>*** One more question.  Does anyone have suggestions on what to do with
>Teddy and Tiffany, because the building my girlfriend lives in, is bringing
>in exterminators to each apartment?
 
Someone on this list a few months back was in the same situation, a ferret
in a non-pet apartment building where exterminators had came in and sprayed.
While I don't mean to alarm you, he had problems with his ferret.  His
ferret acted sick and he had a hard time coming up with money for the tests
that the vet wanted to run.  If I remember right, it ended up ok, but it
could have turned out differently.
 
One suggestion that someone here came up with to keep the exterminators from
spraying your apartment is to tell the landlord that you are allergic to bug
sprays and not to spray your apartment.  (This is no lie for me!  The spring
allergy season for me is brought about by all the pesticides and fertilizers
sprayed on lawns and fields.)
 
At the very least, keep your ferrets elsewhere when they are sparying the
place.  Make also sure to take all their toys, food, bowls, blankets, etc.
out of the apartment as well.  Before bringing your kids back in, I would
suggest washing floors, vacuuming/shampooing carpets, wash and clean
everything in sight.  Don't forget furniture or underneath it as well.
Ferrets are small animals that climb and crawl over, around, and under
everything.  If spray is leftover any place, they will come into contact
with it.  With their small body weight and high metabolism, poisons can have
quite an effect on them.  (Others can tell you specifics, I can't.)
 
I hope I haven't scared you unduely, but I just don't want to see your
fuzz-butts get sick or worse.  Forewarned is fore-armed.
 
-kim, squirt (likes organic fruits), pippi (steals organic
 veggies), atlas (leaves his "organic" fertilizer everywhere),
 and 'Jinx (always tries to give me a soapless bath -*lick*-)
 
Kimberly Burkard     |             _    Everything I needed to know in life,
Eastman Kodak Company|      _____C .._. I learned from my ferret:
Rochester, New York  | ____/     \___/  Frolic and dance for joy often, have
[log in to unmask]    |<____/\_---\_\    no fear or worries, and enjoy life.
[Posted in FML issue 1586]