1) My recently adopted Lizzie (female s/d, abt. 4yrs) urinates on her paper
and then turns around and drinks it.  Besides being a disgusting habit, is
there something wrong? Something in lacking in her diet?  She eats science
diet maintenance and light, 3 drops linatone and 3 raisins per day. She does
not appear to drink a lot, but goes to the bathroom in small quantities about
every 30 minutes.  Kidney problems? In all other respects she is healthy
(except for earmites -- see #2)
 
2) Cleaning ears: few ferrets I have owned enjoy getting their ears clean.
First, I would not recommend alcohol (neither does my vet) because it is cold
and dries out the skin too much, causing itchiness and further ear wax
production.  I use mineral oil on a cotton swab.  For ferrets with earmites,
I use Novalmite, which is in a mineral-oil base.  Remember that earmites are
a ferret social disease and highly contagious, so all ferrets should be
treated. To ease the pain of cleaning ears, I let my ferrets lick linatone
off their nose or from a dropper.  A few of my ferrets get their ears cleaned
during bath time (assuming your ferrets go limp in the warm water as some of
mine do) with just a cotton swab and warm water.  Always reward the ferret
when done with a raisin, linatone, or other favorite treat.
 
3) After Sasha got incredibly overweight this winter, I switched to a mixture
of Science Diet Maintenance and Light.  Sasha is SOMEWHAT more trim, and has
a glorious, shiny, silky coat. Lizzie is plump, and has a shiny, coarser
coat.  Misty, however, has looked awful all winter and continues now.  Very
sparse and dry coat, very skinny.  Does this food not have a high enough fat
content for her?  They will not eat TF; I have not tried the new 8in1 (they
hated the old formulation).  I am afraid that if I switch foods to a higher
fat food, Sasha and Lizzie will turn into blimp ferrets. Any suggestions?
 
- Erika Matulich (and Misty, Sasha, and Lizzie)
[Posted in FML issue 1168]