Today was a happy day.  We cleared the construction debris of the ferret's
new cage, tentatively named Fort McFerret and demolished the wire-mesh
disaster of a cage.  Now that the mess is away, we've graduated our boy
Arvind.  His degree is Nihil Cum Poopoo ("with no poopie") because he's got
a 100% litterbox hit rate when allowed out of the cage.
 
Today we noticed something odd, though.  He would run to one of the
litterboxes and go through all the motions of pooping, but no poop came out.
We got worried he might have a bowel obstruction, so we isolated him and
gave him a little petromalt.  Within 30 minutes, there was a fresh pile of
poop in the litterbox.  We let him out again, and later let Mya out, a
female, to play with him.  She is Parvae Cum Poopoo ("with little poopie")
so she's not quite ready to be a house ferret yet.  Anyway, she also got on
the litterbox and had a false BM.  All the motions, but no poopie.  The
litterboxes were clean so it was easy to tell that neither of the ferrets
had let anything out.  Also, we did not train our ferrets with treats so I
don't think they were doing it for treats.  Actually, the litterbox they did
it in is across the room from where we sit.
 
Right now, they have food available all the time.  It is a mix of Deli Cat,
Kaytee, and Iams Kitten (soon to be 100% Totally Ferret!).  It's maybe 10%
each Deli Cat and Kaytee and 80% Iams.  Since we moved them from 100% Kaytee
to this mix, their total poop volume has dropped significantly.  When they
were on 100% Kaytee, the 4 of them built what we called "Mount Doodie"
within 36 hours of each cleaning.  The litterboxes are normal sizes.
Anyway, can anyone tell me why they would have a false BM?  Are they just
constipated, or might the diet cause it?  Thanks alot!
 
Also, I'm worried about Arvind.  He is the *perfect* ferret, except for 3
things.  He won't stay out of the couch, he doesn't fetch the paper (haha)
and he doesn't like any treats!!  We've tried all kinds of stuff, but he
doesn't seem to care for any of it.  All he likes is Ferretone and
chocolate.  I don't feed him chocolate, but one time I was eating a candybar
and he sniffed it and decided it was his.  Unfortunately, my little finger
was blocking his conquest of my candy bar and it became a casualty of war.
I won the battle though.  ;) He *REALLY* likes chocolate, like a furry
little crack addict or something.  He'll even roll over for it...
 
So does anyone know anything as popular as Ferretone, or perhaps a unique
idea I could try?  I've been through the raisin/cat treat/ferret
treat/whipped cream/cracker/fruits/meats/etc thing already with no success.
The other 3 are more than happy to eat his treats for him.
 
Thanks again!
 
- William
[Posted in FML issue 1873]