>As far as concrete goes, my futon is already rock hard-- that's why I want
>a different type of sofa.
 
Oh, then here is the easy solution we went with: had a foam place cut us
slabs and then covered them.  Bingo -- comfy cushions that are easily
lifted from the futon to check for damage and to prevent any ferret
danger.  Look in the Yellow Pages.  Can't recall how they list usually
themselves but know that one showed up in "mattresses" once.
 
>Ah, yes taking the legs off the couch works great!
 
I heard of someone who removed the legs, put plywood over the bottom so
ferrets couldn't dig upward, and then built a strong storage base for
underneath for CDs/DVDs and video and audio tapes with thin drawers and
attractively stained wood, and child locks to keep the ferrets out, also
one who used the plywood trick and then made a tunnel base that was strong
enough so the ferrets dart in and out of the base without having anything
handy there that they can damage (which is a longtime desire of our's that
the person used with our blessing).
 
You know, that would be a GREAT project for a furniture design class
and then make a fantastic article:  a contest to design a ferret
friendly couch (with the students given descriptions of what types of
damage may occur and the abilities of ferrets).
 
>Coonsie is now a little over 4 months old and we are wondering when we
>are supposed to take him to the vet for the first time?
 
He should have already been for the rest of his kit shots (multiple
appointments -- read up on these using the search engines and resources
available), a fecal test, a check-up , etc.  Have heard of so many kits
recently who have gotten canine distemper because the people didn't know
about the shot series.  It's a terrible disease and so preventable.  If
you don't know how to find vets I had a post in the Ferret Health List on
that topic yesterday so go there and look.  You'll want to buy yourself
a copy of the best single book out there: Kim Schilling's _Ferrets for
Dummies_; even those of us who have had ferrets for decades use it.
 
>Yesterday Sukie Crandall posted a concise list of "Symptoms of Adrenal
>Growths".  Toward the end of the list was the one I had been dreading to
>see.  It confirmed for me something frightening that I had suspected for
>a long time...Now I know the awful truth!  I have insulinoma!
 
>    "-Fat accumulation that results in an increasingly pear shape"
 
LOL!  Oh, I NEEDED that laugh (Steve's dad is very ill again and again
in the hospital.).  Take comfort in not being an apple which is what I
unfortunately am with age, and many,many thank yous, Alexandra, for
making me laugh out loud.  (Oh, I do plan on tackling that "apple"; my
lungs are improving since I began allergy shots a half year ago and I am
progressively able to exercise more again with that improvement combined
with my meds.)
 
-- Sukie
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-List
http://geocities.com/sukieslist
[Posted in FML issue 3761]