Hi, I've been lurking but will finally write.  I have two male fuzzies, one
sable, (Bandit <real original, right?>) one silver, (Casper) about 1.5 years
old, I think.  I'm the third owner, so I'm not really sure.  Anyway, took
them to the vet for the first time yesterday for checkup/distemper shots,
and except for a ear mites they got a clean bill of health.  Now, I'm
confused about the medicine for ear mites.  I'm using Tresaderm once a day
on each of them.  How long should I use this medicine?  I thought the vet
told me two days now, and then two days before I plan to clean their ears
again.  This doesn't seem right to me, and I thought maybe I misunderstood
the vet.  Any suggestions?
 
Also found out that Casper is a very large ferret.  The vet was comparing
his head to my Bandit's, and there is a big difference. And on top of that,
Casper's also overweight (not fat!).  He hates the fact that he can't get
underneath things like Bandit can!  I have them in cages all day while at
work, then they get out for half the evening time.  I set up a "ferret
playground" which includes: various bags, boxes with holes to crawl through,
boxes to climb into, numerous balls, travel box, and other odds and ends.
Keeps them busy for 5 minutes here and there.
 
Trying to keep this as short as possible, last is potty practices.  Casper
has no problem using the litterbox while inside the cage, but when out, uses
different corners as he sees fit, even if they are within a foot of the
cage.  Bandit however knows exactly what the litter box is for but blatantly
refuses to use it!  He sniffs it, then backs into a different corner.  If I
yell no, he'll use another available corner, but never the litter box unless
I put him there and hold him there!  But outside of the cage, he has an area
he uses 80% of the time, and because it's at the end of a hallway, I just
cover the whole area with newspaper and it makes for easy cleanup.  Once in
a while Casper will use that area too, making it really easy for me, but I
still have to clean up various spots in the cage from Bandit. He's even done
his business in the food bowl!  I've tried positive reinforcement (treats or
ferretone) and negative reinforcement (NO or tapping the nose) and nothing
seems to work.  Any suggestions?
 
Thanks in advance...
 
Linda, Scott (humanfolk)  Casper, Bandit (humanfolk owners)
[Posted in FML issue 1376]