Hi all--
 
Had some scares this month.
 
About 2 weeks ago, I saw Mort in the litter box and when he walked away I
noticed his dooh was wrapped in a gelatinous glob of bright red.  Panic.
Intestinal bleeding, puncture, something terrible.
 
I totally freaked, and was about to rush him to the vet when I found an open
package of cherry JELL-O.  I was so relieved I thought I might cry.  I still
watched his doohs, but there remained only traces of red jelly.  Whew.
 
This past Thursday Pepper got into the off-limits bathroom, into the
cabinet, and down a small hole around the pipes.  He's not a little boy,
he's a 4 pounder.  And that darn hole was just too small for him to come
back out of.  He kept poking his head through trying to get the ferretone I
had for a bribe, and he'd get completely stuck.  I even grabbed his scruff
and tugged (pretty hard, too!) and couldn't budge him.  Eventually he got
wise and poked his front feet and shoulders through first, and I grabbed
him.  You should have seen the muscles along his body working the snakelike
motion to get out!  I didn't pull him, just exerted a steady pressure on his
front end while he worked the muscles towards his bottom and he finally got
free.  What a relief.
 
Friday--Pepper again.  Vomiting in his cage.  Shaking his head violently as
he did it, sending yucky stomach contents all over the cage, the blankets,
the food, and the other ferrets.  YUK!  Now I know ferrets don't usually
vomit.  While I was cleaning up I noticed something bright GREEN.  Bright
green and rubber.  Pretty large.  I cleaned up the green rubber piece, but
couldn't identify it.  It was nothing that had been a part of anything I
owned.  I *KNOW* about rubber.  Little rubber things are kept up high.  The
koosh ball I play with at work stays at work.  Superballs aren't allowed in
my house, as fun as it is to watch ferrets chase them.  The green rubber
thing had to have been under the bathroom cabinet where Pepper was exploring
the day before.  It was of course, after 6 pm on Friday.  These things never
happen at 8 am on Monday, you know.
 
Panic again.  Intestinal blockage.  Small stools with green flecks.  Ugh.
Get out the FAQ.  I lubed him up with cat lax, put him in a kennel all alone
(wow, was he ever ticked off about that!  this is one boy who never wants to
be a lonely only ever again!) and checked on him every three to four hours.
Monitored his intake, output and energy level.  Intake low, output mushy,
energy level completely normal--maybe even a bit higher than usual due to
being mad about sleeping all alone.  I couldn't get any reaction to belly
palpitations, so assumed he wasn't having abdominal pain.  His body felt
normal.  He played normal.  Seemed fine.  This morning I dissected his dooh
from last night and found a big green rubber thing.  Well, not huge, but
about 1cm sphere.  Ugh.  Almost as big as the one he vomited up.
 
One more night in isolation, and as long as he's eating and dooh-ing, he'll
be sleeping with all his pals tomorrow after playtime.
 
It pays to have extra cages.  I'd have no way to determine if he was
potty-ing at all when he was sharing a box with 4 other ferts.  As guilty as
he makes me feel when I put him to bed alone, the peace of mind I get from
knowing what he's intaking and outputting is worth suffering through some
door scratching.
 
Pam Grant--saw your article about shelter ferrets in Critters USA--terrific
message!
 
Thanks all, (and watch out for that cherry Jell-O!)
 
--Sheri
[Posted in FML issue 2105]