Dear Collective,
 
Hallow'een, my wife and I adopted a 10 week old deaf cinnamon blaze kit
we've named Gryphon.  He has been a hand full!  Fun, but a handful.
Sherlock and P.B., after much dragging, pouncing, and pulling have accepted
him.  At times I thought they were going to tear him to shreds.
 
We've been teaching him hand signals and vibration training.  He will now
come if he feels the floor being thumped.  If he's close enough to see us,
an open and closing hand will bring him looking for treats.  He's been the
hardest to litter train.  P.B. came to us trained, and Sherlock just took
to the box like it was second nature.  You can't even yell at Gryphon when
he's doing something wrong....he can't hear you.  We've had to change how
we deal with litter boxes quite a bit.  We now have larger ones with taller
backs (his little butt sticks up about 6 inches high when he uses a box!)
 
Thanks to Bob Church and others who have promoted a more natural diet, the
kid has been imprinted on Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Bob's Chicken Gravy, Iams
Kitten, Totally Ferret, and Ekunuba Kitten.  We continue to imprint him.
It seems like as long as you continue to offer new foods, kits will
continue to try new things.  Anyone know when he will stop imprinting on
new foods?  My wife and I have been cooking up lots of chicken.  He
regularly gets bones with lots of meat and cartillage on them.  The
interesting thing is, the other two wouldn't even THINK about eating the
Chicken gravy on their own.  They would only take it by syringe scruffed.
Since the little kid has come along, they will now eat it off fingers and
even take a few licks from a plate.  When we got the little guy he was
little more than 1/2 lb.  His first vet visit he was up to 1 lb, his second
visit he was a little over 2 lbs.  I am guessing he is close to 2 3/4 lbs
now.
 
Another interesting thing is how vocal this little boy is.  He dooks louder
than any ferret I've ever come across.  He hisses and chuckles loudly.
When I take a cleaned bone away from him he BARKS like a dog at me.  Anyone
else have the experience of a really really vocal deaf ferret?
 
In any case, the little fellow is a joy.  He's turned my 3 year old and 5
year old back into kits.  They all seem to be benefiting from the
experience.
 
And you know what?  I'm falling in love with the little guy.
 
Cheers!
Matthew in CO.
 
"We have to work in the theatre of our own time,
with the tools of our own time" --Robert Edmond Jones
[Posted in FML issue 2887]