I haven't been posting much lately, so I thought I'd drop a note in and say
hi to everyone.
 
I've been fine, stressed, a little sick as a result, but nothing to be
alarmed about.  It's just been a busy two months for me since the new year.
 
Potpie's doing well, although she seems to have been having a reaction to
Cheweasels recently.  Has anyone noticed the following reaction in their
ferrets, ever?  They eat something (relatively harmless, usually a food
item), and shortly thereafter begin vomiting violently, followed by mucusy
(and sometimes slightly bloody, bright red, not dark) stools.  This usually
goes on for about half an hour or so.  Sounds to me like a food allergy OR
possibly a mild case of poisoning.  She is obviously in quite a bit of
discomfort, but generally a quick dose of 1cc of heavy syrup from a can of
cling peaches stops the vomiting immediately and calms her down.  No, I
don't let this happen regularly!  The other culprit is a citrus-based
cleaner I use when mopping.  It gets diluted quite a bit, but there *may* be
floor residue left.  I don't think this is it, but I will start using
something else nonetheless.
 
Noodle and Easel are shedding and dropping weight in that explosive ferret
way. This morning I found 1 cubic foot of ferret hair left behind in their
hammock when they left the cage to play. They both look like moth-eaten
wool socks, but are doing well.
 
Friday, diagnosed a year ago with lympho, is still fat, sassy, in full coat,
and quite a little darling.  I'm waiting for her to start dropping her coat
next; Potpie usually goes in late spring, but the other three blow in close
sequence.
 
In response to the unofficial Bob C adrenal study - good work.  My anecdotal
evidence roughly supports the 'stress' theory, but i have a small sample set
to work from.  The only ferret who's had adrenal disease out of all of mine
is the one that was driven from CO to MI at the age of 1 yr, given to a 10
yr old girl as a birthday present, driven to the northern tip of MI and
back, owned by her for a total of two weeks, then given to me.  I tried to
introduce her to Potpie, which didn't work, and then noticed she had adrenal
symptoms.  None of the others of mine have been through anything even
resembling similar amounts of stress.
 
Does anyone know whether or not wood stove pellets are all treated with
anything to make them burn quicker?  Noodle and Easel are having allergic
reactions to something in my house, and it's either the floor cleaner or the
wood stove pellets.  I'm going to Pine Fresh soon, I think, but just
wondering.
 
Melissa
 
 __ Melissa Litwicki ____ [log in to unmask] __
 By the whole newsgroup devoted tennis showing
     it after scarfing fork and laughters
[Posted in FML issue 2239]