Hi all--
 
Someone mentioned in Fri FML cleaning ferrets' ears with baby oil.  I read
somewhere *not* to clean ears with baby oil, but I'm not sure where I read
it--Morton's book, perhaps .  .  .  I've never used baby oil for ear
cleaning--just thinking how awfully annoying it would feel in my *own* ears
gives me the shivers.  Oily residue in ears, it seems to me, would help
*collect* gunk in them, not keep it out.  And I think it would make my human
ears itch.
 
Does anyone know any specifics about baby oil in ears?  I usually don't use
anything but a dry q-tip to clean Pepper's ears and it seems to work fine.
He's very sensitive about his ears, and I think a wet q-tip (ie warm water,
alcohol, peroxide etc) would *really* make him furious!  He has more waxy
buildup than any other ferret I've had .  .  .  I treated him for mites with
no response, so I'm assuming he just has "waxier" ears than what I've been
used to.  There isn't much odor in his ears, either.
 
Chuck and Fox Morton's book was the one I got with my first ferret.  Oh man,
trying to follow their advice for nail clipping was something else!  "Hold
the ferret under the front legs, grasp the paw between fingers, clip away
..." LOL!  Boy, did that method ever NOT work!
 
One more thing: Pepper looked like he had pink eye around his right eye for
a couple of days, and I was watching it for swelling or discharge (none of
either) and now the flesh around that eye is back to it's normal light pink
color, not bright pink like it was .  .  .  a friend told me the same thing
happened to her cat after a rough play session with another cat.  So I
suppose Pepper bumped himself against something while playing with the dog
and irritated his eye, but I mention it here in case I should be more
concerned.
 
I stapled a shower curtain to the bottom of the couch to keep Pepper out of
it.  The shower curtain was shredded day 1.  LOL.  Industrious little guy,
my Pepper.
 
How do I subscribe to Modern Ferret?  Is it an electronic mag or a regular
one?
 
--Sherri
[Posted in FML issue 1756]