Hi all you ferret fans,
 
our newest addition 'Bo' has caused some real havoc around here from the
first day he was brought home.  If you don't remember ..I posted and bragged
about when we got him from a lady that didn't have enough time in the day
for him anymore..He is a sable male<of course> 5 months young...A real
mellow sweetheart that loves to cuddle.
 
Well to make a very long story short, he had very sever diarrhea, whitish in
color, it didn't concern me very much because he was the fattest ferret i
had ever seen and after 24 hrs of mixing his canned kitten food with totally
ferret food, his output was firming up nicely and was starting to get dark.
I found out that he never had any of his shots except the first distemper at
the petstore.So off to the vets we go..Out of curiosity I asked the vet what
would cause this white clay looking goo..  He asked about his weight at that
time and I told him he had a great big belly on him but has since slimmed
down somewhat.  To my amazement he told me that I probably had saved this
little guys life..  He was malnourished.  big bellys...african children..
Anyway he's eating really great and pooping just fine.. except he brought
ECE into my house..:( My little female NIbbles starting throwing up not
eating not drinking so I grabbed my book<s> on ferrets and started reading
like a mad woman ,run to the store at 10:00 at night for pedialyte.  she's
doing fine now alittle underweight but gaining it back.  Anyway, now B0 has
developed a hacking cough, like he is trying to dislodge something from his
throat.  I've seen and heard my cat do this.  So I grabbed the cat hairball
remedy and gave that to him.  He hasn't coughed in two days so I figure that
it was hair, but still listening for him to start it again.  I'm still
perplexed on Bo thou.  He breaths as thou he is congested.  His nose sounds
stuffed up and the vet says he is perfectly healthy.  Anyone have ferts that
sound congested?  This hasn't cleared up since we got him.
 
It just infuriates me about humans who buy these sweet animals as a pet but
forget to buy a book about how to take care of them..  This lady that I got
BO from didn't even understand that he had to have distemper shots!!!!  she
was giving him the wrong food and dog chew bones as treats..
 
I have since tried talking to this pet store we got Nibbles at<yes, she's a
MF fert> to get some kind of paper to hand out about the ferrets and their
basic care.  I even offered to start them out on it.  They said it had to be
discussed with the manager..  two weeks later it has yet to be discussed.  I
think it is a federal offense to care for an animal that you don't know
diddly about..  well enough with my venting..  thanks for listening.
 
Jayne and the Mighty Two..Bo and NIbbles
[Posted in FML issue 2300]