Hola,
 
I've got a couple of questions I was hoping anyone out there might be able
to help me with..  I've got one sable ferret, her name is '.com' (dot-com)
or just dot/damnyou/getoutofthat/etc.  I took her into the local vet to have
her canine-distemper (she's 16wks now, a bit overdue) but when I took her in
they took her temperature and it was high (104F) then they took it two other
times and again it was high (105F/104F) - needless to say dot didn't enjoy
having her temp taken 3 times, and the vet didn't like the idea of
vaccinating a animal that has a high temperature.   They think she's sick.
She's not showing any signs of being sick besides once in awhile she'll
sneeze, generally when's she's done something brilliant like sniff fireplace
ash that has fallen out, or something dusty, but nothing that looks like
sickness.  Except on two occasions she has let out this bizarre hissing
sound, its sounds simular to a tire deflating, just a long drawn out
'hsssssssss'.  Has anyone heard a ferret do this under normal conditions?  I
think she did it once after I pissed her off, and once when she thought the
cat was playing with her stuffed-monkey - so perhapes it was just anger
talking?  Could stress due to her first visit to the vet be a reason why her
temperature was so high when we visited?
 
We just got another ferret that we named Blur last night, he's a white
albino, I was happy to see that dot and blur became pals within the first 20
minutes they were together - which was nice to see.  Oh.  Another question.
When we found blur, he was with another albino ferret, but when we picked
them up out of the cage to visit with them the other one was sneezing like
mad.  Literally having a sneezing fit for probably a good 12 seconds or so.
The lady at the pet store said "its because marshall farms keeps everything
so steril, once we get them ever little thing makes them sneeze, perfume,
dust, other ferrets, anything new" Is this true?  When I got dot she was
only 9wks and she didn't sneeze at all, even when we had insence lit in the
room, and our house is also sort of dusty.  Is it really common for new
ferrets to sneeze that much?
 
Oh bah, one more question. :)  Okay.  I've heard that ferrets don't like
cold drafts, and lots of heat, but how about a room that stays fairly cold?
My house isn't very well insulated, and it loses heat really quickly so when
we're not there it gets fairly cold (probably 10 degrees warmer than
outside, and its been around 30-40 degrees around here lately) Can this
cause a ferret to become more likely to get sick?  When it is cold in our
room it doesn't really seem to bother dot at all, but I still keep most of
her cage covered to help keep in some of the heat (plus I think she likes
the whole cave effect it makes).  Its not a drafty room, just cold.  I try
to keep the heat on most of the time, but that gets expensive.
 
Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble..
 
-Wes
[Posted in FML issue 1839]