Hi!
 
I have been unable to read the FML for over 3 weeks (vacation followed by a
move) and boy did I have a ton of reading to do!! We are now in a spacious
appartment in South Jersey and loving it! The ferrets have their own little
room (which they like, but wish they had run of the whole place). Their
room is off the kitchen - way at the other end of the appartment, so I
couldn't hear trouble if I was in our room - so we purchased a baby monitor
to spy on them. Now that we have the monitor off the same chanel as the
upstairs neighbors, it is working great. (Boy did I jump out of my skin
when the ferrets started yelling "Don't touch that! I said DON'T TOUCH
THAT!" I wonder if the new mom upstairs went racing into the baby's room as
sounds of ferrets fighting came across her monitor?!?)
 
We had a scary experience the night before the big move...Franklin, our
laid back lover, started vomiting. We began to worry that he might have
eaten something odd uncovered by packing. Unfortunately, all the ferret
emergency equipment was packed & at my parents house with 1/2 the crew. By
midnight (they do like to do things like this in the middle of the night &
holidays) he was gagging, squeeking, and having trouble breathing. He
gagged for about 5 min. while we (and he) panicked! Finally, out flew a
huge(2 in long) solid hairball. Now, I give them petramalt a couple times a
week. In fact, he'd been given a dose I was sure was too big just that
morning (a dab the size of a quarter). Just to be on the safe side - we ran
out & got some vasiline & gave him some (I would have given him hairball
goo if there were any 24 hour pet supply stores).
 
He's ok now, but only OK. He's much less active (not that he was ever a
spaz), but the others are less active, too. (None of us are quite used to
little air conditioning). He's lost some weight, but he still has a
pleasantly, but less plump, tummy. He looks good, but he isn't quite right.
When I pick him up for kisses (his favorite hobby) I only get a few & then
teeth grinding, but not every time. He's still eating & I've increased his
petramalt, which he eats with much less vigor than before (begging for
Petramalt used to be his second hobby, closely followed by eating it at
incredible speeds).
 
Basically, he's not normal for him - but there doesn't seem to be enough to
go to the vet, yet. Could this just be from moving stress? Or somehow
related to the hairball 4 nights ago?
 
Andi
 
After reading about so many losses - I went and gave all of ours a little
extra love. Our thoughts & sympathy go out to everyone (people & ferrets)
who have lost a loved one recently.
[Posted in FML issue 1302]