To the ANON poster who hasn't seen his ferret in two months:
    I had to "abandon" Sam for almost four months this summer.  I was living
with my sister while I was interning and she wouldn't even think about
letting Sam stay.  (I believe RAT was the word she used.) Even though I knew
he was being well taken care of while staying with a friend, I missed him
terribly and was sure h wouldn't remember me.  Well, he proved me wrong.
When I finally picked him up, he was full of kisses.  He remembered where
all of his toys were hidden and, thankfully, where his litter boxes were.
 
To Connie withe the 5:00 am wake up call:
    When I first got Sam in January, he had the annoying habit of waking
up every couple of hours during the night, biting the side of his cage,
and throwing himself back and forth so the entire cage shook and made tons
of noise.  He outgrew it but started up again at the end of the summer as
his way of punishing him for ditching him for four months.  I think the
secret is to not let them out no matter what.  I would stand next to his
cage and bang the side of it every time he tried to bite it.  This would
usually stop him for an hour or so.  I even took to sleeping next to the
cage so I wouldn't have to get up each hour.  Eventually, Sam got the
message (or decided I has been punished enough) and now I can count on
eight hours of sleep.
 
Karen
 & Sam (can you believe she made me live with a dog, 2 cats, a rabbit,
and 2 chinchillas for four whole months?)
[Posted in FML issue 1331]