The ferrets are now out of the garage. It took a fight, a lot of crying on my part, and me having to point out the seedy slimy poops to my dad but it happened. This morning, I looked at the litter box and noticed seedy poops. Since they've been on the exact same raw mix for a little less than a week now, that shouldn't be happening. I also noticed that Mogli had watery diarrhea and seemed to be straining to poop. If this hasn't cleared up after the next couple of days inside, they'll be getting some pumpkin in their diet to firm things up. I'm hoping that a lot of it is from the stress of a new home and a sudden increase in people around... Trust me, there is nothing more important to me than the welfare of my ferrets. Ozzy was a skinny, scared, and sickly little baby when I first got him from the pet store almost 5 months ago. Now, he's fat and happy guy who weighs almost 3 pounds and is way too bold for his own good. I also went through months of agony and force feedings to get Mogli to finally accept an all raw diet. These last few days, I was out in the garage literally once every 15 minutes during the day to check their paws for overheating, their water bowl, and to make sure that strangers stayed away (since my dad's girlfriend almost always has people over). The next step is getting a playpen for them. We decided against building one ourselves and will end up buying 2-3 to hook up together. The price of materials and the time it would take to build is just way too much. For now, their playtime has to be outside until my bedroom has hard flooring rather than carpet. It was hard enough to get their cage inside... I just can't take the risk of them having an accident on the carpet. Someday, I'll be able to let them play in my room but it's going to take a while. For now, I can only keep them inside under certain conditions. I have to keep a deodorizing spray on them... If it starts getting weak, I have to spray them again even if it takes doing it several times a day. I also have to clean the litter box at least twice a day. The bedding also will need to be washed at least twice a week. If the house starts smelling like ferrets, I have to find another place for them... It sucks since both my dad and I like the smell but there's been far too much drama in the last few days to push it. I'll also be getting a pet safe deodorizing plug-in as an added precaution. No matter what, I refuse to let my ferrets go. I already had to give up my cats because of my dad's allergies. Since I'm already dealing with the loss of my cats and the end of my first truly committed relationship, I'm really leaning on my fuzzums to help me through this. I've just been so angry recently since my dad's gf has been trying to convince me to "get rid" of my babies. She refuses to understand that they are not like cats in how they interact with people. She thinks they're wild, dirty animals that need to live outside and will give people diseases. I've explained the facts about ferrets to her and she just doesn't listen. When I told her that ferrets have been domesticated for nearly 3,000 years and are truly dependent on human care, she just shrugged it off and said that they're "just animals" and that I shouldn't care so much about them. So, even though there's still a long road ahead, things are looking better for Mogli and Ozzy. Once they're feeling a bit better, Ozzy will be going in for his last CDV shot. I would do it sooner but I'm scared about getting him a shot when he's already stressed out... I have no way of knowing if the stress on his immune system would put him over the edge. And that's all from me today... Cecilia [Posted in FML 6406]