by debferret

Human Proofing!

Tuesdays are litter box cleaning days here at the shelter. Our garbage is picked up on Wednesday mornings and I like to get the stinky dirty litter gone from my side driveway!

I’m having a slow start this morning. Opened the bedroom drapes to more #$%^$# snow on the ground! I am so sick of snow! But no, I did not crawl back under the covers.

Got through my breakfast and duck soupies for the old ladies. Made the bed and had my back decide to be a bully today. it sent me a message “You move-I spasm!” More bad words.

I have 18 litter boxes to empty, wash, dry and re-fill. Doing good considering my sore back. Going up and down the stairs was getting a bit much. I am going to cheat and carry up 3 clean litter boxes at one time! Now a year ago I could carry 4 litter boxes up no problem. But since I put my back out, I can do 3 at a time. This morning I was down to 2 litter boxes at a time, but, this was taking too long! Yeah right!

Coming up the stairs with my 3 clean litter boxes and wham! How the hell do you miss a step going UP!! I did try really hard not to drop the litter boxes! I saved two but the bottom litter box …… well, see for yourself!

This is what happens when you fall UP the stairs with 3 litter boxes in your hands!

the 2 litter boxes at the top of the stairs and the lip of the spilled box 2 steps down!

So much for saving time! The good thing (I always try to find a positive) is that this was a clean litter box and all I had to do was put the litter box under each step and with my hands sweep the clean litter back into the litter box. Did you know Wood pellets scatter real well?!

I am not picking the dog hairs from the steps out of the litter box. I have a miniature Eskimo and Miki is shedding like crazy right now! Whichever cage gets this litter box, well I’ll tell them there’s a little extra to make their pooping experience softer and more enjoyable!

I’m taking a long coffee break before I continue on!

04.03.15

by debferret

New Toy – Not!

I am the first to admit that I spoil my ferrets. I am constantly fussing over the cage set up to make sure it is safe. I have Adrienne’s beautiful soft split hammocks and lots of towels or blankies to snuggle in.

I am a fixture at the Dollarama, on the look out for new toys for the fuzzies to enjoy. Gosh, I even re-did the rec room floor; tearing out the old stinky carpet and putting in vinyl plank flooring.

I have toy boxes upstairs and downstairs filled with stuffies and jingle balls. What more could a ferret ask for?

I had Zippa and Zorrow out playing in my bedroom. Yes, it is a designated play area during the day. I have tubes under the bed and dog beds for them to curl up in. The ensuite bathroom is not a play area and I keep that door closed.

I went to put these two furries to bed and discovered bits of toilet paper at the end of my bed? What the heck? I see the bathroom door ajar. Crap (pun intended) I must not of closed the door properly and they pushed it open.

Just then Zorrow came bouncing out of the bathroom with the unwrapped roll of paper towel firmly clenched in his teeth. He scooted under the bed before I could blink.

My only word was – oh, oh………………..

ferret toy – NOT!

You guessed it, they had pried open the cabinet sink doors. All my supplies were strewn about. Zippa was trying real hard to get a grip on the roll of toilet paper that she had “dug” out of the package. When she saw me she bolted for the bed. She knew this was NOT a designated ferret toy.

So, I now have a custom roll of toilet paper that I have to figure out how to still use!

Custom detailed roll of toilet paper a la ferret!

I have one other comment. I am very relieved that Zippa and Zorrow did not decide to stick their heads inside the toilet paper tube. Years ago a ferret actually suffocated after getting stuck in one. All my USED toilet paper tubes are automatically torn in half before being placed in the recycle bin. Thank goodness Zippa hadn’t tried to go through the toilet tube tunnel!

Off to Wal Mart. Time to buy those baby locks for cabinets! I swear, ferret proofing is never over!

04.01.15

by debferret

How to NOT step on your sleeping ferret

The MFA has a handout “Ferret Proofing” your home. I wish we could also ferret proof our ferrets! Years ago after a “near Squish” scatter rugs were banned from my house and added to the list under Ferret Proofing.

Carpet runners have crept back into my house now that I have vinyl flooring through out. When the ferrets are out playing I will never step on a bunched up carpet runner. I know that a silly ferret may be hiding under there.

I hang up wet towels after my bath and my clothes go into the hamper immediately. I do not give the ferrets the chance to curl up under these things. One moment of inattention and hurry could lead me to stepping on a sleeping ferret. I have a dozen safe sleeping nest boxes all over the house but we know that the ferret will choose the most dangerous place to sleep if they can. If only I could ferret proof the ferret!

One trick I have learnt over the years is to put a ferret blankie down were a ferret insist on pooping and I don’t want him to; such as behind the bedroom door or even in front of the bedroom door when the Plexiglas partition is in place.

I left Rosie and Finnigan out in the ferret room to play as an overnight treat. These two old ladies do tend to go potty where ever they want, not even in corners! I put a blankie across the front of the shelter room door hoping to discourage a mess at the door.

This morning it was time to put the old girls back in their cage and let another cage out to play. I lifted the Plexiglas divider and looked down at the flat blankie. I gently patted the blankie and sure enough even though it looked flat there was a small warm ripple (couldn’t even really call it a bump because it was so small).

“Flat” blankie in doorway

A tiny little face poked out of the folds!

Finnegan poking her head out from the blankie on the floor

Finnegan is half a pound soaking wet, maybe! She is so tiny. My miniature Eskimo Miki had wanted to dash past me into the ferret room to “clean” any crumbs up. Miki weighs 30 pounds; she would have caused a fatal squish had I let her bolt past me into the ferret room. The reason Miki is so overweight is because of all the ferret food she steals. She is very good at it!

Miki cleaning up ferret “crumbs”

I peeled back the blankie and my sweet Finni was not much interested in leaving her current sleeping spot. Finnegan is the same little girl that hid in my grandson’s boot and had me on a worried hunt for over 30 minutes!

Finni and Rosie were put back to bed in their cage. A kiss on the nose, now safe and snug as a bug in the rug! LOL

Finnegan uncovered and not wanting to move from her blankie in the doorway!

If you have anything on the floor and you know your ferrets are out; enforce the rule “Never step on anything a ferret can sleep under or in!

03.31.15

by debferret

HOW TO COPE WITH A SUSPECTED BLOCKAGE

The most frequent health related phone call I get is “I think my ferret ate something he shouldn’t” or “My ferret ate…… and passed it, will he be ok?”

This remedy deals with your ferret eating material or very soft vinyl.

So, you find the bedding with a chunk missing. You pick up the toys at the end of the day and notice the toy mouse no longer has a tail. You go to change the dirty litter box and you notice a very colorful poopie. *Later on in the week, you will be folding your underwear from the dyer and discover your ferret has sampled several pairs-now you know where that rainbow colored poop came from”.

If your ferret is still eating and drinking and is NOT lethargic you have a window where you can apply these steps at home. If your ferret has had one mucky poop and the rest look normal he most likely has passed the chewed matrial. If your ferret is pooping long stringy lead pencil sized poops then most likely he has a partial blockage.

Ok, this is what you can do until you take your ferret to the vet. Give your ferret a 3 inch ribbon of cat hairball remedy; malt flavor. This is something you should have in the house at all times if you have a ferret. This is a product you should be using weekly in a dime size portion to help your ferret pass any ingested fur. Don’t have hairball remedy. Ok, a great substitute is plain old Vaseline or petroleum jelly. Hairball remedy is petroleum based with flavoring.

What will NOT work is using vegetable oil. The petroleum jelly coat’s the item and makes it pass smoothly and gently. The oil will make it oily but not coat the item.

You will want to repeat the 3 inch ribbon about 4 hours later. Meanwhile you will do the unthinkable unless you are a ferret owner. You will pick up the ferret poop, place in your palm and gently run warm water on it to dissolve the poop. You will extract the pieces of material and match them to the hole in the bedding/hammock/sock…

Once you have all the little pieces to fill the hole you are home free. When the ferret has a poop with no bits of material in it you can usually figure that he has passed everything. The choice will then be up to you if you still want the ferret checked out by the vet.

CAVEAT: If you suspect your ferret as swallowed something hard like a piece off a plastic or rubber toy, then your ferret needs immediate attention from your vet. You don’t want to push the hard plastic into the colon and rip something!

02.18.15

by debferret

Valentine’s Party Was a Blast

The 2015 members only Valentine’s Party was held on February 15th. The first human game “Steal Your Hearts” had folks picking up candy heart with CHOPSTICKS and transferring them into a dish. Sharon beat out everyone else with 12 candy hearts in 30 seconds. Sharon actually picked up 2 hearts at once and that put her in the lead from Sue’s 9 hearts. Sharon won a stuffed Frog for her fuzzies.

The first ferret related game was “Pick your Own Treat” We had 6 paper plates set in a circle. Each plate had a different treat on it. Bandit Chicken, Raisin and Bacon, Ferret Chews, Ferretone and Chicken Temptations. You placed your ferret in the circle and guessed which treat he would not just sniff at but actually eat! Both of Rena’s ferrets Jack and Baby chose her guess of the Ferretone. Sharon’s Sara correctly chose the Chicken Chew stick and her Diago correctly chose the Ferretone. All the correct guesses went into a draw and Sharon’s Sara won a stuffed Bear holding a heart!

Our next human game was the Left/Right Story told by our Melissa. You had to pass the gift to the person on your left or right as the story unfolded. You would think this is easy but after a bit, left became right and had you confused as hell. The gift ended with Andy who took home a stuffed puppy and a crinkle toy.

The Most Kisses in 30 seconds was hilarious in that only 2 ferrets deemed their owners worthy of kisses this year. Rena’s Jack gave her 5 kisses however Zoe’s Radish bestowed a whopping 25 smooches to win a stuffed Tiger which he promptly clamped on to and wouldn’t let go of!

Our net human game, Cupid’s Arrow turned out to be much harder than it looked. You had to BLOW a Q-Tip through a straw into a Valentine Pot. Zoe and Leslie sitting on the love seat behind the coffee table ended up “shot” with the Q’Tip arrows over and over. Dare I say everyone was full of hot air and overshot the mark! Melissa managed to get one Q-Tip arrow into the pot to win a Happy Face stuffy and mouse toy!

The Lightest ferret went to Dan and Melissa’s Bellie at 1 pound 07 ozs slipping past Nibbles at 1 pound 09 ozs and the Heaviest ferret went to Zoe’s Turnip at 3 pounds 06 ozs skipping past Duncan at 3 pounds 03 ozs.

The next game should have come with a warning to use the bathroom before we started. The game was very simple. Place cookie on forehead and move the cookie into your mouth. Easy Peasy! RIGHT! The facial contortions, the tongue antics, the shoulder wiggles, the desperate rolling on the floor trying to keep the cookie off the floor; honestly, you had to be there. If our wonderful photographer had taken a full length video, there would be much bribing to keep the video of the net!! Much laughter till some of use almost peed ourselves. All the successful cookie grabbers names went into the draw and Brandon won the squeeky bird and cat toy.

The final game of the day was pin the lips on the Heart Valentine. Brandon cleaned up by placing his lips almost on top of the lip outline!

Adrienne brought a lovely tray of cookies and tarts, Sharon had crisps and dips and Deb provided the tea, coffee, pop and potato chips.

All in all, it was a terrific party. All the ferrets socialized with only a few spats. Fred took lots and lots of pictures and we invite you to view them on our Flicker account.