I'm a newbie to this info center, and would like to introduce my small herd:
 
Critter--a 3 yo male sable who has deemed it his mission in life to teach
the others how *not* to use the litter box--one must do their business
exactly one inch in *front* of the litter box.  He's the laid back one, the
one that has "raised" my youngsters.  He's a great ferret daddy.  I got him
from the neighbors because they had a great dane puppy that was playing with
Critter a little too roughly.  He's had two skin tumors removed.
 
Cinnamon--a 2 yo female choc sable (?) with a bib and white face.  She is
the one that would like to eat everyone but Critter and Monster Boy,
although she has made great progress in the fact that she has finally
decided that Fraidy Ferret is no longer "dinner".  Now to get her to accept
the other two... She is a demanding little thing, and if she's mad for some
reason, she will stand in front of me, wherever I am, and POOP.  A little
irritating.  I got her from the pet store to keep Critter company.  She had
one of her toes eaten by the other ferrets she was housed with, and had to
have an adjoining toe removed due to severe infection.
 
Monster Boy--A 1 3/4 yo male silverish color with a bib, blaze, white head
and feet.  He lives up to his name, finding trouble wherever he can.  He's
the one that can get into anything or get out of anything.  Nothing deters
this boy.  He is also twice as big as the others and looks a little like
Jabba the Hut at times.  He was gotten from the pet store in exchange for
Cinnamon's medical bills.  He has had an exploratory surgery for either an
adrenal tumor (a little young for that, but you never know), or for a
cryptorchid condition warranted by his behavior.  Nothing was found.
 
Fraidy Ferret--a 1 1/2 yo female sable mitt.  She too, lives up to her
name--she is in a constant state of poof and hisses at anything and
everything and if you walk into a room or make a sudden noise, she is no
longer able to be found for a few minutes, until she decides that the world
is *not* caving in.
 
Snuffles--a 5-6 yo female sable.  Her name should probably be changed to
Roly- Poly considering her weight.  I got her not too long ago, so do not
know if this is just winter weight, or something to be concerned about, so
will wait till spring before putting her on a diet.  She is incredibly
sweet, altho the owners said she was aggressive.  But wouldn't you be if you
had to live in a garage with no ventilation in the heat of a southern IN
summer?  Adrenal tumor didn't add to her sweet disposition.  The tumor was
removed successfully and she is nowhere near aggressive.
 
Chatter Box--4-5 yo female sable that came with Snuffles.  They were both
very fat when I got them, but a proper diet and some exercise has solved
that (except for Snuffles(?)) She talks about everything, kind of funny to
listen to her.  She loves to spend time in my lap, and when going for a ride
in the car is quite content to sit in my lap and go to sleep.  She has had
two skin tumors removed.
 
That's my "herd".  My mom met Critter and Fraidy Ferret (took them to Denver
with me this year) and she referred to them as "hairy silverfish" of all
things.  She changed her tune when I took them off the leashes and they
started hunting her cats ;o).
 
My questions are:
1. Critter has a dry, dull haircoat and a tail whose hair is getting
progressively thinner.  His poops are *very* grainy and always have been.
He's a little thinner than the others, but heavy, so I'm not too concerned
about his weight.  I've read that thinning hair on the tail and grainy poop
are signs of his system not adequately utilizing the nutrients he is
receiving.  Is there some test that would verify yay or nay on this?  He
eats Iams kitten food mixed with Sheppard and Greene topped off with
Ferretone.  My vet suggested doing a test for trypsin(?), but another has
said it would be useless.  My vet is not very knowledgeable on ferrets, but
is quite willing to learn.  I understand that doing some of the tests that
are done on cats and dogs would apply to ferrets (with obvious differences),
hence the suggestion of trypsin(?) testing.  But.... Your thoughts?
 
2.  Monster Boy is continually marking the litter boxes (by rubbing all over
them---not with urine whew) and trying to mate with everyone including
Critter, much to his disdain.  He only does that to Critter when Critter has
been with the females for a while, and when he tries it with Cinnamon, she
promptly puts him in his place.  The others are not strong enough to thwart
his advances.  Hence the exploratory for crypt or adrenal.  Since nothing
was found, what now?
 
Any thoughts on these things would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sincerely,
Sandy
[Posted in FML issue 2217]