I would like to urge all of you to try your best not to board your
ferrets at a shelter OR at the vets. I do not even like the pet motel
here that is so fancy and cute and has its own boutique. The ferrets
get put in an area in the front of this motel where anyone can walk out
with them.
Rather -- try and find a pet sitter. Check the sitter out by going away
for a day. Come home early and assess the situation.
Do not keep money or jewelry or such at home. Put it in the lock box at
the bank. Well worth your while to get one.
Have 2 locks on your door? I highly recommend it. Only give the pet
sitter the key to the one lock. Tape the other lock on the door at the
time the pet sitter comes so this lock does not get locked. Get locks
with keys that cannot be duplicated by other than your locksmith!!!!!!!!!
Vets:
Some years back, I left my ferrets at my sisters dog vet, and we called
every day to see how dog and ferrets were doing. Just great, we were
told. I came back to find the ferrets were skin and bone, had the green
slime, blood in the urine, and were so weak they laid in their urine.
Took hundreds of dollars and no life for half a year to save them.
At another vets-my guys all got fleas. They were being boarded in the
same area as cats and dogs when I left. And when I returned, they were
in a cage next to wild raccoon babies that had been rescued.
Pet stores
Boarded the ferrets at my other sisters favorite pet store. They showed
me where the ferrets would be playing. NOT. They were never let out,
except for cleaning the poop. They told me this. The ferrets were in
some sort of trance after only 4 days. Totally traumatized. Did not
seem to even know who I was. Would not move. Glazed eyes. Weak with
diarrhea for days. horrible.
Shelter
Shelters may not have enough money or time as they would like for the
shelter ferrets-let alone yours.
Ferrets could have ear mites caused by one recently rescued ferret placed
in a play area with the others. I have given ear mites to all of my
ferrets with each new rescue or shelter ferret that I bring home. I do
the vet thing immediately. I do the quarantine like you would not
believe. The ears are tested again-no ear mites. No fleas. So everyone
meets.
They all get ear mites. Devil to get rid of. Takes me months each time.
Mini-Me? We thought all the fleas were gone. Thought the ear mite
situation was taken care of. WRONG. I do not understand it. Truly. I
can only tell you what happened to me.
Shelter? Golly. A few situations would be possible there. Especially
the ear mite thing. I tell you, it has cost me well over a thousand
dollars -- to get rid of the ear mite problems with my babies over the
years. The vet gives them a clean bill of health. I pay $24 per ferret
to have the ear wax looked at under a microscope to be absolutely sure.
Yep. All gone.
NOT.
How could that be? Several explanations. Same result no matter what.
More money for meds for the ear mites.
And Shelter Operators?
If you are pet sitting, remember the door swings both ways. Not only
could you hurt the ferrets you are sitting for inadverdently. But the
ferrets that you are sitting for may pass something on to your guys.
YOU don't know.
There is no ideal situation here. Like finding someone to watch your
human children You are taking a risk no matter what you do.
Personally, I prefer the pet sitter. Mind you, I have no pet sitter
anymore now that Mini-Me trumatized one of the two people I used. Ran
under her pants to naw on her knee caps, tried nipping and tearing and
scratching and pulling her socks off, ran away out of the room and
disappeared for maybe an hour or so.. Pushed a box down on top of the
poor womans head..
Concerning the incident reported here with a shelter by Ingrid-
My sympathies for the fears you are facing and the GI distress your
ferrets had.. It is a devastating feeling to pay someone you trust to
care for your babies and return to find them ill. I have been there more
than once. No one in my family understands THAT anguish.
Dear Ingrid:
I hope that your little ones will be all right. Your guys would have had
distemper shots so you should be fine there. If that is not correct--
then please inform us on the FML.
And ADV testing for your guys would not be necessary unless your ferrets
were placed with the shelter ferrets? This is correct?
Thank you for sharing what happened with us. These stories all help us
to decide the best options for our little ones. The GI distress could be
from shock. Ferrets can go into shelter shock.
I have seen the shock in my own ferrets at that pet store. I think they
may do much better with a pet sitter at home that you have checked out
before you go away for multiple days..
Lisette
[Later] P.S. concerning pet sitter
If you go the pet sitter route, be sure sitter is bonded-in case
something is stolen or broken. Take pictures of each room before you
leave, in case there is an issue there.Learned that on one of those
judege shows. Hide those pictures well, or take them with you.
And make sure pet sitter is insured, in case pet sitter falls in your
home. Make sure you are insured in case ferret bites pet sitter.
You want a copy of that proof of insurance and bonding given to you the
first time the pet sitter comes to see your place and talk with you. Put
these papers in your lock box, or with a friend.
Make sure your ferrets have had rabies AND distemper shots.
Anyone thinking another approach is better is welcome to discuss what
works best for him or her.
I recently read of someone here who had a video camera and caught her pet
sitter stealing. I had used the same person some years ago. She never
changed the litter, or gave my guys fresh water or food. No food or
water left. Excretion all over the ferrets, the blankets, the cage.Yet
she took the time to write me this note to tell me what a pleasure it
was to care for my ferrets. I came home 2 days early: THANK GOD.
Like I wrote-there is risk in anything we decide upon.
Thank you
Lisette
[Posted in FML issue 3900]
|
