Hi, all.
 
This weekend I noticed that my boy Fezzik has lost some weight.  He's not
scrawny; he's just not as filled out as he was.  I'm going to take him to
the vet on Tuesday to get him checked out, but I was wondering if anyone
has any ideas as to anything that would make an otherwise healthy fert lose
weight.  Mine usually do drop a bit of bulk during the spring/summer
months, but since it's still winter I'm stumped.  He is just as energetic
as ever, poops are okay, he scarfs up his daily dollop of Ferretvite with a
Ferretone chaser, so why has he lost weight?  I have recently put all six
in the same cage...I did have them separated into groups of two in two
separate cages, but a couple of weeks ago the spring closure on one cage
broke and so I put them all in the same cage till we could get a new
closure for the second cage.  (They do all get along.  The main reason I
had them separated into two cages is that I feel it's easier to keep the
cages cleaner when there are fewer ferrets in each cage.  More work for me,
but cleaner cages for them.  :)) Could it be that the crowd keeps him from
getting to the food dish as much?  When we're at home during the evenings,
we let them out and keep a food bowl out for them to eat from if they want,
and he takes an occasional nibble from that, but maybe he's just not eating
during the day when they're caged?
 
As for embarrassing moments courtesy of our fuzzies, I've posted this
particular story before, but for those who didn't see it or don't recall
it, here it is:
 
A couple of months after I got my first ferret, Zorro, I came home one
afternoon and went to take him out of his cage.  The cage he was in at the
time had a latch that you had to push up, then lift the cage top to open
it.  Well, the little booger had watched me open the cage and figured out
how to do it himself, so what I found instead of my ferret curled up in his
blankie waiting for his human to come get him was an empty cage!  And since
there was a hole in the floor behind the hot water heater in the kitchen,
needless to say, I panicked.  I searched every room in the house, looking
in the places I thought he might be hiding, and no Zorro.  I just -knew- he
had gone into the kitchen, found that hole, and escaped.  I went outside
and looked under the house and in the hedges beside the house, and still no
Zorro.  I was upset, but I had managed not to totally freak out.  I decided
to go get my boyfriend to help me search.  I got in my truck and drove off,
and about three blocks down the road, I saw a dead animal in the middle
of the road, an animal that had legs and tail darker than its body.  Of
course, I feared the worst, so I stopped and went back to look at the
animal closer.  Luckily for me, it wasn't a ferret, but a cat.  At this
point, though, I just started bawling, partly from relief that it wasn't
Zorro, partly from being upset that a poor cat had been killed, and partly
because I was afraid that if I didn't find Zorro he might die.  I got back
in my truck and drove to my boyfriend's house, crying all the way, and when
I got there, he wasn't there.  I checked the time and realized that he was
probably at the karate studio where he took lessons and taught younger
students.  And just my luck, the karate studio was way on the other side of
town.  I was still crying, and cried all the way over there, so I know I
must have looked a fright when I got there...actually, it's a miracle I
made it there at all.  :) When I got there, I went inside and found my
boyfriend.  Luckily, his lesson was over, so he was just hanging out
talking to the owner of the studio and some of the other students.  Anyway,
as soon as I saw him, I started sobbing and telling him to come help me
find Zorro.  I wasn't in any shape to notice the looks everyone there
gave me, but believe me, I was told about it later! :)
 
Anyhow, to make a long story short, my boyfriend drove me back to my house,
helped me comb the hedges, crawled under the house to look for Zorro, then
when we had no luck we went back inside.  I was a complete basket case...I
just collapsed on the floor of my room, in tears.  My boyfriend asked me if
I'd looked on the bed.  My bed was pretty high, and Zorro was pretty small
at the time, so I replied that he couldn't be on the bed because he
couldn't get up that high.  Well, my boyfriend then proceeded to examine
the lump that was under the blankets, and sure enough, pulled out Zorro.  I
was sooooo happy to see him!  Of course, I've been teased about it ever
since.  Needless to say, I went out and bought a small padlock for the cage
door. :)
 
Dooks,
Lisa
Mom of Zorro, Claudia, Loki, Fezzik, Crysin, and Kyra Monchichi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Not knowing everything is all that makes it ok, sometimes."
            --Delirium of the Endless
              from Neil Gaiman's _Brief Lives_
[Posted in FML issue 2945]