OK this may be longer than I want but I need to explain the situation.
Some of you helped me in the past and I need your input.

I have a 5 year old female silver (Hazel) and a 7 year old female sable
(Lulu) who came to me together, so they are bonded. I recently got 2
younger males and Hazel loves playing with them. I almost lost her
when she lost her last male playmate, but with a lot of TLC and duck
soup she has bounced back wonderfully. Lulu is adrenal, on Lupron, and
visually impaired. She is holding her own. She still likes to explore
some, eats, drinks, loves her duck soup, and loves to be cuddled. She
doesn't bother with the boys. One is very playful and doesn't realize
how delicate she is and loves to "attack" her and the others (playing).
She whimpers so I keep him away from her. He does the same to Hazel but
she handles him well and lets him know what's what and his littermate
is the same size so he plays right back. So now I let Lulu up to
explore first because when she's done she crawls into a sleep sack on
the floor and goes to sleep. Then I let the boys and Hazel up. When
Hazel winds down, she crawls in with Lulu. I have a Ferret Nation cage
with the boys on top and girls on bottom.

My dilemma: Lulu no longer uses a litter box and she poops anywhere
even in the cage. She knows she has to go and walks around checking
out spots first, but then just splays her legs and goes. This causes
messes all over the cage and I keep it as clean as I can. Plus she has
a little trouble with the ramp. For both her and Hazel's sake I want
to separate Lulu into her own cage and let Hazel and the boys all be
together with more room by allowing them to have both levels. I plan to
use a stuffed animal with Hazel's scent on it in Lulu's bedding so she
will have something to cuddle with. She will be able to maneuver better
in the new setup. Everything will be lower and easier for her. I'm not
sure how Hazel and Lulu will react. I think Hazel will adjust fine
because she will have the boys. I don't want to distress Lulu though.

Any input or suggestions on this situation? Should I separate them?
How can I make the transition easier? I don't know how much time Lulu
has left even though she is doing pretty well right now.

CathyM

~~I may not always be perfect, but I'm always me.~~
~~Just be yourself. No one can tell you you're doing it wrong.~~

[Posted in FML 7401]