Greetings, all!
 
Free roaming/cages, tarry stools
My ferrets have free run of the house when my husband & I are home.  When
we're not at home or asleep, they're in their cage.  I don't feel bad about
putting them in their cage because it is huge.  Too, we don't go out much,
so we usually come right home from work to the ferrets.  We used to let
Pinky have free run of the bedroom when she was one of only 2 ferrets
(Jasmine was a kit & they could not have unsupervised play, so she was in
the cage).  Pinky liked being out & I wanted her to be as happy as she could
be.  She could only run the bedroom rather than the whole home because I did
not want her unsupervised with the cats.  We came home from our annual
company Christmas party a few years ago to discover we had been broken into.
We noticed a broken window & feared Pinky or the cats may have gotten out.
Instead Aaron found Pinky laying in water (the thieves cut our waterbed).
She had a cut on her face.  I put her in the cage & quickly noticed she was
not acting right at all.  I put her in a carrier & high sped to the
emergency clinic.  I didn't think she would make to the clinic & kept
telling her to hang in there.  I got to emergency & they took her from me.
I was hysterical at that point & told them I was so sorry I couldn't help
them more, but as we had been burglarized I didn't know what was wrong with
her.  They brought her out after a while & asked me to observe her & see if
she was acting normal.  To my delight, she was!  They told me to keep her on
a heating pad on low setting, & keep her in a dark, quiet place so she could
rest.  The next day she had black, tarry stools.  I panicked as I had read
this means internal bleeding.  Back to emergency we went.  She was examined
& the vet told me they had not wanted to have to tell me this, but they
feared the burglars had kicked Pinky as she was bruised at her right leg
joint.  Bruised so bad that she had black, tarry stools.  At that point, we
thought that if Pinky had been in a cage she may have been safe from harm.
Since then, we have kept our ferrets in a cage when we're not home or
asleep.
 
Peanuts
Pinky loves peanuts, but I read on this list that they are not good for a
ferret's digestion, so she doesn't get peanuts any longer.
 
XOXO
 
Tracy & the girls -
Pinky - Potatoes, I LUV potatoes
Jasmine - I like cat snacks & feet
Shadow - Nutrical - YUM!
Bear - I like everything!
[Posted in FML issue 1595]