Hi Jaime,
 
You posted about your ferret Harry, and his tendency to miss the litterbox.
Okay, lets all admit it ALL FERRETS DO THIS. But then again, so do cats,
dogs, and children. There are a number of ways to encourage good potty
behavior with ferrets though. Here's what's worked for my brood.
 
1. Confinement. When I wake my ferrets up, I dump them in the nearest
litter box, and don't let them leave until they've gone - or at least
pretend to have gone. I also move sleeping ferrets into their cage when I
find them. When they wake up, the box is right there, and it encourages
them to use it. I actually keep my little ones locked up for parts of the
day - they would spend most of that time sleeping anyway, and it's safer
for them, and the carpet.
 
2. Litter box condition. Some ferrets are fastidious, they wont use a box
that is soiled - particularly if it has been used by another ferret. You
might try using that scoopable litter (any comments out there, I've never
tried it), and keeping the boxes spotless. Since ferrets go 3-6 times a
day, this could be time-consuming, but it might be useful.
 
3. When my ferrets were younger, I would follow them around when they got
that "gotta go" look, and yell at them when they tried to use an
inappropiate corner. I would also carry around their favorite toys and dump
them in the corner that they were trying to use. That didn't always work,
though. The fuzzballs are well aware that mom goes nuts when they go in the
wrong place, as evidenced by how fast they run when observed, but they
still occasionally sneak in under my "radar".
 
Hope this helps.
 
Gwen
[Posted in FML issue 1488]