Dear FMLer's
 
I'm hoping at least one of you has a creative idea for entertaining my 4
year old ferret during his recovery from an injury.  He tore the cruciate
ligament in his knee last year about this time.  The vet said to keep him
confined for two weeks and the area would naturally stabilize his knee.
As predicted, he recovered and was doing fine.
 
Then he became very ill for several months and subsequently had successful
surgery.  Yesterday was the first time that he has felt great in months.
He was playing with a friend just like he was a normal ferret again (sure
made me happy!) when he tore the ligament.  It appears to be worse this
time.  So now mentally he really wants to play but he is physically limited
in what he can do.
 
I've wrestled with him in a confined soft area and brought his friends into
the area to wrestle with his front end (very well supervised).  I've
dangled a cat toy over him (not interested), taken him on carries outside
(he's quite a chicken), tried developing a sling to support his weight
while on a leash (no way!), and held him for long periods walking around
the house while picking up his friends to be carried with him.  All he
wants to do is get down on the floor and run - which is a huge no-no.
 
I've had ferrets for over 10 years but this is perplexing on how to keep
him mentally (and a little physically) challenged.  He cannot be encouraged
to put too much weight on the knee.  At least with a broken leg, it can be
pinned but the vet says that is not the case for this type of injury.  He
also said surgery to fix the ligament is not feasible.  And the leg needs
to have a limited amount of weight on it so it will form the healing
structure.
 
Any ideas on either entertainment or alternative medical treatments would
be appreciated.
[Posted in FML issue 2810]