Sorry I was so disjointed last time. Anything which makes me think of
Hjalmar is still extremely hard to deal with.
Nancy, I'm sorry but I just can't cope with the idea of writing out a
reasonable version, and won't be able to for a while. I just felt that I
had to tackle it for Ayla. Thanks for telling Tyler about litter pot and
cage ramps; I forgot that (and probably tons else). We often used piled
towels as gentle ramps. There are down sides to having several ferrets get
old close together. Hugs to your 3.
Katie, Thanks. No, we don't know Ann Jeglum, but we know OF her; she is
FAMOUS (CAPITAL F, CAPITAL A ...) throughout veterinarianaria (sorry, but
could not resist such a fun word invention, esp. since I can't pronounce
it.) as very likely the world's best veterinary lympho specialist, and she
IS called Dr. Lympho by her compatriots. Glad Molly worked out. Bandit is
such a scamp! How long has it been now since his cancer began? Seems like
ages. 5? You are as foolhardy as we!
Re: dental picks: Aren't they a pain and a half to try to use on ferrets?
They DO help, but even ear cleaning is preferred by our guys. Meltdown has a lot
of problems with tartar, but she also has a small mouth. We can do part of her,
but she's just going to have to get a complete cleaning at the vet's this year.
Our best picks came from American Science and Surplus (which has a VERY funny
catalog), P.O. Box 48838, Niles, IL 60714-0838, phone 1-708-475-8440. Shipping
on merchandise up to $20 (with a $10 minimum) is $4.50. Dental picks #4358 are
$3.75 for a package of 3, or U.S. made stainless steel #21500 cost $2.00 each.
We pointed out that we needed fine-tipped, u-shapes included for our ferrets.
We also have a stethoscope from them (recently re-advertised as #11077 at
$7.95). If the current stethoscopes are as good as our's you will find them a
big help in knowing when an upper respitory infection is moving down.
Barb, J-B Wholesale Pet Supply (and probably a number of pet stores) has a
toothpaste with its taste and smell designed for our carnivorous family members.
Meltdown loves the stuff. All the ferrets we have known have hated the smell of
human toothpaste so much that it's been useful in training chronic baby nippers.
J-B, which can be reached at 1-800-526-0388, but is not recommended for the
purchase of heavy items by those far from the East Coast because of how they
figure shipping, also has the Crinkle Sack for about $17 if you can't find it
elsewhere. It's louder than paper, washable, and actually quite attractive. We
have purchased everything from ear scopes to Fresh and Clean to Nutrical to a
warming pad for ill animals from them over the years.
Meltdown and 'Choppy are asleep and hugging each other right now. Ruffle is
wandering around a bathroom we've modified for play and safety trying to find
what she can undo of the others' preparations. Spotty has to wait a bit to play
and is giving me "Feel guilty, you!" glances. Spot has a startling talent for
untying knots and bows, even fancy, multiple ones which have been soaked. Of
course, if a bell is tied into the knots that's even better. Meeteetse is such
a fibber. She'll be having a great time with the others but use her baby
distress cries not to improve a scary situation, but to gain the upper hand.
Re: F.S. figures: I think there are probably some sample size, sampling, or
other survey difficulties there. The net has probably had several hundred
ferrets represented and I can recall (nope, not being scientific -- just rocking
chair memories here) something around or less than a dozen (of all ages) killed
by accidents involving furniture or appliances, it feels (again, not going back
over the actual numbers) similar to the number lost to easily passed infections
such as inflenza. While it seems to me that we have seen a number of cancer
patients that may be a personal bias since we have personally had 1 with
juvenile pulmonary lympho, one with advanced age lympho and insulinoma, and one
with advanced age adenocarcinoma. (Of the other two lost, one died young of
intestinal ulceration from a disease is often passed in bird droppings (name
forgotten), and the other had an old age heart attack after suffering with
sjogrens syndrome and arthritis. ) If there isn't a problem with the F.S.
figures then we have to understand why folks out there have such problems
managing their recliners. Could someone do us the favor of re-posting the
address for the Chicago based study? We didn't even have time to consider it
when Hjalmar was ill and then my 95 year old uncle became very ill (There are
ten relatives of our's who are between 74 and 95, and several others only a bit
younger so we have the stress of about 5 medical emergencies a year in recent
years.) so we just did not have time to write. BTW: Anyone who wants to chat
or snail mail can reach us at Crandall, 172 Jamestown Rd., Basking Ridge, N.J.
or 1-908-580-0506 (new area code).
I'll end now and ask Steve to post this tomorrow.
Our best to all, Meltdown, Ruffle, 'Chopper (Helicopter), Spot, Meeteetse,
and their associated bipeds: Steve and Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 0425]
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