Hi fellow fuzzy lovers:
 
I have a lovely little ferret girl named Begbie.  She is as sweet as pie.
I love her and want to take the very best care of her.  I am looking for
a good vet in Utah.  I live in Layton, but could easily travel to Ogden,
Bountiful or Salt Lake.  Does anyone have some suggestions?
 
I have had her for a long time.  She used to belong to an ex-boyfriend,
but he didn't take care of her.  I think he was scared of her.  He was
going to take her to the animal shelter, so I took her off his hands and
broke up with him the same day.  That was in 1998.  I know that she is
at least 8 years old, but maybe even older.  I have always had a lot of
questions, so I thought I would just post a bunch of them and see if I
can get any answers to all these mysteries, but the most important
question is about a good doctor.  We moved to Utah recently and she saw
one vet, but he said that he doesn't usually treat ferrets.  He is a
good dog doctor though.
 
So, here is my list of questions.
 
*Are raisins still acceptable treats?  How many can a tiny girl have?
 
*How bad is it for her to steal the dog's food?
 
*Do you have any fun games and ideas for a blind ferret?  (I loved the
post about the smelly medicine bottles, I am going to try that one.  It
sounds like a lot of good, clean fun)
 
*Why does she get so angry at the squeaker toy and try to bite you if you
squeak it?
 
*Do some ferrets simply die of happy old age, or do nearly all of them
get adrenal or insulinoma (or worse!)at some point?
 
*Why does she hate all of the water dishes I have tried?  She digs at
them and spills the water, even the bottle hanging upside down, she tries
to dig the water out of it, then when it spills she will drink it off the
floor.  She also gags a lot when she is drinking.  Lately she only likes
water from my hand, (I used to do the finger-under-the-surface-of-the-
water trick, but she won't go for it anymore.)  Or I can pour a little
water over her kibble in a shallow dish and she will drink it.
 
*Why won't she eat anything anymore, unless it is hand-fed, except the
stolen dog food?
 
*Do ferrets dream and talk in there sleep?
 
*Does she absolutely HAVE to have distemper and rabies shots again?  She
is so old that I am worried.  The vets office said that ferrets often
have a reaction to the vaccine, so they give them an injection of
Benedryl first, just in case there is a reaction.  It sort of freaks me
out, she is so tiny and a little on the thin side as it is.  She seems so
delicate sometimes, like anything could set her off.  She had a bought of
diarrhea a couple of months ago that just about did her in.  I realized
very quickly that the runs, although unpleasant for humans, can be life
threatening for ferrets.  I don't want anything to set her system off.
 
Some of her symptoms seem like insulinoma to me.  (or old age.) I talked
to the same vet's office and they said that at her age, they probably
wouldn't treat the insulinoma.  Does that sound strange?  Is there
someone that WILL treat her?  She is older and has some issues.  She is
completely blind and she's not as fast as she used to be, but she still
loves to get out and run around.  I can just catch her more easily than
I used to.  Her active periods are much shorter, she only plays for 15 or
20 minutes and then she finds a nice spot to curl up.  But I would still
like to give her every chance I can.
 
Thank you for your advice.
 
*~** karyl**~*
 
<http://www.myspace.com/mikeandkaryl>
[Posted in FML issue 5042]