ONE, the yawing while being scritched on the scruff or by being scruffed
is apparently a fairly normal thing--that's how my vet checks my ferrets'
teeth, and last night I finally figured out how to do it to Merlin, to the
immense enjoyment of my family, because you can actually see in his eyes
when the yawn is coming, and I said, "Ready to yawn?" and he did.  It was
pretty cute.  I have no idea why they do it though.
 
TWO, regarding the following:
>Subject: zen wonders about Debbie's plethora of technical questions:
>You writing a book or something?  If so be honest about why you are
>asking questions.
 
I am not the Debbie referred to here, thank god!  but I am just curious
(and a little angry at the pompousness of this post by bill and diane!),
since when did we have to justify to the Killians our motives for asking
questions?  I would love to know why bill and diane are so consistently
down on pcnut aka Debbie?  It really lends a negative tone to reading their
other posts.
 
THIRD: To whoever recommended that ferrets and toddlers don't mix, have you
ever had ferrets and toddlers together?  A responsible parent and pet owner
should have no problem with this scenario--I know quite a few ferret and
toddler combos (myself included), and we have never had a problem.  Oh
sure, a few nibbles here and there on fingers, a few toys stolen and tears
shed (mumma, Merlin stole the baby from my dollhouse!!!), but with good
supervision and paying attention, I don't think toddlers and ferrets are a
problem.  NOTE: my daughter is NEVER left alone with the ferrets!  I think
that is the most important thing.
 
FINALLY: MJ asked about euthanasia, and I have to agree.  We as humans have
the unfortunate/fortunate option with our pets that we don't even have with
ourselves: we can put them out of misery and pain through euthanasia.  But
who is to judge quality of life?  Our cat lived for years with a tumor that
had to be drained of fluid every week.  When the draining become bi-weekly
and he yowled when they did it, we put him out of his misery.  My aunt's
cat was all bones, had kidney problems, arthritis, could only eat mush that
was hand fed, and could barely pee.  My aunt waited a few months before she
had the cat put to sleep because her husband, my uncle, had just died, and
she couldn't stand to lose the cat too.  The point is, I think determining
a pet's quality of life is going to be a totally personal decision, totally
subjective, because we can't ask them how they are feeling or when they're
ready to go......so let's not flame or debate this one out, please!  Dooks,
and if anyone needs that dooking wave file (if you're asking, what the heck
is dooking???  you need it!) let me know, and I'll send it to you! :-)
 
debbi and the cat-chasing, toy-stashing, water-splashing, food-throwing,
ear-scratching, carpet-digging ferret duo
[Posted in FML issue 2972]