To Doug, asking about ages of bad litter box practitioners:
I have three MF ferrets, two of them came when they were about eight weeks
old, and the other at six months.  We had a pistol of a time getting the
first two (Maggie and Gatsby) to use the litter box.  For some reason, the
depository of choice was at the bottom of a ramp (a spot way too small for
your average box).  We tried everything to get them to use the other more
accessible corners of the cage, food bowls, bedding, the bleach routine,
nothing.  Finally I decided to find a box that would fit that corner.  I
ended up using a drawer organizer and the little white clips that adhere to
the box and clip around the wire.  The box sat at an angle, but boy, it was
nice to have ferrets that didn't poop in their bedding.  Four months later,
enter Marshmallow and a new cage for all three.  Poor Marsh had been sitting
in the pet store since shipment from MF.  He had an adequate home (my only
concern was that they kept him and his two buddys on newspaper.  Aside from
them having physical problems with the ink, Marsh is an albino so you can
imagine what the little guy looked like, living on newspaper.) but very
little socialization, mostly little kids shoving their fingers thru the
cage.  So we scooped him up and off we went.  But to our extreme dismay,
while the girls quickly returned to their favorite corner (now plenty roomy
for a normal box) Marshmallow decided that he prefered the other corners (as
you can guess, the ones not covered by litter boxes).  So now the perimeter
of the bottom floor of their cage is litter boxes.  *Sigh* So according to
my gang, Doug, your theory of being removed from the mother too soon does
work (aren't kits from MF taken from Mom at 6 weeks?).
 
To the Vets:
I seem to remember someone mentioning something about Parvo in their ferret.
Should the fuzzys be vaccinated against it?  And how does a ferret get it?
 
Also, all three of my ferrets (more Maggie and Gatsby than Marsh) seem to
have a cough, like something is stuck in their throats.  Gatsby started
this first, and we took her in for a possible blockage.
 
The vet couldn't find a thing, and just told us to monitor her weight.  The
coughing has never completely gone away, and the other two seemed to have
picked it up.  Everyone is up to date on exams, shots, and otherwise
healthy.  Could this cough be a sign of something more serious, or is it
the built in ferret way to politely remind me to remember the Laxatone?  I
am rather bad about remembering to give it to them, they get some maybe
once every month.  Since they discovered the magical world of Sunmaid
raisins, they seem to have lost interest in it.
 
And finally (thanks to those of you who have read this far)--I talked to
someone, I think it was the Killians, that suggested a food (is it poultry
fat that does this?) that reduces the orange-y coloring in albinoes.
Unfortunately, I can't remember what food it was.  If someone could advise
I'd appreciate it.  Email is fine if you prefer.
 
Take Care All:
Laura
Maggie (Gatsby, cough louder, maybe she'll bring us raisins)
Gatsby  (<cough, cough>  Boy I bet a raisin would help my cough Mom,
why don't you                                       give it a try?)
Marshmallow (Hey guys, do you think she'd bring em faster if I bit
her on the foot?)
[Posted in FML issue 1365]