I just want to share with you my discovery of a new ferret toy that has made Pixel a very Happy Weasel indeed. The toy is called CHEWEASEL and is, you guessed it, a ferret chew toy. I saw their ad in the last issue of Ferrets Anonymous Newsletter and decided to order their free sample. Cheweasel are star-shaped rubbery toys, about 2 inches across, fully ferret-digestible. It's basically a very dense protein-based gummi-like material, but has no sugar, artificial color or preservatives. Has this toy made an appearance anywhere else in the country besides California? It is made by a company named Hyger-Fur Products in Los Angeles and available by mail order. Even though I live in L.A., I don't know anybody who works for Hyper-Fur, nor is this an ad. It's just that Pixel liked the toy so much, I decided to post about it. This is a real treat for any ferret who loves to chew (rubber, CD cases, books, humans, you name it). Pixel, had to have blockage surgery at 8 months for eating to big a chunk off the bottom of a beach sandal, put on quite a show for us, once she got a hold of that toy. She is usually a sweet, gentle and very affectionate ferret. Once she had sunk her teeth into the chew toy however, and softened it up a bit - the stuff seems to be made to absorb ferret saliva - she WOULD NOT LET IT GO. She carried it off into a corner and hissed menacingly when anybody even tried to approach. When we tried to touch her and pick her up, she whipped around, hopped up and down, and *barked* in a display of ferocity we seldom see in our Queen Ferret. She did all this while firmly hanging on to the Cheweasel. It took two humans to separate her from the toy that night - one to hold her and gently soothe her, while the other hung on to the toy unitl she *finally* decided to let go. Pixel managed to chew three tips off the star-shaped toy the first night she got to play with it and she *loved* the stuff. She has since (over the last week or so) decimated the sample toy to 1/3 of its original size and remains fiercely possessive of it. It has not hurt at all - I watched the litter boxes closely, but the chew toy is, in fact 100% digestible and does not affect the stool at all. We will be buying more (they are $3.69 for three). While Pixel will fight us for a piece of Cheweasel, Benito seems to be less than impressed by it and hardly even gave it a good sniff. So he either can't be bothered, or he was so intimidated by Pixel's fierce display for the toy that he decided to yield it to her (even though that is not usuall his nature). Here's the address to get a free sample toy (from the July issue of Ferrets Anonymous newsletter). Once again, I do not work the company and don't profit from circulating this information. It simply is a *great* toy. Send SASE (55 cents) and ask for free sample toy to: Hyper Fur Products (their motto: "We Prefer Ferrets") 6820 Santa Monica Blvd. #123 Los Angeles, CA 90038 Email: [log in to unmask] (again, this is NOT my address) The sample comes with all the info, a vet's endorsement and an order form. I would be really interested in finding out if Cheweasel has popped in other places, of if this is a truly NEW product. Claudia w/ Pixel & Benito in Los Angeles [Posted in FML issue 2024]