>Does anyone have any stories about owning a ferret that was healthy 80% of
>the time?  I'd love to hear them.
 
Oh boy -- healthy only 80% of the time?  Here, that average is thankfully
much higher, and I suspect, it is the same for the majority of the ferret
people out there.  It does sometimes seem if ferrets are the sickliest
creatures on the face of the earth.  But, that is not really true.  What you
are seeing with all the posts about ferrets who are ill, is a tremendous
concern on the part of the ferret's humans to seek the best possible
information about the conditions.  I think poor BIG would have a stroke if
all of us on the FML suddenly decided to send in just one post about each
of our ferrets who is healthy more than 80% of the time.  It would take him
weeks and possibly months to get through the backlog of messages.
 
Of the 30 ferrets who share my home with me, all are happy and healthy --
even those advancing along in years.  The closest I can come normally to
less than perfect ferret -- are the couple of deaf and mentally challenged
ferrets (although to call Dixon mentally challenged is really being far to
polite).  Dixon is severely retarded and deaf -- two things that do not
really seem to concern him much.  As far as he knows, all of the world sees
things from his perspective.  Of course, there are times when he needs a
little extra help -- like when he forgets that the tunnels have two ends.
He sometimes forgets and gets "stuck" in the middle of a straight section of
tunnel.  His response is to make the most unusual noises until I come along
and shake him out of the tunnel.  Of course, Dixon's world is a marvelous
place, full of wonders and surprises.  The other ferrets take for granted
that the large automatic feeder for playtime will always be filled with food
-- Dixon is always amazed to find a huge feeder filled with yummy food.  A
cause for delighted dancing and more unusual noises (even though the feeder
is always in the same place).  For Dixon, even the old toys are always brand
new -- it's little wonder that he sleeps fewer hours than the others each
day, because he has so many new things to explore and play with.
 
There, one healthy ferret down and only 29 more to go :)  Ready for the
onslaught, BIG?
 
Scott and the Mustilid Mob and Dixon -- "Huh?  What? Oooo, look at this!"
[Posted in FML issue 2338]