*          President & Founder of                   *
 
*F.A.N.G. - Ferret Association of Neverending Glee  *
*Location : Boise, Idaho                            *
*****************************************************
*I'll take a good animal over a good mate anyday,   *
*all THEY want is lots of love and great chow!!!!   *
 
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[Posted in FML issue 1420]