Hi Everybody.
We got a puppy two and a half weeks ago.  The ferrets have tamed her
already - mostly by launching themselves bodily at her face.  She hardly
even chases anymore, usually a gentle paw satisfies her curiosity.  She's a
husky-bouvier cross and 23 lbs at three months, so that's a great thing.
For the two weeks that we had her, we let the ferrets out as usual, but
there was always a dog downstairs, (sometimes, just our other dog, Ember,
whom they're used to), but I guess they found it inimidating and they spent
most of their time sleeping under the couch (of course they still had the
whole second floor to play in, bt I guess that's just not as fun).
 
Which brings me to my point... After noticing a sudden weight gain, we have
instituted mandatory playtimes.  No sleeping allowed.  In keeping with the
fall season, one of our activities is bobbing for apple.  We take a small
piece of apple, cut a notch on either side and tie some yarn around it.
Then it's dangled in front of an overwieght ferret, who had to chase it for
an average of 20 minutes before eating.  This could probably be done with
any treat - but apples are especially good because you just can't sink your
teeth into them.  The common technique is for the ferret to pin it against
their back, but then you just give the yarn a yank.  Excercise is cruel.;-)
Hiding an apple in the bottom of a knapsack filled with bags is also a fun
excersise - so long as you don't let it get stolen and hidden behind the
couch!
 
Anyway - the bobbing for apples is largely an upper body excercise, and
so might be useful for the anonymous poster with the injured ferret.  Any
other workout ideas you all have to share would be welcome by me - if not
my ferrets!  (OK, so only one of them got really fat - but they all suffer
together).
 
Perhaps my ferrets are more susceptable to illness, but I've had quite a
few bouts with colds, etc, that resulted in vomiting.  In the case of
illness, I don't think it generally warrents a trip to the vet, just
careful monitoring.
 
Best wishes,
Wendy
An American in London (Ontario)
[Posted in FML issue 2811]