Hi there,
 
I have a question on the advisability of a new treat.  My ferrets claim it's
the most nutritious thing for them since ferretone, but I am dubious.  It's
a sinking pellet fish food which we feed our clown loaches.  I've caught
them making off with the entire 2 lb plastic bag of pellets, so I thought I
might offer them one and see if they really wanted it.  I expected a sniff,
a head shake, then off to find something else to get into.  Instead, when I
showed one to Sebastian, he grabbed it and ate it!  Chomp snarf.  Can I have
another?  The others liked it just as well.
 
Now this stuff is really too expensive to feed to my ferrets.  They ate a
whole day's worth of loach food in three small bites.  The label says 40%
crude protein, 7% fat, 2% fiber.  I don't know what the other 49% is.  It
didn't say.  So, the question is, is it okay to give them one of these every
once in a blue moon when I want to make their day (or make my guests laugh;)?
 
[And can I drop Iambs Kitten Food into my tank?  ;-) ]
 
Also, I thought I'd share Mithril's big adventure.  We have a half door at
the top of our stairs to keep the "kids" up there and not down digging in
our plants and snorkling in our fish tanks (yes, they will do this if I let
them, but they WONT take a bath).  Anyway, one evening, my hubby and I
decided to go hog wild and let the three musketeers down for a romp.  This
was the same evening I discovered that they love fish food.  Anyway, after
we rounded them up and took them upstairs (Yes, I have mastered three
squirming fuzzies in two hands.  The trick is to hold them in such an
awkward posture--say, upside down--that they will be confused for the few
minutes it takes to get through that door).  I went about my usual nighttime
business.  My hubby went to work to burn the candle at both ends.
 
So, here I was alone in my townhouse.  I settled down on the downstairs sofa
to read a book.  *scratch scratch* says the end table.  Huh?  I look.  I
don't see anything.  I figure I'm a scaredy cat and think good thoughts and
go back to my reading.  Next thing I know, Mithril's got her tickly little
nose on my feet and she's going, "Whatcha doin?" That's all she ever says,
and she says it a lot.  I thought she must have slipped out when I went
through the door and I didn't see her.  I dump her back over the barrier,
putter around upstairs, and go back downstairs.
 
Well, there's Mithril again!  She was just sticking her head into the bottom
drawer of the end table (I guess she really loved it), and she turned around
when I came down and said (wait for it), "Whatcha doin?" I laughed, but
inside I'm thinking man oh man we've got a real live teleporting ferret!
There's no way she could get over that barrier, it's as high as my
waist...wait a minute.  I grabbed her and put her back inside the barrier
and sat down to watch.  Sure enough the little bird brain stuck her head
right UNDER that door and her big tummy oozed after her all flattened out
like a Mithril rug.  It was hilarious.  Needless to say, I had to make some
emergency arrangements for that night, and we had to take the door off the
hinges and nail a strip onto the bottom.  *grumble*
 
-Catherine
Mithril "Whatcha doin?"
Sebastian "How'd you get your head through there?"  *thump thump*
Mortimer "Let's take this thing off its hinges."
[Posted in FML issue 1635]