This is my first post, so I guess I will say a little bit about myself, or
my Minka since she is who the post is about.  I got Minka last fall from a
pet store in southern Indiana.  My older sister had one and I was living
with her at the time.  I had always wanted to get a ferret and there was
one at the store I almost couldn't resist.  Then we went back to get him
and we brought Slinky (my sister's ferret) so that he could "approve" the
new ferret.  When we got there there were 2 ferrets instead of the one I
had been looking at.  We introduced them to Slinky and Minka just took to
him like a duck to water.  She almost immediately started grooming him and
visiting with him.  Of course we took her.  She is a silver mitt with the
most beautiful white paws, although goodness knows she is anything but
delicate.  One of her favorite pasttimes is to climb up the side of her
cage and then dropping to the bottom when she wants out.  Anyway to get to
the point of the message, I moved from Indiana to Arizona in April and as a
result we had to separate Minka and Slinky.  She doesn't "seem" to be
suffering too many ill effects, although I have noticed she almost never
chitters.  But I have considered obtaining an addition so that she isn't
too lonely.  Which brings me to the second part about moving.  My dad and I
drove across country to get here (3 days worth) and I found it not to be
too terrible for her.  She travelled in a cat carrier with a large piece of
polar fleece (she loves to curl up in it) a food dish inside, and a water
bottle attached to it.  My dad is older and so we stopped about every 2
hours so he could stretch his legs or use the bathroom.  Minka and I
developed a sort of routine that every time we stopped, I would put her in
her harness and we would walk around outside.  This would give her a chance
to go to the bathroom and explore a little bit.  Ever since her tragic
evening outside (about 3 days after I got her, she escaped outside.  I
spent hours searching for her but couldn't find her.  Whenever we would go
walking, I would walk her from our front door and around the area and then
back.  I woke up the next morning at about 5 am and she was sitting on the
front porch as if to say where the hell were you.  Since then she has a
MUCH beter harness specifically for ferrets (the other was as well but it
wasn't as good as this one) that looks just like a puppy harness.  She
hasn't gotten out of it yet.) she has hated the great out doors.  So she
would sniff around for a minute, go to the bathroom and then jump back into
her carrier.  I didn't let her out of the carrier into the car becuase it
was packed with boxes and stuff I didn't want her to get into.  Besides
that I didn't want her to get in the way of driving.  The whole trip she
only had 2 accidents in the carrier.  (I tried putting a milk jug with
litter in the carrier, but that was a bad move...she scattered litter every
where and delighted in digging in it which resulted in it all over the
car.) If you are going to be staying in hotels make sure they allow pets,
it was difficult to smuggle her up into the one we stayed in one night that
didn't allow pets.  That's all the tips I have.  Hope any of it was
helpful...
 
joanne & minka
sierra vista az
[Posted in FML issue 2313]