What happens when you get a ferret drunk? Sounds like an interesting topic
for debate, but it's sort of a serious question. It almost happened in my
house, although I'm not sure how yet. Here is what happened: First of all,
our four ferrets are owned by myself and Tim. Our other roommate Eric is a
friend and has always liked the ferrets but does not own or care for them.
Eric is a big beer drinker and there is always beer in our fridge. (I
personally can't stand the stuff). Last night Eric had a lady friend over
for a bit. I met her, she seemes nice enough. They had just come from a bar
(he works with her, he didn't pick her up there) and were both on their way
to getting tanked. This morning, Tim asks me if I gave any of the ferrets
pedialyte. No, I said...why would I? He tells me to go look in their dish on
the second floor of their cage. (They have water bottles but we also put
plastic dishes under them). I look, and it is full of an amber-yellow
liquid. I at first thought it was urine or vomit, but there was a lot of it
and neither made sense to me. Tim smelled and it says "it's alcohol". So I
smell it and sure enough, it smells an awful lot like beer. I was absolutely
furious! I was sure it was Eric because it is just the kind of bonehead
thing he would do: not out of spite, more like a dumb joke. Except I have a
feeling they could have gotten seriously sick (anyone know of the effects of
alcohol on ferrets?). So here is what I did: I called him at work pretending
to be crying and told him Mayonnaise was seriously sick and we had to take
him to the vet. I said they ran blood tests on him and told us he had
alcohol poisoning; that they pumped his stomach and that we have to watch
him for a week or so because he could have a seriously damaged liver and we
might have to have him put to sleep. Luckily none of that actually happened!
Eric seemed upset and denies doing it. I have known him for a while and I
believe him. Our only other option is that this girl did it, although why we
don't know. it bothers me that we can't even have guests in our home now
without worrying about our pets. Whether it was done out of meanness and
spite or out of a dumb drunken joke doesn't really matter (although I still
wish I knew exactly what happened). So if anyone here could tell me what
some of the possible consequences could have been, I would appreciate it.
Sorry this was so long.
 
Kristi (Kitchen Consultant with The Pampered Chef) and the Mad Menagerie:
        Mayonnaise, Clover, Luna, and Loki (Mustelid Mob of Mayhem)
        Boo (the cat) and Casey (the kitten)
(see the crew at:  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/4093 )
 
Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 194656 OR
by yucky AOL: My IM name is EmaniaE
 
ferrets are like potato chips...you can't have just one!
[Posted in FML issue 2367]