>From:    Serra Cane <[log in to unmask]>
>So, my question is, How long should the kids be away from the apartment
>after they spray, and is the risk greater because they spray more even if I
>keep them away?
 
First of all, I want to apologize to everyone for not posting this
earlier....I did not want to invoke bad luck by saying the crisis was over
(I'm not normally superstitious, but this really scared me)
 
About 1 month ago, I asked a similiar question....My apartment was being
sprayed and what was a safe period of time to wait?  Thankfully, I received
a lot of very helpful replies that included both suggestions on how long to
wait...but more importantly what to watch for as symptoms in my girls.  I
did not want to take chances, so I invaded my Uncle's house and stayed with
him for 4 days.  At this time I returned to my apartment, and washed all the
walls/cupboards, and mopped the floors.  Only then did I return the ferrets
to my apartment.
 
The problem did not happen immediately, I was on my guard (driving my girls
insane by pulling them out of there warm hidey holes to check them, if they
had not surfaced in the last couple hours).  The emergency happened 1 week
later.  On the Sunday, I was called into work (server crashed) 8 hours later
I returned home.  The first indication I had that something was wrong was
when I ordered pizza and Lightning did not come to beg for the pepperoni
(but Thunder and Hershey were stealing the crusts).  I started my first
search to find Lightning, and had no luck at all.  Slightly panicked, I
assumed that she got out and did a hall/neighbour hunt ..no luck.  Now
completly panicked, I returned to the apartment and started ripping apart
closets and cupboards looking for the new hidey hole that Lightning had
found.  3 hours later I hit hysterics, I started throwing things just to
make noise...I think it was after I had smashed my third glass in the sink
that Lightning surfaced (I still don't know where she was).  I heard her
before I saw her, as she was scratching the floor with the effort to move.
She had no mobility in the hind legs, she kept falling over but worst of all
were her eyes... I rushed her to the vets, they hydrated her and contacted a
poison centre at the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital for specifics.  Thankfully,
2 days later I was able to bring Lightning home she was on the road to
recovery and had no permanent damage.
 
What happened?  I had avoided the obvious poison problems, but I missed
something.  Lightning loves bugs!  She is a great hunter of the bug breed
(Note: she was the one that was protecting the mouse).  Many a night I will
hear her happily crunching on her latest victim (gross).  I had removed the
poison from the apartment, however the bugs were poisoned when they crawled
into the apartment.  For a week, Lightning had been catching her poisoned
victims and chomping away...eventually the amount of poison in her system
hit a critical level.
 
Moral of the story....you can never be too careful, spraying for bugs is
dangerous.  I wished I had used the advise of one Ferret Owner and plain out
lied (said I was alergic to the spray [note: this was not a lie to the owner
in question, but it would have been for me]).  However, looking at the other
side of the coin: had I refused spraying of my apartment the bugs may have
come into my apartment from an apartment that was sprayed, Lightning would
have eaten it and I would not have suspected poison.
 
Hope this helps a loving ferret owner, to avoid the disaster I almost faced.
 
Paige
Lightning (hmmm, odd spice to this bug)
Thunder and Hershey (will you let us sleep, we're fine!)
[Posted in FML issue 1849]