.
Hi,
 
I am new to the FML so I ll introduce my six fur babies, oh seven if you
include my Border collie (the ferret herder).  By age: Nikita a five year
old albino sweetheart, my princess, Next Oscar, My little inspector, an
albino male who s favorite past time is sniffing people down from head to
toe, and blind man s bluff.  Then we have Bear a chocolate sable- his name
says it all, and he is in love with Sandy the border collie.  Daisy - my
little miracle sable that I found in the woods two years ago in February.
Then there is Willie the Weasel, an Albino rescued from the pound last
September.  And last but not least, Sampson, our newest 14 week old Silver
mitt kit.  Sandy is the Border Collie.  She is about ten, and the ferrets
delight in biting her ankles.  She is a true sport about the whole thing.
The stories have been great!  Dayna, way to go, girl!  Have you ever
considered running for office?  You are so smooth you d be a natural.  You
kandled the pet store situation like a pro!
 
I don t know where to get an AC, but you might try freezing bottles of water
and wrapping them in towels to help keep the babies cool in the intense heat!
 
I am still catching up on all the FML s I ve received so far, but a post
from Dick B.  caught my eye: He writes:
 
>Unfortunately "cage" and "ferret" don't belong in the same sentence in
>Lauren's vocabulary.  In fact that is one of her HOT buttons...
 
I hope this doesn t come out as sounding too harsh, but I think that it
needs to be said, and I hope that it will help keep some ferrets out there a
little safer.  If Lauren reads this maybe she will reconsider her stance?
 
I cage my ferrets when I am not at home and at night for many very good
reasons.  Number one being, that even the best ferret proofed house can be
un proofed with multiple ferrets working together.  Two of my ferrets over
the years have managed to pop out screens, and sneak out doors.  Luckily I
found the little adventurers and no harm was done.  My fuzzies remind me of
a two year old child with a death wish.  They will stop at nothing to get to
anything that has been made off limits to them.  I think that leaving them
alone in the house, no matter how ferret proofed would be negligent on my
part.  Toilets, Fish tanks, bath tubs, household cleaners, are just a few
things that could harm or kill a ferret.  So you have these items covered?
Remember it only takes one slip up , and your little friend will pay the
price.  Ferrets are also more likely to suffer an intestinal blockage if
they re allowed unsupervised access to the typical home.  The souls of
shoes, spools of thread, ANYTHING rubber, can make your ferret very ill.  I
m not saying this cannot happen to a caged ferret, but a ferret roaming the
house will have many more opportunities to come across potentially lethal
items.  Even the space under doors can be an unexpected danger.  We have
hardwood floors, and usually keep the ferrets restricted to one bedroom and
the hallway when we are home.  There is another room that I allow them to
play in sometimes, but I mostly keep that room closed .  One day I left the
ferrets out and ran to the store, my husband was home.  When I came home
John told me that Daisy had slid her head under the door and gotten stuck!
When he found her, she had given up fighting and had drooled down her chin:(.
We estimate that she was like that from 15 to 30 minutes.  She was OK, but a
little sore around her neck and head, poor baby.  We never thought in a
million years that she could fit her head under that door, she is a hefty
little girl, after all, and she was wedged tightly.  Now, they are cut off
from the hallway, unless the second bedroom door is open.  Can you imagine
if she had been stuck like that all day if we were at work?
 
One other benefit to caging that I hadn t thought off until reading
yesterday s posting about the dorm room that caught on fire.  If you wake up
with only a split second to grab you fuzzy and get out of your house, you
may not have time to search for him/her in the house.  At least if your
ferret is in the cage it will be easy for you or fire fighters to locate and
rescue.  This is the most important reason to keep your fuzzball in a cage,
especially at night.  Even restricting them to one bedroom would be an
improvement over letting them loose in the whole house.  But remember, the
smoke from a fire will make it nearly impossible to locate them, and if they
are scared they will try and hide making it more difficult.  I personally
feel that those who let their ferrets roam the house unsupervised are not
doing the animals any favors, and are putting their furbabies at risk.
 
Sorry if I offended anyone with this, but I feel very strongly about it.  It
is not my intention to place judgement, just to offer my opinion, and
hopefully make a few people think.
 
Adrienne, Nikita, Oscar, Bear, Daisy, Willie, Sampson  And Sandy  (Whew, who
got mommy started?)
[Posted in FML issue 1591]