I am a CA resident, so will do any posting anon.  Living here with ferrets
makes us paranoid.  The kids love to answer the door bell, so one of us has
to hold the kids out of sight while the other fields the caller.  We also
open a door with our eyes glued to the floor lest a ferret escape.  I have
often wondered if F&G reads the lost and found pet columns - sigh.
 
My Fancy has been a problem eater since she outgrew babyhood.  She required
kick starting with hand held cheerios and then a few beans (Science Diet
Feline Growth) before she would munch on her own.  She had adrenyl surgery
in November and is now fat and fuzzy.  She had to be force fed after surgery
until I introduced her to duck soup - we have not been able to wean her from
it.  I tried Totally Ferret - Bear loves it, but Fancy will not even try it.
We made the last batch of duck soup with TF instead of Science, and she
won't eat that.  My husband went shopping as soon as the stores opened for
Ensure, because she won't eat her soup mixed with Long's brand... she also
won't eat unless she is held.  Any ideas?  We are pretty much at her beck
and call, we don't go overnight without our trusted house sitter, limits us
considerably which is normally okay, but sometimes it really isn't.  My
husband nearly missed my son's wedding because we didn't have a sitter, and
we would be gone overnight.  We solved the problem by my going the day
before, and him driving a round robin, it was exhausting to say the least,
and Bob still swears she lost weight since she wouldn't eat for him.  She
hides food, of course, could she be eating on her own when we aren't
looking?
 
I would encourage a second ferret - we did not get Bear to keep Fancy
company, my spouse is home most of the day.  But it is a kick to watch those
two play, and scheme together.  They sleep together, chase cats together,
chase each other thru the tubes, ambush Bob and/or I together (one dances in
front while the other attacks the ankles).  They still get a lot of
individual attention, they make sure they vary their sleeping habits so we
have one at a time up at least once a day.
 
You should be forewarned that two ferrets create a minimum of four times the
destruction and havoc as one... I wonder how those of you with a multitude
of the critters survive.  My couch buttons are bare, none of the furniture
has linings, the mattress corners are scratched to the wood.  I ordered new
carpet in early December, but have not had the nerve to have it installed -
I dread the first assault on it.  I will try to scratch guard it.  But I
know I cannot guard the corners against their potty habits.  I think a large
cage with supervised outings would be terrific, but Bob views it as some
kind of torture.  Possibly because he doesn't do the cleaning?
 
We have three cats in addition to the ferrets - my daughter is an AHT and
she specializes in recycling unwanted animals.  We had a dwarf rabbit - not
caged of course - Fancy would sometimes chase Frampton, but never got
vicious, Bear just wanted to snuggle under that soft fur, and Frampton
seemed to know the difference.  Fancy made her nervous but not Bear.  I have
pictures of Frampton (the rabbit), Bear (my male ferret) and Jinx (cat #2)
all curled up together taking a nap.  Pretty cute.  I wouldn't introduce a
dog to this mix, but two of the daughters have Shelties (recycled) that have
come to visit.  They are completely intimidated by the ferrets.  It could be
that they are just very timid since they were mistreated.  I wouldn't want
to take a chance on a "real" dog tho.
 
I would appreciate any tips on getting Fancy to eat on her own.  Thanks.
[Posted in FML issue 1875]