Meltdown is playing again!  Last night her legs began to be more within her
recent normal range for strength, this morning she had her first normal
stool since her GI bleed, and this afternoon she began to play.  Quite the
old lady.  She over-did it, but not badly enough to blow up with ascites.
Today she rearranged cage catnip mousies, played in paper bags, played with
paper napkins, and got her own stink all over the other ferrets' cage.  Not
bad at all.
 
It's been a long time since we have seen a fitch.  Around a dozen years ago
there was a problem in N.J.  for a while with some backyard breeders
thinking to make a quick buck and breeding from fur fitch stock which they
could get more cheaply rather than from pet stock.  The temperments were
more mercurial (extra tender training needed and extra care to not startle),
and their eyes were quite a bit closer together than any of the pet stock
(from something like 5 breeders) which have been family members through the
years, or any of the pet stock we have seen belonging to breeders.  I doubt
this now is a common problem, since the large breeders and reputable small
breeders are now widely spread and have distributing networks in tact.
Still, we all know that there still are those who breed without having any
blasted idea what they are doing, and there will always be greed, so small
as the problem most likely is it can probably be expected to show up now and
then.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1827]