Welcome
to our monthly publication of ferrety news! If you have suggestions
for our newsletter name please submit them to us. If you have
requests of what you would like to see in this newsletter, please
let us know also.
About The Board:
President:
October
Secretary: Amber
Treasurer: Char
Director: Chris
With the New year here, I think back and remember how year 2000 seemed so far away, how weird it would be not having the 19 anymore. Well, we’re at 2004 now and who new my shelter has been up and running for almost a year, February will be the anniversary for the shelter and I’m thinking of throwing a party, a ferret party of types J
But… it’s just not going to happen, between the care, the cleaning, rescuing, adoptions, home visits, phone calls and of course my full time job, who has time to throw a party? But believe me, the ferrets and I will be celebrating, we’ll be doing the weasel war dance (the ferrets, not me), we’ll frolic and give kisses and jump around like no other, because the shelter is something to celebrate. Since February, 59 ferrets have found permanent homes, of which 15 were CA confiscated ferrets, 5 were breeder ferrets, and eight had euthanasia paperwork filled out on them, that only leaves 31 ferrets that were rescued otherwise.
Add to that 59, 3 that are currently in foster care, that makes 62 and don’t forget the 19 at the shelter for a total of 81 happy ferrets!
There
once was a ferret who got drunk on ferretone
Who would have guessed
it was such powerful stuff
He tried to dance, he tried to play,
Then the
room started spinning, But he kept drinking his ferretone.
He
knew he was in bad shape, when he couldn't catch his tail.
Away in
the distance he saw his soft warm hammock
But try
as he might he couldn't get in it.
He got his front paws in, and would
wriggle his rear
When he was almost in, his back paws slipped and
out he fell.
He tried again and again, and kept ending up underneath
instead .
He tried running and jumping, but fell a inch
short.
He laid there recovering wondering what to do.
And finally he
gave up, passing out on the floor.
Lying on his back, with his
paws in the air.
Logo Contest!
A success story:
Winter came to the
shelter in February of 2003. She had been rescued from Reno
Animal services. She was the first rescue to come to the shelter. When I first brought her home, she had no hair, bit very hard, and
had no idea what ferretone was. Almost a year later and an adrenal
surgery, her hair is fully grown back, she hasn’t bit anyone in quite
some time, unless you take too long to get her a yogi. She doesn’t
look anything like the photos I have of her in February.
She’s a wonderful ferret, she’ll never get along with other
ferrets and was thought she’d be a permanent resident, but she is
a wonderful ferret who’s had it rough and now gets to live a life
like a ferret should.
The most amazing thing happened, she found
herself a permanent home, now she gets more attention than she would
ever have at the shelter, not to mention the larger space to frolic
and more yogis than I ever allowed. She is still waiting for
a second adrenal surgery, and we wish her lots of luck for a speedy
recovery.
And what does the shelter need? Here’s
my wish list, please note that I share some donations with Ferrets
with Soule shelter, so what you donate will help double the fuzzies!
Blankets
and towels or… fabric so we can sew our own!
Treats, treats and
more treats.
Food - Totally ferret/Pro plan kitten chicken flavor/Mazuri/Pathvalley
farms/8 in 1 Ultimate.
Laundry Soap
Toys toys toys.
Litter (yesterdays
news or generic brand).
Paper towels and cleaning supplies. Ferretone,
ferretvite.
A digital camera to keep track of all the fuzzies
and update the soon to come website.
$$$ for Vet costs, you can donate
directly to Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital
775-782-3693
And
most important on our wish list… a home for all the fuzzy kids!
Crossed to the Rainbow Bridge: *Spud, his last few weeks were happy with us, all except for the chemo treatments that I’m sure he wasn’t fond of. He passed happily among his five girlfriends who kept him warm, survived by his brother Oscar.
*Michelle, who was given lots of love and a tough decision with it, she is missed.Several studies have shown that just about every ferret carries this bacterium. Helicobacter may cause two forms of gastric disease, petptic ulcers and chronic atrophic gastritis. The bacterium is passed by a fecal-oral route, kits will normally be infected by their mother within the first two weeks after being born. Stress can cause the condition to flare up and become a problem, although lack of stress will not make the disease go away. Signs of helicobacter may include loss of appetite, loose stools, periodic vomiting, weight loss, black “tarry” stools and teeth grinding. Helicobacter is also the most common cause of mesenteric lymph node enlargement in ferrets. At this time, the only way to test for Helicobacter is through a biopsy of the stomach.
There are several recommended treatments for Helicobacter. The most common treatment derived from the treatment of H. Pylori, which is a bacterium in a human that also causes ulcers. That treatment would be amoxicillin and metronidazole (flagyl), and pepto bismol to help with the ulcers. This treatment must be continued for four to six weeks, kind of tough when ferrets despise the taste of flagyl. A better and easier treatment has been proven effective, Amoxicilling and Biaxin for two weeks. Antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, Baytril, Gentamicin or Sulfa drugs such as DiTrim don’t show any treatment effects. Treatment is tough, if one ferret is affected then all ferrets sharing space are affected also, which means you have to treat each one as they will get re-infected. For more information, please talk to your veterinarian.I think it’s time
that we brought out into the open a health problem that we all deal
with every day, but rarely discuss. The problem has gotten so
out of hand in our home that I’m uncomfortable discussing it with
the vet; I’m embarrassed to admit that we’ve ignored the problem for
so long. I’ve never seen an article in ‘Ferret’ magazine on
this problem, and ‘The Idiot’s Guide’ refuses to mention it directly,
though both skirt the issue fairly often. The problem I’m referring
to of course is, spoilage.
I don’t know the true medical term
for the phenomena, and I don’t think any studies are being done right
now to isolate the bacteria or germ or whatever it is that causes
it. I suspect that it’s a virus because it’s so terribly contagious;
by the time an animal has been in our house a week it has clearly
been infected. We noticed it first with the dogs, then when
we brought cats into our home we found that the virus affected them
too. Ferrets, we have found, seem to be especially susceptible
and all of our fuzzies have succumbed. We’ve tried treating
them with Ferretvite and Ferretone; we’ve tried raisins; we’ve bought
squeaky toys, hammocks and cubes, but still the problem persists,
and nearly constant attention and cuddling only seems to make the
matter worse.
The good news is that the disease is not fatal
to animals; in fact, it seems to actually make them healthier for
some reason: the threat to health seems to lie entirely with the humans. Physical injury can and often does occur when an eighty pound dog
crawls into your lap to watch TV, and being awakened from a sound
sleep by a cat that’s in the mood for love is one of the primary causes
of insomnia in pet owners. But as real as these problems are,
the health issues imposed by spoiled ferrets can be much more serious. Tripping over a ferret who hears you rattling the bag he knows contains
Cheerios may result in broken bones; and sitting at the computer trying
to work on your manuscript while a ferret is asleep in your lap with
his head resting on the hand you need to operate the mouse, while
another ferret is climbing up your shoulder, a third is walking over
the keyboard, and a fourth is climbing up your chair to get in on
the fun, has put more people in straightjackets than all other causes
combined. Internal damage often results when the human, with
two ferrets sound asleep in his or her lap, realizes that he or she
has to go to the bathroom, but unwilling to disturb the infected animals
continues to sit there until he or she is in tears.
I just though
that this issue should finally be openly addressed.
Did you know?
Bathing your ferret is BAD, let me repeat that, it is BAD. It actually causes them to have more odor. The more you bathe your ferrets, the more their skin overproduces their natural oils causing them to have a stronger musky odor. The shelter ferrets get bathed the day they come in and then not again unless they get into something dirty or if they are long term residents. Only then do they get a bath up to four times a year. Now, don’t bathe your ferret and provide a chicken based diet and no one will accuse your ferret of having a bad smell."But I do come with baggage"
Will you still
want me?"
Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked
in my warm new bed.
I'd like to open my baggage Lest I forget,
There
is so much to carry - So much to regret.
Hmm . . . Yes there it is,
right on the top
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss,
And there
by my leash hides Fear and Shame.
As I look on these things I tried
so hard to leave -
I still have to unpack my baggage called Pain.
I
loved them, the others, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough
- for they didn't want me.
Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help
me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things - And take me right back.
Do
you have the time to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage, To never
repack?
I pray that you do - I'm so tired you see,
But I do come
with baggage -
Will You Still Want Me?
Images and Information are property of the
NNFN. Contact our webmaster if you would like to use images or information
about our ferrets on another website.
Copyright © 2004 Northern Nevada
Ferret Network