>From:    [log in to unmask]
>Subject: You guys make me cry
>Also, this year the birth certificate of the fert has changed.  I
>wouldn't get an individual certificate now. [...] This could be a
>response to the very well written letters to PETCO that some of us
>shared with one another.
 
Some of the Petcos around us now use a different source.  Something like
Repsotics instead of Marshall.  Not nearly as well behaved unfortunately.
More likely a change in source.  And not a change for the better.
 
It sounds like your ferret may very well have damage from the cedar but
the pet store manager wouldn't be able to say that it was definitely
because of the cedar.
 
>Euthanizing ferrets not here?  Come now.  You guys tell me other shelters
>not just for ferts do that the same day.  And Mary from FAIR sent letters
>to all of us to ask us if she thought we should start euthanizing cause she
>had the 70 some ferts that were old or on meeds or had adrenal problems and
>no one was taking any home.
 
As I said, its a choice.  MAry was trying to decide whether to choose to
euthanize or not.  Why she had so many I can't say.
 
>Shelters are closing as ferts are becoming more popular.
 
Non-sequitor.  Shelters open and close all the time.  There are certainly
more shelters now than there were several years ago.
 
>From:    The Knight of Cups <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Zen's Bafflement
>While I can't speak for lung damage, I /do/ know for a fact that wood
>bedding for ferrets is a Bad Thing (tm).
 
Yes.  But a ferret kit that had real lung damage in a week or so at a pet
store has particularly sensitive lungs.  It does appear to happen based on
the past FML.  Although aspen chips are not in the same class as pine and
cedar.  And pine is not proven to be quite as bad as cedar.  Both pine and
cedar should be avoided.
 
>From:    Sam <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Pet Stores vs Breeders
 
Straight on accurate!  Add shelters to the list of soem good and some bad.
Even bad shelter/breeder/ranches have some good.  And even most of the bad
s/b/r have some good.
 
>Anyone who believes ferrets are significantly smaller when neutered early
>sure hasn't seen the ferrets I've seen here!
 
There is more difference in muscle and bone development than overall size.
 
Since the dog and cat world are moving toward early neutering it really is
more a matter of how early I think.  A problem is ferrets start out slow
then go into hyper drive on the growth scales compared to dogs and cats.
 
Cats and dogs stay in the "most" marketable age for a longer period than
ferrets unfortunately.  To get the maximum time in that range in the store
ferrets are neutered very young.  On the development path it is earlier
than dogs and cats - the ferret 3 week is more like a puppies one week or
less.  But then ferrets catch up and then pass the larger carnivores.  No
simple way to fix that.  It is far better to have pet store ferrets
neutered.  Shelters would be far far more over-loaded if they weren't.
 
More anemic jills and stinky hobs turned in.
 
-bill
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2678]