Hello ferret people!  My name is Eileen and I am a fairly new ferret owner.
I adopted a brother and sister (Abby and Lars) from a young man at work who
could no longer keep them due to moving.  He even threw in a fabulous four
story ferret condo!  At first I was getting them because of my daughter (age
14) but it only took me about 5 minutes and I was totally head over heels in
love with the little darlings!  They have the best personalities!  They fit
in well here because they are early middle age and past the naughty stages -
just right for a first time owner I think.  I could brag about them all
night :-) but I will restrain myself and just ask a few questions for now.
Please forgive me if these questions have been asked before.
 
On Christmas morning I noticed that the tip of Lars's tail was gone.  The
tapered fur had disappeared (it looked like someone had taken a scissors
straight across).  I can see the boney tip poking out just a little from the
rest of the fur - but there is no damage to it.  At first I thought maybe he
had got his tail caught somewhere or maybe Abby had bitten the tip off
during a wrestling match (the change seemed that sudden.) So far, the tip
shows no sign of growing back, but there is no fur lose anywhere else on his
tail.  This list has scared me with all the talk of disease.  Does anyone
know what might have caused this tip lose and should I be running to the
vet?
 
Lars loves his snacks, but I try to restrain myself since I don't want to
mess up his real diet (Iams Kitten - per previous owner and vet).  But one
of things he enjoys is Meow Mix (dry cat food) which I have down for my
three cats.  He does not have access to it as it is in a "ferret free zone"
in the kitchen, but I feed him a few of the crunchies now and then as a
treat.  Could this be harmful?
 
Thanking you kind people in advance for your help.
 
                   Eileen
               (new ferret owner and loving it!)
[Posted in FML issue 2208]