I also have a deaf ferret.  Lany is a 2 year old (almost) panda.  She is a
pet store ferret from Peterson Farms.  I'm ashamed to say that it took me
almost a year to figure out that she is deaf.  I guess that goes to show us
how little deafness matters to them.  I finally put two and two together
when I realized how hard she was to find.  My others always respond to
opening the front door (and ringing the door bell).  They are so nosy they
come running.  She also doesn't react to the vacuum cleaner and other loud
noises.  I try to vacuum when she is asleep because she likes to get right
on top of it and I worry about her being beat to death.  If she does wake
up, I have to hold her the whole time I'm vacuuming.
 
Anyway...the best way I have found to get her attention is to flip lights
off and on.  She responds to that pretty well.  The only time we really have
a problem is when I sneak up on her (unintentionally).  It scares her to
death when I come around a corner and she takes off like a bat out of you
know where.  I feel so bad when this happens that I have to coax her out of
her hiding place to I can hug and kiss her.
 
My other little girl is an albino named Lily.  She is a MF ferret.  Lily
was diagnosed with liver disease when she was about 21-22 months old.
Miraculously, she is now over 3 years old.  We have controlled the problem
with diet (Hills KD).  She has to go in every two months for blood work.  So
far, she is doing great...a little thin but otherwise pretty active and
playful.  If she begins to deteriorate again, we will have to look at more
aggressive treatment.  I feel really lucky that I am close (3hrs) to the
University of Florida veterinary school.  I know that as a last resort, we
can take our ferrets there for more radical treatments.
 
My first baby was Lucy, a sable, also from MF.  Lucy died Dec.  20, 1995
from lymphosarcoma.  She was only 19 months old!!!  It is still like it
happened only yesterday.  Every time I read one of the stories about ferrets
who are sick or have died, I get teary-eyed thinking about Lucy.
 
Because of all of the health problems I have experienced, I went on a quest
to find private breeders who would sell ferrets to me.  I did find some
breeders, but they won't ship so that meant a trip to Virginia, Maryland,
etc.  (the ferret belt).  The risk was that they wouldn't like me and sell
to me or I wouldn't like them.  After calling all over the place, including
AFA, I was put in touch with a vet in Gainesville, FL.  She is recommended
by AFA as one of the top ferret expert vets in the country.  Lo and behold,
she put me in touch with a breeder in Gainesville.  We have talked a time or
two and I am eagerly waiting for the little boogers to go into heat and get
busy.  I'm thinking about two this time, perhaps a brother/sister set.  She
seems to have quite a variety of colors, black-eyed whites, cinnamon,
silvers, etc.  I'm leaning toward the cinammons.
 
Anyway, one of my funny stories is that when I first got Lany (the
youngest), I had the usual concern about the older ones being mean to her or
being too rough.  Imagine my surprise when Lany was the agressor from the
very beginning.  She could certainly hold her own.  Maybe her deafness
contributed to this.  I have an extra cage so I kept her separated from the
others.  Also, the main cage is tri-level so I worked with her on learning
to climb up the ramps since their sleeping area is on the second level.
Once she learned this, I tried putting them together at night.  WELL...WWIII
erupted.  I never heard such fighting!!!  I couldn't bear it so I separated
them again.  This went on for several nights until I just decided that they
would have to duke it out.  At this point, Lany had been home about three
weeks and I was having serious doubts about my impulsive purchase of a third
ferret.  It was as if they knew.  All of a sudden, they all calmed down and
learned to live in (somewhat) harmony.  For the first few nights, I would
find Lany asleep on the bottom level next to the food bowl with no covers.
She looked SO pitiful all by herself with the other two cuddled right over
her under all the covers.  I put some covers down there for her until she
got brave enough to sleep with the others.  Lucy never did like Lany and
would stick her nose in the air and leave the room when Lany was around.
So, Lany and Lily became good friends.  I was really, really thankful that I
had her when Lucy died as this left Lily with a friend and companion.  They
are still the best of friends.  Their favorite playtime activity is to get
on my bed.  One goes under the covers and tunnels and the other attacks from
above.  The chatter is non-stop.  I can even recognize their little dooks.
Lany's is a lot higher than Lilys.
 
I guess I've rambled on enough.  This is my first time to write to FML.
I've only been on the internet about a month so I'm still feeling my way
around.  I hope this makes it to FML and doesn't wind up in cyberspace
somewhere.  I guess I'll know tomorrow.
 
Bye for now from Katharine, Lily, and Lany
[Posted in FML issue 1849]