Dooks, everybody.  I'm going to give some answers to some things I saw
yesterday.  I don't want anybody to think I'm crawling anyone's frame, ok?
 
To "Purplecow".  First off, let me tell you that any pet will cost you
money.  It doesn't matter whether its a ferret, a dog, or a cat.  Even fish
can cost you a bundle.  Have you owned any pets before?  If so, you should
already realize the costs involved.
 
Yes, you'll see a lot about ferrets being ill here.  Its because we all
come looking for advice from people who know more than some of us.  We got
our first ferret, Socks, in early July.  July 30, ferret math hit and we
brought Kit home.  She also carried the ece virus, and Socks was nailed
really hard by it.  Yep, got a good vet, but got a lot of really good
advice right here.  Got answers about vaccinations (I wanted to know about
vaccinating for distemper, too), help and guidance on helping Socks out,
and lots of encouragement!  Don & Janice Boyle, Sukie C., Phyllis Smith,
and others who e-mailed me directly helped me immensely.
 
Having been raised around animals, to me ferrets are just like one of the
crew.  We love them, play with them, feed and clean them, let them out to
play as much as possible.  This weekend Socks and Kit are off to the vet.
Socks is about to get his first distemper shot ever (he's around 3 years
old) and his rabies.  Kit will get her second round.  Why did I wait so
long on Socks----he was so sick I thought I'd lost him one weekend.
 
Ellen: I have very small Nylabones for the fuzzies!  I also take old
medicine bottles with child proof caps and put pennies in them, or dry cat
food.  Kit loves these.  We have a large cat toy that's an open ball with a
smaller ball inside.  She loves that, too.  Socks likes bean bag toys.  He
doesn't chew them, he carries them off to different places.  No soft rubber
toys.  They both like to play in blankets and with socks.
 
Janice: You asked for a list from folks of ferret proofing.  I pick up
everything I possibly can.  Ours stay upstairs, as its the only true ferret
proof place.  If they were downstairs they could get behind and on the tv,
in the kitchen behind the stove, dishwasher, fridge, you name it, and then
there are the doors they could get out of so fast!  So, its upstairs they
are, and enjoy it.  We do keep Sara's door shut (teens just have a thing
about not cleaning well!) and we have to stuff a blanket underneath the
door, as Kit can crawl right under there!
 
Better get out of here.  I have to say I never thought I'd like fuzzbutts
till I held a baby, then I got hooked.  If something were to happen to
ours, it would really tear us up.  To all who've lost their babies, and
to all battling illness, we say hang in there.  To the rest of us with
healthy, happy, terrorist ferrets, dook dook!
 
Rebecca
[Posted in FML issue 2428]