Hello all...
Been a while since I posted last, sorry, I've been really busy.  Never did
get back to the tale of the Big Move, maybe I'll get a chance in a couple of
days.  I've been behind on the FML, but in scanning today I saw folks are
having trouble with furries and heat.  I just wanted to share a humorous
story of how it works in our house.
 
As you may know, we just moved into a new (actually a very old!) house.
When I first saw it, I thought "yeah, this will work for the ferrets!"
Course, I didn't really care how it was for the humans, just the furries
(ferrets and the cats too).  Case in point, I still chose this house even
though the doorways are only about 5' 10" and the basement is about the same
height, and my fiance is 6' 2".  Needless to say he doesn't like this house.
But it's tall enough for the ferrets, so who cares, right?  <grin>
 
So the ferret room is in the "attic." It was an attic, but it was converted
to a room, it's insulated, and the central air was piped up to that room, so
upon signing the lease, I thought all was well.  They never told me that the
air conditioning didn't work!  It's great in the kitchen and bathroom, but
as for the living room, bedroom, and most importantly, the ferret room, it
just didn't do squat.
 
When did I find this out?  The day I left for my vacation to Virginia.
Couldn't do much about it then, the downstairs isn't (and really can't be)
ferretproofed, so I just left fans on and strict instructions for the pet
sitter that if it got too hot to call my father for instructions.  Well, it
cooled down that week, so they were okay, until Saturday when I came home
and it must have been about 100 degrees in the ferret room.  I freaked!
Poor Patches, the fatso, was *panting!*  Immediately I got cool (not cold)
water and poured it into my hands then over his body, he was so joyous about
this.  I checked the others, they were uncomfortable but doing okay,
fortunately I got home before they were exposed to too much heat (the fans
were still on).
 
So I lugged all eight cages down to the living room, where it was cooler
just because it's downstairs.  It was a safe temperature for the ferrets,
and we closed all of the other central air vents which made a little more
air come into that room.  Temporary fix, but the ferrets really couldn't get
runtime, so we had to come up with something.
 
My father tried for days to convince me that putting the ferrets in the
basement was the most natural thing I could do for them.  It's a great
temperature, it's dark (there are lights, though) and with some creativity
it could be a safe place for runtime.  I refused.  My babies don't run with
spiders.
 
I did say that I would build a ferret room in the basement.  I'd put false
walls up over the concrete ones in a corner of the basement, then build two
new walls and a raised floor.  Of course, with the drop ceiling and raised
floor that it would require, the room would only have been about 5 feet
high, but hey, I'd squat for my babies.  Unfortunately, I'm still unemployed
and extremely broke, and my father wasn't going to pay to have the basement
converted when (in his opinion) putting up a fence in the basement would
have worked just fine.  I repeat.  My babies don't run with spiders!
 
My dad said that the cost of an air conditioner was not an option--not only
would it cost for the unit, but the electric bill would shoot thru the roof.
"Who cares, Dad, I'll have a job any day now...I'll pay for the electric
bill if it makes the ferrets happy!" Gave a few sad puppy dog looks, and
guess what?  The ferrets are living in a cool, air conditioned room while
I'm dripping sweat as I write this.  'Course, it took about 6 hours to
install the darn thing, "this old house" just doesn't have window sills
meant for air conditioners and we pretty much had to rebuild them, oh well.
Good news, however, is my sister lent the unit to us so for now, the AC
hasn't cost anything.  Maybe I'll let the ferrets use the electric bill as
litter box liner, what do you think?
 
Kymberlie
Ferrets: "Wow! That box blows out cold air! Yippee.... Oh, I love this
place!!!"
Cats: "Hey, how come we have to go to the stinky buggy basement to get
cool, and those weasels get air conditioning!? No Faaaaiiiirrrrr!!!!!"
Human Fiance: "Jeez, not only can't I fit through the doorways in this
house, now the ferrets get air conditioning and I get sweltering heat?
Somehow I don't think that I'm Kym's first priority in life..."
 
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 1984]