Hello Everyone,
 
Here are a couple tips.  Of course this one won't help Florida and their
horrible hurricane issues, but it will help those of us who loose power
from time to time for shorter periods of time.
 
About 2 years ago, we lost power for 4 days here.  We lost all our fish
which was a horrible experience considering we had some of them for over
9 years. (African Cichlids).  But I also had ferrets at that time (Not
as many as I do now however), and our dogs.  During the hottest part of
the day, I actually loaded everyone into my car and drove them around all
day so they would have air conditioning.  Crazy yes, but hey, it worked
and it was cheaper then a hotel room!  Now with gas prices and my big
stomping van, the hotel room would be cheaper!
 
Back to the story, at night I used a battery operated fan.  I got it at
Walmart, in the camping area.  They are battery operated little fans with
lights on them.  I also got up every hour and misted them with water too
to keep them cool.  Putting a pan of ice (cat litter pans work great)
then put the fan behind that and in front of the cage, blows cool air
over them.
 
Hope this helps for the short term electric losses.  PLEASE HELP GET
THOSE SHELTERS IN FLORIDA GENERATORS.  All shelters should have them.  We
need to look into getting one also now that we have a shelter!
 
Dental Care
Dental care is extremely important as others have said.  What we use
here, and it was a tip from our shot clinic people and it works well!  We
put in Friskies Dental Diet in as treats.  They are round balls of cat
food.  Not a good food for a diet, but a good treat and not sugary.
Everyday, we put these into a separate cup from their food, they think
it is a great treat, and it helps to cut down on the amount of tarter
build up they get.  You will have a larger, fluffy light colored poop
from when they eat them, but once the treat is done, the poop will return
to normal.  (too funny, I never thought I would be such a poop expert,
and even know colors!)  We also from time to time, toss in a greenie
bone.  The new Petite ones.  They love to chew on them, and it helps to
cut down on tarter also.  Now, there you WILL get a green poop so be
aware of that when you give them a greenie.  Use the greenies in
moderation and don't freak when you see the green poop!
 
It is also good to have teeth cleaning done from time to time.  Our vet
does it at a pretty reasonable cost.  (Anna Edling at Horsham Vet Clinic
in Phila, Pa.).  We usually have ferrets come in with HORRIBLE teeth.
Alot of times I can clean them myself, but when they are really bad, the
ferret will usually have to go onto an antibiotic also, because of the
bacteria which can get into their system while cleaning and could really
hurt your ferret.  The dental swabs are also great for keeping the teeth
clean AFTER you have them cleaned, to keep tartar at bay.  They are by
Totally Ferret.
 
Marguerite
And her Magnificent 38....waiting for homes or Sponsorship
Newly Adopted, Missy Elliott to a Jamie, and Artimis to Becky.  Thanks
for opening your heart and home to a rescue ferrets.  May they leave
TinyPrints on Your Hearts!
 
TinyPrints Ferret Rescue PetFinder Web Page
http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.petfinder.org
TinyPrints Ferret Rescue Store
http://www.tinyprintsontheheart.com/onlinestore.htm
Aloha Ferrets Ebay Store
http://stores.ebay.com/Aloha-Ferrets-Store
[Posted in FML issue 4940]