I would like to encourage everyone again if you have something you would like to see printed, to please let us know. Even your experiences would be something others would like to hear. As an example I will tell one of my own:
Salty Dog is my avid collector of stuffed animals. Between their room
and the den is a doggie door which has a rubber flap and a slide panel
taped partially open (purpose is to keep Camay and Caress out of their
room and their FOOD). Well Salty grabbed up a large stuffed toy to take
into the den. He hit the rubber flap and bounced back; he couldn't push
it through. He tried again, no go. He laid the object down, flipped
up the flap to make sure the panel wasn't closed, then picked up the toy
and tried again 2 more times, no go. He checked the door again to be sure
and then stood over his toy as if thinking. He finally climbed through
the door, looked back in, grabbed his toy and started to pull it into the
den but the rubber flap got between him and his toy. He tugged and tugged
but could not get it to go through. He dropped it, came back on this side,
looked at it again as if thinking, went back through the door, leaned back
in, picked the toy up to pull some more, same story except this time when
he failed, he worked it around the bottom and up the side where his body
pushed the flap out more and he was able to work his toy through. (only
to lose it later when I returned it to the toy box in their room).
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Milli, our first foster ferret after the millennium (hence her name Milli), was putdown on May 14, 2002, due to heartworm complications. Milli was found wandering around a mobile home park. She was about six months old, and had a gorgeous, full, light sable coat. The only problem that we immediately found was that she was a whole female, and she was in season. The first thing we did was have her spayed.
While recovering from the surgery, we lined the litter box with white paper towels to keep the incision clean and to monitor her bodily processes. During this time of recovery we noticed her urine was green. Green urine is a sign of bilirubin breaking down from the blood, and a bad body bruise, common with some surgeries, can cause this green urine. Being that this was the case, we were not too concerned with the problem, however it did not go away.
We have had other ferrets where we have had to deal with heartworms (For more information on heartworms, please see the sidebar story), and two of these also had green urine, and so far, this is the only symptom we have seen in a ferret with heartworms. Our thoughts are that the heartworm lives in the heart and damages some of the red blood cells, which causes the green urine. So, from past experiences, we tested her for heartworms, and unfortunately the test came back positive.
Of the two ferrets we have tried treating for heartworms, only one ferret
has lived. The one that lived has always had a weak heart and weak hindquarters.
The other ferret dies from anaphylaxis during the treatment. Our Veterinarian,
and our daughter, Dr. Dori Hertel, heard of a new treatment that had been
tried in dogs that had fewer side effects than the standard treatment,
and although it had not been tried in ferrets, thought it was worth a try.
Dr. Hertel had also read that heartworms in ferrets only live for 18 months,
however, we found this not to be true.
We put Milli on heartworm medicine, which was to kill the heartworms
slowly. Within a few months, Milli started developing paralysis in her
hind legs. We thought that at least one of the heartworms had died. When
the heartworm died, it must have been carried down the blood stream instead
of being absorbed by the body, and the worm acted like a blood clot causing
the problems. We exercised her hind legs daily to keep the muscles from
atrophying. She did improve some, but it left her hind legs weak, nevertheless,
she got around very well and her spirits were high.
Later on, it got to the point that she could not urinate on her own,
and her bladder would have to be expressed tow to three times a day. But
this did not hold her back; she would still go after the biggest male ferret
and give him a good tussle.
On February 8, 2001, we gave the heartworm medicine as normal before
going to work, but when we came home that evening, Milli's hindquarters
were severely paralyzed. Even with all the medicinal care, home love, and
exercise we could give her, she never recovered full use of her hind legs.
Eventually, her left leg became strong enough to help
her crawl, and the right leg moved very little. We continued here exercises
everyday, and we never gave up. She did not either, she would still beat
up on her big brothers, and her spirits stayed very high; it was amazing
how fast she could get around. Milli stayed very active and alert.
In April, we noticed that she was having difficulties breathing, and
took her to Dr. Hertel. An x-ray was taken of her chest, and it showed
there was fluid around the lungs, or she had congestive heart failure..
The vet pulled 40+ CC of fluid from the chest cavity and we started her
on a couple of medications - Furosemide, to keep the fluids excreted from
the body, and Enalapril, to help the heart beat more efficiently. She did
well for about a month, and then we noticed she was not eating in her cage.
We had seen her eating from the various bowls around the house. But for
a long time we felt she was not eating enough and I had been supplementing
her with "Duck Soup" once a day. However, now we had to force feed her
because she was not eating at all, and she was not moving much or showing
her usual spirit.
On Mother's Day, we found a crust of dried blood on her nose and we
cleaned it off. On Monday, we found it again. On Tuesday, it was present
on both nostrils. We became worried and took her to Dr. Hertel. Again,
we did a chest x-ray and found that the chest cavity was filled with fluids.
Milli was not feeling well, having trouble breathing and moving, and her
spirits were very low. In light of everything, we decided it was best to
relieve her suffering and put her down. Even knowing this was a possibility
when going in that morning to the vets, I cried all the way home. During
the necropsy, Dr. Hertel found that Milli had three adult heartworms.
We are comforted by knowing that Milli is at the "Rainbow Bridge" doing
her "Happy Dance" with the full use of her hind legs, and looking as beautiful
as she did when we found her.
Please, everyone have your ferrets tested for heartworms and put them
on heartworm preventative. Even if you ferret never goes outside, mosquitoes
do come inside the house. Also, do not let your vet give you heartworm
preventative in pill form; ferrets are experts at spitting out pills. Oral
liquid formulations and topical liquids are available. Do not let the ferret
suffer. We test all foster ferret for heartworms and start them on heartworm
preventative.
NOTE: Our first ferret that was treated for heartworms is Pretty Girl.
Earlier this year her heart started to fail. We had her on medications
like Milli, and were supplementing her with "Duck Soup". She recovered
from her paralysis and played with the best of them. She seemed to be a
happy girl and was living a good life; from what we know she was about
seven years old. She had a stroke and we had to put her down on July 28,
2002. So the heartworms won another one.
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There are many heartworm preventatives available for dogs and cats, but there are none that are ferret specific. These monthly treatments are preventative medications, meaning that they are given to prevent infection, and should not be given to a ferret already infected unless specifically prescribed by a veterinarian. Please confer with your regular vet about which preventative and in what dosage is best for your ferret. Please also note that ferrets should be tested before blindly being placed on the preventative medicines. The ELISA test can show that the ferret is heartworm negative while it is, in fact, infected; heartworms can also be detected with a cardiac ultrasound. To determine the best course of action, consult with you vet.
Monthly heartworm preventative can be expensive for multi-ferret households, so check with you vet about a more cost effective solution, like an Ivermectin suspension, that can be given orally.
Treatment for a ferret that is heartworm positive is still experimental;
again, consult with your vet in such an instance.
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One night I came home to find my daughter and two of my neighbors standing in my yard gathered around this furry little creature. I didn't have any idea what it was. Though I thought it was cute, I didn't like the looks of those long teeth and was a little afraid of it. One neighbor said, "It is a ferret; It won't hurt you." Although their words were reassuring, neither neighbor was willing to take or find a home for the little thing. So I volunteered.
I actually did find a home for it, but within a couple of months the girl who had taken the fuzzy was evicted and both were homeless. I didn't take in the girl but I did take back in the Fuzzy. As I have already mentioned, I didn't even know what a ferret was and I certainly didn't know how to take care of it. It was at this point that I started searching for information. My intentions were still set on finding a new home for it and this time I was determined to take more time to find a good, permanent home.
During my home and information searching, I began to fall in love with
him. I have been referring to the little fuzzy as an "it" because
I knew so little that I didn't know if it was a boy or girl. We had
been calling him "Peaches", but from my research I discovered that "it"
was actually a boy, so we changed his name to "George" (Curious George
). "George" was his name for about a week until my daughter, who
had been even more afraid of him than I, came walking in with "George"
in her arms and announced to me that he now belonged to her and that his
name was "Boo Boo", and it remains "Boo Boo" yet today. That was
about a year ago and now our family has grown from one ferret to ten.
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Hello dere, Salty Dog here, how can I fix your love life?
Wellllll, heeeeelllo Sweet ting. Oh now
don'ts you go worrying your cute little self wif dat problems......most
guys don'ts looks twice ats a fluffy tail. Lots and lots of ferrets
lose de hair on dere tail and dere is nuffin wrongs but dat times of de
year. Yah peoples gets all up tights dats a sign of adrenal problems
but as long as its just loss of hair on your tails, den its likely de weather.
De ting to looks for in
adrenal cases is it mostly is on de body, near de tail and de shoulders
and well, you'll know by your moods and stuff. De tail may needs
a shampooing wif medicated stuff and if de pad turns a little yellow, you
can bets its just a little clogged pour here and dere, not a ting to worry
about. I knows how you feels dough when you can'ts do a decent bottle
brush and you worries about what de utters are tinking. As long as
your humans keeps a sharp eyes on you for utter signs, its all going ta
be okays and when de weather changes, you's gonna have de silkiest, prettiest,
fluffies tail you ever coulds wants. Til den, well don'ts you fret.
Most of de guys turns dere heads more for a nice pear shape figure dan
a pretty tail any days, and - does you have dem red eyes?
Oh! Ruby reds you says. Well den, you gots it mades in de
shade, hows can any gib nots just faints in his tracks for a cute little
trick like yous. Hows about me and yous takes a swing in my double
hammy sometimes, hummmmmmmm You just names it. I'll be
waitin for you.
Rrrriiiiiiiiinnnngggggg
Hello, its Salty Dog here, how can I fix your love life?
Your what is swollen???? Well aaahhh I don'ts knows about dats, oh my, aaaaahhhh and you have a dis, a dis well I tinks dat should be just between you and your veterinarian, you needs to call Dr. Murray or Dr. Kendricks or whoever you sees for your yearly, I's not really good wif dos kinda tings, some tings we guys nots goods at, dat and givin birth is two of dem, we's been known to faint.
JUST A MINUTE HERE, Is dat you Merlot, Chardennay, are yous on de extension, yous pullin my legs again! Tequila! I knows dat giggle,You Gets off dere rights dis minute, you hears me...........okay for yous alls, I'll gets evens!
GRANDMAAAA,de girls are chewing on de phone cord agains. GRANNNDDDMAAAA
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That the Hungarian word for ferret is "Vadaszmenyet"?
Where did you grow up?
Dallas.
Where did you go to college and Vet school (including internships)?
Texas A&M (of course).
Where have you previously practiced?
Preston Road Animal Hospital.
Where are you currently practicing?
Same.
What is your favorite animal?
Ferrets, Dogs, Guinea Pigs, Cats, etc.
What pets do you personally have at home?
Dogs and Guinea pigs.
What hobbies do you have?
Gardening and bicycling.
What general information about you family would you like to share
with our readers? (Married? How long? Children? Etc.)
I'm married for 5 years to an architect, named Christy. I have 3 dogs
(Nikki, Cory, and Maude) and 2 guinea pigs (Comet and Polly). No more animals
allowed due to wife's decree because humans outnumbered by over 2
to 1.
Is there any additional information you wish to share about yourself
that you think our reader would find interesting? (You may se the back
for more room if necessary.)
Avid bicyclist, usually 75+ miles per week.
So then my ferrets pointed my head in the other direction to Wylie,
Texas. Wylie has an ordinance that specifies ferrets and can be viewed
on the City of Wylie website. This ordinance states the following:
City of Wylie also requires that animals have proper food, water and
shelter. If animal is neglected or abused or has unsanitary, obnoxious
dwellings, they may be impounded.
Now I had a question from someone about El Paso, Texas. I contracted
the El Paso Animal Control and was told they have no specific ordinance
for ferrets but like all animals must have vaccinations and be confined.
So as the summer winds down, hope your ferrets stay cool, happy, and
legal. Until next month, ferret laughs to all.
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