We recently got a ferret in the shelter that my boyfriend and I decided we
liked so much we had to keep him.  He's a mellow fellow, a white footed
sable with a really snub nose, like a kit, although he's over two years old.
Anyway Paczek (say Pawn-check) had been an only ferret his entire life and
was, to put it mildly, unimpressed when he dicovered that there were more.
I've integrated ferrets before and always managed to be successful, but this
guy takes the cake.
 
He hates the other ferrets near him but doesn't nip...he mopes.  If they are
out running around, Paczek climbs my leg and whines to me for about 10
minutes about how miserable he is.  He walks around with his head down so he
doesn't have to see them and if another ferret comes upon him suddenly (even
in peace!) he shrieks and scoots away.  The weirdest thing about him is that
he doesn't know *how* to play...he never war dances, or dooks, or rolls
over.  He meanders over to a big dog cushion and there he stays until it's
time to go back to the cage. Although he can now sleep comfortably in the
same cage as several of his new brothers and sisters, he has an anxiety
attack if anyone is in the hammock because he's scared to climb in unless
it's empty.  So I have to leave whatever I am doing to remove someone else
from the hammock by promising a treat and letting Paczek have his way (now
that's a spolied ferret!!)  I guess he's such really people oriented, but
I'm hoping he'll come around in time.
 
About the whole CS debate...I am not an unbeliever in holistic medicine...I
did a three week dose of Echiancea once and never had a cold for the next
two years (which, for chronically sick me, is amazing).  But I have heard
some pretty negative stuff about CS and prolongued use in ferrets, so I
steer clear.  Plus, it's not available 'round these parts and most health
food stores have never heard of it (except the one who had recently attended
a symposium on it and said he would never ever import the stuff after what
he heard.  That just didn't seem positive to me, somehow)
 
I've got a question for the doctors or other smart people:  my oldest ferret
BooBoo has a weird thing on his cheek that keeps flaring up and dissapearing
again.  It's about the size of the base of a whisker, but it gets a little
bigger than that and develops a scab (because it's all bloody) then it goes
away and comes back in say a few weeks.  I did take him to the vet but it
was during one of the almost healed periods and they couldn't tell what it
was...bring him back when it's bigger, they said.  It doesn't hurt him, and
I regularly clean it out so it never gets infected, but I am cluesless as to
what it is.  Any suggestions??
 
Sheena
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Ferrets & Friends Club & Rescue E-Mail:  [log in to unmask]
"dedicated to the preservation of the domestic ferret as a
 household pet", a no-kill, not-for-profit ferret facility.
* * * * * * *
For more information about the FFCR try our homepage:
< http://www.geopages.com/Colosseum/1575 >
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[Posted in FML issue 1371]