Kiwi has finished her round of acupuncture, and it was a real success.  Her
left hind leg is being used more and more every day.  She rarely drags it.
She does fall over when wardancing, but it just makes her dance harder when
she gets up!  When motivated, she can run almost as fast as Seamus.  She'll
be moving into the big cage with him as soon as I get the ramps carpeted,
so she doesn't get a leg caught (hopefully later today).  She can go up
them now, but slides down them, which scares her a bit.  I'm going to put a
buffer at the bottom of each ramp so she won't get hurt.  I have hung a
large hammock under the edge of the only balcony, so she will only topple a
few inches into the hammock if she loses her balance.  Her attitude still
amazes me -- she is so accepting of whatever happens, as if she knows we're
helping her.  Even at her first bath last week, she just gripped my wrist
and kept her eyes on me, as if to say 'I trust you, mom, just get this over
with!'
 
A few weeks ago, she just stopped eating duck soup, and started eating
kibble on her own.  She hasn't lost on an ounce (2.5 lbs!).  I kept telling
my husband that I knew she'd tell us when she was ready to eat on her own,
and she did.  Since she's eating on her own, she hasn't been on the boat in
a few weeks, but we hope to bring she and Seamus out there in a few weeks
together.
 
She amazed us again this weekend, when I discovered her on the very top
level of her little recuperation cage.  This was a surprise because there
are no ramps in her cage!  It's a small cage (18"x30") with one full floor
above the bottom floor, and one small balcony above the second floor.  We
did not add the ramps because we didn't want her climbing when she was so
unsteady (remember, she was partially paralyzed from a mystery infection
back in March).  But she has now discovered that she can stand on her hind
legs (hooray!) in the hammock, climb on the side of the litter box, grip
the second level floor, and pull herself up there with her front legs!
From there, it's an easy climb to the balcony.  I think she's telling us
she's not an invalid any more!
 
She is one classy ferret!
--
Joanne
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Ferrets:  Joy wrapped in fur!
[Posted in FML issue 3105]