I'd love to hear more about how to do an official animal massage.  All my
ferrets love my version of a massage at times, and three of them (all boys)
will lie on their backs with their paws curled on their chests and look at
me seductively until I satisfy their hedonistic little desires.
 
I started by rubbing their backs when they were sleeping so that I could
enjoy petting them for a minute before they woke up and began to tear
around.  At first they were a little surprised and would get up as soon
as they were awake, but all of them got into it quickly and all of them
love to have their backs rubbed when they are waking up.  Now about half of
them will let me rub their backs at any time they aren't actively involved
in something else.
 
The absolute favorite technique is for them to lie on their backs while
I put the fingers of both hands under them to both sides of the spine in
the soft area between the ribcage and the hips.  The like both rubbing and
scratching.  I also massage their backs with my fingertips all the way up
to their necks and back to their hips.  All of them also enjoy hard
scratching on their necks and heads, and firm scratching around their
shoulder blades.
 
Find out what your ferrets like... especially if you crave more tender
moments with the little squirmers.
 
Blessings
Judith
[Posted in FML issue 3237]