I see there are some other hammock sewers out there.  I have been making
a hammock I like for sick/bald/old ferrets.  I take fake fur and polar
fleece.  Sew right sides together and turn inside out (big long rectangle).
Then with it laying flat I fold it like a letter going into an envelope.
My problem has been that this results in 3 layers each of polar fleece and
fake fur in the middle where I have about 4-5 inches of overlap.  This
creates more a hanging fuzzy sack they can actually get into where was the
type where the fabric just meets in the middle has a tendency to open up
under the weight of the ferret.  No home machine can apparently sew
anything this thick.  I need a top walker foot and something with lots of
clearance.  (Even a Thompson mini-walker only has a bit more than 1/4") I
tried finding some used industrial machines on the web but these machines
are so specialized its hard to know what to buy as well as the are
incredibly expensive.  Any ideas on a different way of making these?
Lessening the thickness I have to sew?  (I'm doing the sides by hand now).
You can e-mail privately.
 
>Let yourself listen to the vets you've talked to.  Adrenal disease itself
>is NOT fatal.  Its the other things that it can cause.  And from all we
>can tell its also not painful.
 
Bill et al.  A friend of mine just had to help one of her adrenal ferrets
over the bridge.  One thing that happens, especially in males, is that the
tumors press on the either the prostrate or the actual urinary tracts or
both.  As the urinary tract gets closed off the ferret has a tendency to
pee more often in small quantities.  Eventually the tract will be cut off
entirely.  As the bladder fills up the pain is INCREDIBLY BAD.  Since this
can happen pretty fast and there's no way of knowing exactly when the tract
will be cut off entirely - it pays to extremely vigiliant and realize that
you need to be prepared to help them pass before it gets close to
happening.  Her vet said that he'd actually had animals come in with burst
bladders (not necessarily ferrets) and the suffering the animals went
through prior, during and after is very very intense.
 
So while adrenal isn't itself painful - it can cause conditions of which
this is one that are.  My friends ferret had this total shut off happen
over night, his bladder was ready to burst and he was in very intense pain
by the time she got him to the vet in the morning.
 
Mary, Boris, Giesela and Booker
[Posted in FML issue 2838]