I'd love to find a shelter in my area so I can help out on weekends and
stuff.  I've looked at Ferret Central, and all the shelter links from
there.  The closest shelters I can find are at least an hour away.  I can't
help wondering how often these pages are updated.  I don't know how many of
you are familiar with Wisconsin geography, but I find it hard to believe
that there are no shelters north of Horicon.  I can't even find a shelter
in my area code!  Does anyone know of an accurate list of shelters?
 
>The only thing is that I've had to rescue her from having the TF stuck in
>the roof of her mouth - it seems to be the same shape and wedges in there
>to the point I had to pry it out.
 
Karla, I've had to do the same in the past with my ferrets and the food
they were eating.  Rosie came to us with MF food.  It was mixed in with
some emergency-trip-to-KMart food, so I'm not sure if it's the sticks or
the pellets.  Either way, the food doesn't get stuck to the roof of her
mouth.
 
>Still need to come up with a new name for Roger..............
 
Naming a pet is hard enough, not to mention re-naming!  The animals that
came to us already named have kept those names.  The only exceptions were
Dinah and Goliath, because I didn't know what their names were at the time.
Once I had (re-) named them, I found out they had been named Snowball and
Bandit.  You have to get their personality in the name.  I kind of like the
idea of Roger as a name, even if she is a girl.  I think that's why I like
it so much, a little girl named Roger.
 
>So-have you heard about anything ferret-related concerning 'Party of Five'?
 
Cassandra, I don't watch the show so I don't know anything about a ferret
on it, but still I haven't heard anything.  What was it?
 
>If you asked yourself, "Am I contributing to the ferret community?", what
>would *your* answer be?
 
I may not take my ferret everywhere I go, but I willingly (and sometimes
even uninvited) answer questions and/or correct people when I hear them
talking about ferrets.  I have walked a family around the pet store,
educating them in their ferret purchases.  I have also gotten into long
discussions with people at work, especially when they see me toting my
copy of Modern Ferret around during lunch and breaks.  Any time we can
educate people or dispell their false ideas about ferrets, we are helping
the ferret community.  People are much more likely to listen to people who
own/have owned ferrets than people who haven't - including what ignorant
bureaucrats have to say.
 
Vi wrote
>I, as the proud mom of three have taken pictures of them to work and they
>sit in my cubicle.  My coworker come by, see them and ask many questions.
 
I have The Ferret Calendar on the wall in my cubicle.  "Duck" (nickname
because he likes ducks so much), who works in another department, has
stopped over several times.  His daughter, who works in yet another dept.,
has some ferrets.  In last year's calendar, there was a picture of a ferret
inside a duck/car-type of toy.  When that month was over, I cut that page
off and left it on his chair.
 
Aileen, kudos on your letter to Comedy Central!  Those are the kinds of
letters we need to send out.  Polite but firm, and to the point.  Makes me
wonder if I should send a letter to Budweiser, asking Louie to admit that
it was he and not the ferret that sabotaged the electric sign...
 
>Any one else have this pangs of guilt if one fuzzy gets more attention
>than another or am I the only one like this?
 
Connie, I think everyone who has more than one pet finds themselves in the
same situation.  If Maggie doesn't have a cuddling personality, she
wouldn't want to be cuddled like Butch does.  Pauly and Goliath liked to
give kisses, so they got kisses in return.  Of course, all the ferrets got
kisses, but the boys more than the girls because they kissed me back.  I
have the same situation with my cats that you do with your ferrets.  Tara
likes to sit on my lap and get petted for hours, Dakota doesn't.  I think
as long as they get what they want, the ferrets don't care who gets tummy
rubs and who gets to play tug-o-war.
 
>This is just a note to let you know it has been 2 1/2 weeks and no
>Ammonia.  You would not believe how paranoid this has made me everytime
>I can't find someone for a little while...
 
Millie, I can believe it.  When Niki passed on, my first ferret to do so, I
would check all the ferrets several times a day for signs of breathing for
at least two weeks afterwards.  I even went so far as to wake them up if I
couldn't see they were breathing.
 
>Strange kind of squeaking noises, is the best way to describe them.
 
Lia, I knew the second I read that what you meant.  Pauly made the same
noise before he died.  It sounded like a squeaky toy.  "he had bit his
tongue" Pauly had grabbed onto the t-shirt in his cage and we couldn't get
him to open his mouth to get it out.  It was soaking wet, so I have no idea
how long he had been gripping it (I was at work); we had to cut the shirt
so we could get him to the vet's office.
 
>Could someone tell me how good these books are and if they are worth the
>money to buy?....Biology and Diseases of the Ferret by James Fox
 
Debbie, I have a copy of this book and it is geared towards vets, not
the average owner.  I can hardly understand a word of it.
 
Michel
[Posted in FML issue 2730]