Just a thought after all the talk of ferret 9 lives -- long hard falls (and
even short ones) can cause injuries that are not obvious and may not show up
for a few or many hours, most notably internal bleeding.  Please, if a ferret
has such a fall, watch him or her closely for any signs of weakness,
paleness, (you can tell by looking at pink noses or gums), or abnormal
behaviour.  If it's night or a weekend, these signs may well warrant an
emergency visit.  Personally, it would be my tendency to take my little one
in to a vet to check for internal blood loss (basically a couple of PCV's
over the course of a few hours -- shouldn't be terribly expensive) as soon as
possible, either right away or as soon as the clinic was open the next if it
were evening.  I'm definitely *not* criticising the way Oskar's situation was
handled -- keeping a close eye may be almost as good -- I'm just saying how I
personally would handle the situation, just to be on the ultra-safe side -- a
2-3 stories or more is a *long* way to fall when you're only a few inches
tall!  :)
 
And about balloons as toys -- DeWayne, you may already no this, so if so just
ignore me (since you're a new subscriber I wasn't sure it was obvious) --
sounds like fun but *please* supervise *very* closely.  A deflated balloon
sounds like something a ferret would just *love* to swallow and then get
stuck in their intestines and get very very sick (they can die if such a
foreign body isn't removed).  These little guys just love to eat rubber for
some reason we shall never understand, and it causes them (and us!) no end of
trouble.
 
Laura
 
Laura L'Heureux Kupkee
U. of Illinois Vet Med ***FINAL YEAR*** (only 1 year and 3 days to
graduation!)
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[Posted in FML issue 1189]