Greetings all,
 
Comments on a few things...
 
High Pooping:
I got to talking with a new ferret owner in Petco last night and wound up
mentioning the high pooping behavior some ferrets exhibit.  She offered an
interesting explanation for the behavior.  Perhaps, like when bears claw
trees to show territoriality, and the higher the claw marks go the bigger
the bear is that left them - the high pooping is to show dominance, a way
of making it appear that the ferret who left their mark there is one BIG
ferret!  (No pun intended towards our moderator.  :) ) OK, those of you who
have high poopers-does this fit with your ferrets behavior?  Does it seem
to be the alphas (or alpha wanna be) who do this?
 
Nursing kits:
Bill K. wrote;
>This gets me back to Ilena's idea... She was asking me about (I'm sure
>I'll get it technically wrong) an IV catheter tube.
 
You got it right Bill.  There was one person on the Wildlife Rehab mailing
list that posted recently that she'd used an iv catheter on a baby possum,
so I'm not the only one to think of it.  (Possum lived, btw, but it was not
a newborn.)  There is a similar discussion going on there right now about
techniques for saving newborn (less than 14 days old) possums.  Most people
have not had ANY luck, but some interesting things are coming up and I will
share those that may be helpful for ferret kits as well.
 
1) Keep them warm.  That means a temperature controlled environment.  An
incubator would be ideal, but how many people could get one when it was
needed?  I don't know if there are cheap egg incubators, but if there are,
folks who do breeding might want to look at those for newborns.  Barring
that keep them in a warm (use a heating pad as discussed by others or lamp)
area and *measure* the temperature with a thermometer (a terrarium
thermometer would work well, and they're cheap) where the babies are.  Keep
it consistant.  Not too hot or they could cook.(No, I don't know what the
right temp is!  When I find out I'll post it.)
 
2) One person said someone he knew that had success had rubbed the baby
possums down with mineral oil (which won't go rancid the way vegetable
oil will) to help prevent the water loss thru the skin.  (To fight
dehydration.)  Not sure if this would be needed with kits; possum babys are
normally in mom's pouch at that age, so it's probably humid in there.
 
Polly's swollen vulva:
A few weeks ago I noticed one of my two had a swollen vulva.  She's about 2
1/2.  No hair loss, some lethargy.  No apparent discharge when I checked
initially.  I had made arrangements for both of mine to get their distemper
shots (they were due anyway).  Called the vet.  She agreed.  Sounded like
adrenal.  Said she'd skip the distemper shot for now because the steroids
the body produces tend to suppress the immune system, but bring her in
anyway for the checkup.  I start calling around for adrenal surgery rates.
I buy a bottle of Drenamin ($8.50), and start Polly on that, hoping that
will help until I can arrange for surgery.  (Around here it starts at $850,
for lower rates you drive...and drive.... In for the checkup we go.  Hmpf.
My vet said it's not *nearly* as swollen as she'd expect and takes a swab.
Solid white blood cells.  Polly has a vaginal infection.  (Yay!  Much
cheaper than adrenal!) Polly is put on a course of Sulfatrim (generic name
is Co-trimoxazole; other names are Bactrim, Septra, Cotrim, TMP-SMX).
 
One week later no change.  She's still swollen (but not worse) and still
has a slight icky discharge.  Call the vet.  Dr. Westrom muses aloud that
maybe Polly does have adrenal after all.  (ACK!!) But that didn't explain
the sample she took.  I pick up a sterile culture kit.  Polly is pulled
off the Sulfatrim for two days, I bring in a culture for an antibiotic
sensitivity test.  For now she is on Chloromycetin (Chloramphenicol is
the generic name; other brand names are Tevococin, Amphicol-V, Bernacol,
Mychel-Vet, and Anacetin).  She loves it.  I haven't told her it's
medicine....
 
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2591]