Hi,
 
I havn't posted very often, but I have responded personally to a few
FMLer's.  I just thought I'd mention an unfortunate occurrance that happened
to one of our fuzzies in hopes that it may help someone else prevent the
same mistake from happening.
 
We recently adopted a 2.5 yr. old male ferret (Silk), who gets along great
with one of our females (Sprite), but not so great with our other female
(Jasla) and male (Tasslehoff).  We've been having the most problems with Tas
as far as fighting, etc.  I did some research and was following suggestions
for easing Silk in with the established ones, and I thought they were
getting along a little better.  I decided to let them all run around the
house together instead of monitoring them in their fert room.  BIG MISTAKE!
Silk and Tas got under the sofa while a scuffle ensued.  We broke it up
within a few seconds, but Silk had already broken his front leg!  We don't
know if Tas got him at a bad angle or he banged it on the sofa.  In any case
we took him to the vet ASAP, and they put a little cast on his leg.  He
looks adorable in a sad/cute way!  We give him little 1/2 hour spurts of
monitored romping time w/o the other ferts to make sure he gets a little
exercise, but doesn't overdo it.  The vet said to keep him isolated for 8
weeks, but I worry that with no romp time, he would go nuts - after all he
is still a ferret!  During the day, we keep him in a pet carrier in the
ferret room, where the other ferts can still sniff him, and become more
accustomed to him.  Lucky for us, he will be just fine.
 
I've owned ferts for over 5 years now, and I've successfully integrated new
and established ones before, but this was a wake-up call, and has taught me
to be much more careful in future situations.  I also want to mention that
after Silk broke his leg, he seemed to be in no pain at all.  Other than
refusing to use his bad leg, he seemed fine.  He even tried to play in the
dryer tube while we were gearing up to go to the vet!  Just to let everyone
know that your fuzzie may be in more trouble than they indicate, and always
take care of them right away!
 
O.K. so now a few questions:
 
Anyone have suggestions on how to give Silk some light exercise that won't
overstress his leg?
 
Any integration techniques would be appreciated.  I'm already doing the
seperate cages, bedding switch, ferretone/bitter apple on the head, baths
together.
 
Also, I plan on switching to Totally Ferret, but I now have 3 ferts that are
2 ish, and 1 that is 5ish.  I want to put the 5 year old on Senior TF, but
all 4 ferts will be eating from the same dish (after Silk is integrated), so
do I mix the Regular and the Senior?  Any suggestions?  (I've noticed Alicia
Drakiotes may be able to help with this) :-)
 
Also, I thought I may as well have a cast signing contest.  Remember,
there's not much room on the cast, so an appropriate short and sweet phrase
would be great.  I'll announce the winner, I promise!
 
Please e-mail me at [log in to unmask]  And no jokes about the address, (it
is a crock though - isn't it?) :-)
 
To SB in CA, if you need any info./advice, feel free to e-mail me, as I'm
also in CACA land!  I can also help you with some of the Ferret Groups you
may want to join to help in the Legalization effort!
 
Thanks guys!
ARC
 
Sprite: So where did the new hunky ferret guy go?  We have a date!
Tasslehoff: Yeah, where did the new hunky ferret guy go?  I want to dook it
            out with him!  (I couldn't resist - ARC)
Jasla: I'm the Queen ferret, and don't you forget it!
Silk:  I broke my leg on purpose just to get attention.  It seems to be
       working too (hehe!)
[Posted in FML issue 2080]