My name is sarah and I am the owner of two beautifull ferrets.  Toby is a
four year old male silver mitt.  At least he was once considered a silver
mitt , over the years he has become almost completely white or cream color.
Toby is a larger than usual ferret,so I'm told, he weighs close to five
pounds and eats anything he can get to.He is a very friendly ferret he
loves to be around people and gets along great with my dog and cats.  I
often get very worried about Toby especially in the winter becaus he gets
so fat.  Just a few months ago his normal bouncy playful spirit seemed to
be cramped when he was almost to fat to walk.  His stomach would drag on
the floor, and I had to make him a bed at the bottom of the cage because he
didnt want to climb.  Kylie is my little girl.  she is just over three
years old and she is much smaller than toby.  The last time she was weighed
she was one and a half pounds.  she is about a quarter the length that toby
is and looks like a kitt still.  Kylie is a sable with the normal brown
mask.  The only problem I've had with her is during the winter all the hair
fell out of her tail.  i gave her lots of ferretone and her hair grew back.
Kylie is not as friendly to people as toby is.  She desnt get mean or
anything she just doesnt have any use for people I guess.  I've tried
getting her more cmfortable with people but it hasnt worked yet.  She seems
happy and content to play with toby.The only playing she does with me is
occasionally she'll run up bite my feet then run away again.  I really dont
think she'll ever change.I have the biggest problem feeding them because
kylie is very finicky and takes her time eating, where as toby will eat
everything in front of him no matter how much I leave out.  I've been
called mean for not constantly leaving food out for them until people see
how fast the food dissapears when toby gets to it.  Kylie I watch carefully
so when she starts sniffing around the dish I take her in the bathroom ,
let her eat and when shes done she'll cry to be let out.  Toby gets fed
breakfast lunch and dinner and lots of ferret treats.  Kylie wont eat
ferret treats or food for that matter it has to be kitten food.  Iams to be
exact and thats it.Recently I brought home a kitten that has tested
positive for feline leukemia.  My vet is ademate that the ferres cant get
it.  However this is where I get confused.  I have seen multiple listings
and stories about ferrets that have been diagnosed with this disease.  It
scares me to death to think my baby's could be in harms way.if anyone knows
anything about this I'd gladly take any advise.  I love my ferrets but I
also love my kitte and I wouldt want to get rid of either one I couldnt do
it.  Im sure I have many more ferret stories to tell but I dont want to go
over the space limit so I'll write more later if anyone is interested.  I
look forward to being a part of this list and expect that it will be
enjoyable.  O.k so I sound pretty stupid talking like that but I just dont
know ow to make introductions I guess.  Hope to talk to everyone soon.
 
      See Ya   Sarh, Toby, And  Kylie
[Posted in FML issue 2363]