The OFA fun match started off early for me. I trekked over to the Cascade
Ferret Network shelter at an ungodly hour to pick up the kids, since
Leonard and Elayne both had fun-match related stuff to do ahead of time. I
ended up being the first person at the park (tho we'd all thought others
would be there already) at around 6:45am. (I didn't go home 'cos ferts are
banned at home, plus I though I might be able to help out.) It was actually
nice to be there so early in the morning. I got the weezils into their
harnesses and they got a long, ecstatically happy grass-snorkeling session
in together. Onyx's new nickname is Bristle-Butt, as her tail was poofed
out almost bigger than she was, she was so excited. I'm not even sure
she'd ever been outdoors before then.
We had a wonderful time at the Fun Match and I met lots of super folks from
the FML. Onyx participated in the Cup-Tip (2 cups) and the Tube Race,
which she might have gotten 3rd in at 5.6 seconds, if not for a speed-demon
who went through it in ***2.1 secs!!*** plus a few more. But she had fun!
(including biting 3 different peoples' noses, including mine. Erf.
Badfert! But she was probably just overexcited or scared.)
Grover didn't compete, he was busy being a cuddly sleepy boy most of the
time. Dr. Burgess checked him over; he's lost even more weight, down to
750g from 840, and he definitely has lots of soup and a vet visit in the
near future. Dr. Burgess suspects a possible stomach obstruction rather
than an intestinal one. Another possibility is that he is having a long,
hard recovery from ECE. His original owners swore he'd always been
healthy, but given the condition I got him in, I'm not sure whether I
believe them.
The auction at the Match was just hilarious and great. Lots of people came
away with fantastic stuff, including me! I got: a vet visit, rabies &
distemper shots, a bottle of Timmy's, 4paws' Ferret Coat, and Ferret Zyme
Plus...all for $32!!!!!!!! This is a lifesaver for me as my finances are
NOT in good shape right now; I have to find a job! Blessings to the woman
who sat in front of me (I don't know her name) who at the last moment didn't
raise the bid one more time. The auction was very funny; the increments
were occasionally in $0.50 amounts, and a few times the auctioneer would
ask, "Can I have $15??" and would be answered with a resounding "No!" from
somewhere in the crowd.
Thanks to the OFA and CFN for doing a wonderful job. Bob C. - I hope you
are feeling better soon; we did miss you! Dr. Burgess gave a talk on new
fert diseases that was very enlightening.
I've heard it said over and over that while cedar/pine litters are not good
for ferrets, neither are the traditional clay cat litters because of the
dust and impaction dangers.
I haven't gotten my kids home yet (sigh!!) but I am trying to plan ahead on
this. I intend to use a newspaper-based litter in their cage, but the
thing is: I /do/ have a cat (and will soon be adopting another one.) My
cat, Cinnebar, is very fussy about his litter and he has rejected newspaper
brands consistently. What he likes is "Scoop Away No-Track". I normally
buy the unscented variety, because I am sensitive to the chemical perfumes,
and it doesn't seem to have much dust (which also bothers me.)
The No-Track variety is a slightly larger pellet than the regular sort.
(Looking at it now, the No-Track sort is a variety of sizes, some well over
2mm, but some less than 1mm diam.)
I've read that cats and ferts don't normally like to share their pans, but
I've also heard stories about them happily sharing. So.... what to do? Is
Scoop-Away safe enough for ferts, on the odd chance that they end up using
the pan? Or should I just put the pan up on a high table where the little
fuzzbutts can't get at it?
- Megan
--
Megan O'Shaughnessy DC LMT ( [log in to unmask] )
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~megan/
[Posted in FML issue 2433]
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