> I don't think we should kid the puplic that ferrets are litterbox trained
>if they really aren't.  Sorry how this sounds but lets be honest
 
Honestly, my ferrets are NOT littertrained.  But that doesn't mean that
others are not.  I know quite a few people whose ferrets will use the
litterbox religiously and one man whose ferret won't even go outside, but
has to be let back into the house.  Mine aren't trained to use the box
because I never bothered.  This is why they are ONLY allowed to run around
in our oversized kitchen, where they use the newspapered corner as a
bathroom.  In the cage, however, all use their litterbox.  I would have to
say that if your ferrets don't use the box, maybe you didn't properly train
them to use the box.  Can you confine them to one ferrety room?  If you
won't put out more litterboxes, how do you expect to train them?
 
As for declawing, in our house we love our pets more than our furniture and
our carpeting.  We will do everything to alter the animals' ability to get
to the desired place, if it's carpet, but never will we chop off their toes.
We believe that if we can't love them the way they are, in terms of natural
habits like scratching and digging, we don't deserve to have such pets.
 
Here in our city we are working with the pet stores to get them to start
handing out our little ferret starter brochure type thing with every ferret
purchase and they are starting to come around.  For a long time they refused
to acknowledge us because they thought we took away their business (funny,
it's them that KEEP us in business).  Now we are at the point where some pet
stores refuse to carry ferrets but will instead refer people to us.  The
ones that DO carry ferrets will give out our number to people who phone with
questions.  (They are even starting to recognize me...when I walk into the
pet store they all go "look!!  There's that crazy ferret lady!!  Quick, show
her that really cute baby")  And they are very willing to have us come in
and work with the staff  to teach them more about handling ferrets.  The
only thing we can't them to back down on is the shavings thing.  ARGH,
frustration sets in...
 
For litterboxes we use those vegetable storage stacking bins from hardware
and drug stores...they have a low front but the sides and back are all quite
high and although they are a little shallow, I've had great success with
them.  I just drilled two holes through the sides and zap strapped them onto
the cage so they are immobile, then open the back door of the cage and scoop
everyday.  So far, they fit perfectly in just about every cage I've seen.
 
Finally, thanks to everyone who wrote me about the Net magazine's letter to
the editor from my ferrets :)  If I haven't gotten back to you, I will, I'm
just up to my armpits in rescues at the moment.
 
Sheena
* * * * * * *
Ferrets & Friends Club & Rescue E-Mail:  [log in to unmask]
"dedicated to the preservation of the domestic ferret as a
 household pet", a no-kill, not-for-profit ferret facility.
* * * * * * *
For more information about the FFCR try our homepage:
< http://www.geopages.com/Colosseum/1575 >
* * * * * * *
[Posted in FML issue 1360]