I work at an Animal Hospital that does not board animals but keeps them
in "observation" for a desired period of time.  Whatever.  Now, the dogs
that board with us get walked three times a day.  However the cats do
not get let out of thier cages.  Ever.  When I first started working
there, there were two cats that that had been there for 5+ months!!!  I
was horrified to hear that even though they had been boarding so long,
they were never taken out and brought that up at the next meeting about
two days later.  When I came back the next day, I found out the cats had
been shipped off to were the owner was living.  Now, the sheet that our
potential clients are given it states "all cats are given a fresh, clean
cage every day and are played with also."  While the part about the cage
is true (we are a very clean hospital!) the cats are not played with
daily.  And by played with, I mean the occasional head scratch!  I have
never owned a cat so I do not know how much energy they can have, but I
cannot imagine a ferret being cooped up in a tiny cage (they are almost
guarenteed to get the smallest cage) all day for however many days!
 
PLEASE, if you plan to board GET SPECIFICS!!!  Ask what they mean by
"play" and if they are actually taken out, how often they are checked on
and if the employees are familiar with ferrets!  AND PLEASE ASK TO LOOK
AT WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO BE KEPT!  As much as we would like to believe
any hospital is the height of professionalism, I'd am only a college
student and am regularly in maintenence of 10-30 animals a day plus alot
of daily chores.  Yes, I love animals (it's why I took this job) and yes,
I know the basics but if you would like your babies to be cared for in
the best way, get a pet-sitter!!
[Posted in FML issue 5108]