To the person who asked about fur conditioners, we have had very good luck with
both Marshall Farms Coat Conditioner (available at pet stores and mail order)
and Humectant (in a blue spray bottle and behind the desk at the vets). They
are both spray on and you can use them daily if need be. The MF smells nicer
but seems to only work right on the fur, making it shiny and smooth. The
Humectant smells more mediciny but it seems to soak into the skin as well as
the fur and do more real good, although the fur gets a little sticky and
doesn't lay down as pretty. You don't have to rinse either one. Another
product we found to be very helpful in moisturizing skin and conditioning
fur is Omega 3 Fish Oil (which is given orally). I would appreciate any
comments on this - I've never heard of anyone else using this with ferrets.
We did get it from the vet and it is in a glass pump bottle. It is a thick
clear liquid that the ferrets hate at first but learn to LOVE and cats just
plain LOVE right away. It has worked wonders with any of our animals with
dry skin and/or course fur. I have read that these oils are very good for
humans too (I'm a veg though so haven't had them myself) but I thought they
might have the same "cancer fighting" possibilities in ferrets as in humans.
There is a picture of a dog on the label.
 
Regarding the pouting ferrets: all of our animals play attention getting
mind games on us. And as soon as we give enough attention to the one that is
pouting, somebody else has taken on the pouting role. We have a HUGE armoir
with little fancy cutouts down at the bottom (big enough for only a ferret to
fit through) and when they get very upset they will go underneath and only
put their little head through the hole and stare at us. Then, of course, you
have to coax them with a treat to get them to come out...
 
We are experiencing the tornado season here. Recently, lots of tornado
warnings, sirens going off and really crappy weather. We go through this every
year... We let all the kids have free run most of the time -so sometimes it is
difficult to find them. Whenever the tornado warnings start sounding I make
mental notes of where everybody is. I get a large carrier with food in it
and put it by the basement door. This weekend I went so far as to actually
collect everybody and put them in it and headed for the basement. We fared well
though - better than others - only a few downed trees. VERY SCARY.
 
We live in a FFZ and our neighbor saw me bring Edith out for a walk the other
day. I'm not SOOO worried, but am wondering if any FFZ people set up a safe
house - so that you can hide the beasties on short notice (perhaps also for
weather emergencies). Also, if an animal control person knocks on your door
what rights do you have? Must they have a search warrant to come in? Can they
only confiscate in the case of a bite? Do you have the option of leaving the
FFZ on the spot with the babies? The law here says "No wild animals in city
limits unless in transit" (and ferrets are listed as wild here) - could we say
they were in transit if they come to our house? i.e. just stopped for food or
something? Curious - especially about how to hide if confronted. Charlene -
sorry so llooonnnggg...
[Posted in FML issue 1200]