Georgia wrote:
>It's my opinion that ferrets react to obvious efforts to curb their
>behavior in a very nose thumbing way.  Pointing and scolding seem to bring
>on "ooooh, look how nice and excited she gets, if I poop in the middle of
>the floor again I'll get to see her waving her arms and whirling around"!
>Well, that's the way it seems to work in MY house...
 
Oh, YEAH!
 
Better to encourage wanted behaviors and shape from there, and use short
times out for the ones not wanted so thatt hey find that bad behavior
gets them ignored.
 
Ferrets will do most anything for attention -- sort of like some people!
LOL!  (And I am sure that you -- no matter who are -- can think of a WIDE
range of destructive behaviors people engage in for attention, as can we
all.  Hey, at least it's something we have in common throughout life with
ferrets, cats, and dogs!)
 
For the most accurate and complete ECE info go to:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
 
>Also the person I bought him off told me he has some sort of illness
>where the ferret cannot have sugary food in his diet,(he produces too
>much insuline) does ANYONE have any suggestions on a slight diet change
>for my little pet.
 
Insulinoma needs to be diagnosed by blood tests, and it requires a lot
more than diet changes.  Go to the sites below my name for links for info,
and search, read, etc.  For this topic I especially recommend the link
above, the Bradley Hills and Ferretdoctor one, others by vets at the
geocities link, and http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc .
 
Ferrets do not get human colds (as per a vet pathologist who knows these
things); they can catch our influenzas and some of our bacterial sinus
infections, though, and when mild these can seem like colds in humans.
Coughing can also be caused by more serious things: pneumonia,
cardiomyopathy, etc.  so warrants a vet visit, but a new critter needs a
vet check-up anyway, plus any needed vax, and a fecal check so i am sure
that one is scheduled.
 
Do NOT give any OTC (over the counter) cough or pain remedies for this
till you read up on which ingredients -- MANY -- will poison ferrets, but
do take ferret into a steamy bathroom to help dislodge mucus and allow
the coughing to bring up what needs to come up and vet many provide meds.
 
Diabetes: go to the sites below and esp.  be sure to use the search
engines in the archives of both the FML and FHL, and check the links
above.  (When searching is done in chunks check multiple chunks; it's
pretty obvious.  If you have never searched before there is a "How-to"
in the Files section at the FHL.
 
>However, as your ferrets are 'done' by good old Marshalls at 6 weeks
>old, this cant happen.  Or can it?  At this tender age, and with so many
>to do in one go, then surely the vets must make the odd mistake?  Miss an
>ovary perhaps.  Dont always suspect the worst untill you know for sure
>that your jill is just in season.
 
Either way most are talking surgery then, since a high proportion of jills
that remain in heat get life-threatening anemia if an ovary is left and
they aren't bred, whereas if the swelling is from a uterine stump the
infection of those can go systemic if not removed, while an adrenal with
a neoplasm typically should come out.  All surgical...
 
-- Sukie
 
For ferret health info:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-List
http://geocities.com/sukieslist
[Posted in FML issue 3747]