Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2013 23:58:06 GMT -5
I hate to be even considering rehoming the kids, but I feel like IF I can find a home that I'm 100% comfortable with for them that it might be the right move for us, or at least I want to start looking at options and put it out there in case it ends up being what needs to happen. I'm expecting a baby in February, and I think the combination of taking back over cleaning duties (husband took care of everything during morning sickness so now that I'm back in business I'm more aware of how much time goes into it vs. when it was habitual) and planning for next year has me really concerned about time and poop management. I spend more time cleaning up after them than all of our other critters combined...their litter box habits are good in the cage, but there's still a lot of time that goes into cleaning up after feedings to keep the smell and flies down, and their bathroom habits out of the cage are not very good so I'm constantly scrubbing poop out of grout and regularly shampooing carpets. We got our first in 2008, so it's not like I'm unaccustomed to the work and haven't tried various things to minimize clean-up over the years, and the mess has never been a deal breaker before since they add so much to our lives.
I'm afraid once the baby's here, I won't have the time or energy to keep up with the cleaning they require, and I'm definitely not comfortable with with the idea of having ferret messes in the carpet with a baby learning to crawl. I'd be cleaning things up as they happen like always, but there's still residue and with all the shampooing, there's soap and moisture in the carpet... I've been trying to figure out if we could space things out so the ferrets only have access to one or two rooms or just the rooms with wood/tile, but the way our house is set up (very open floor plan) that only really works with our bedroom (which they're used to when I'm limiting their messes, but we practically use it as our living room so would want to turn into a "clean" area) or the bathrooms. They're accustomed to at least a few hours of daily free-roam/play time, and I'm already feeling guilt because anywhere I could confine them would also segregate them and really reduce both the interaction we have and their play space. I'm stressing out about a lot of things related to this pregnancy and trying really hard to figure out a good balance for maintaining the ferrets' quality of life without pushing for more than I can handle. I'm really conflicted and crying just typing this up, but I need to be open to the possibility that something might have to give, and I want as much time as possible to figure out the best situation.
About the ferrets: We adopted Akiko Valentine's Day 2009, she's about 5 years old now, a DEW with Waardenburgs and deaf. She's pretty feisty and loves to wrestle our hands, teaser toys, and Tadakichi, towel rides, and harnessed walks around the backyard and park. She'll flat ferret if we stop playing with her, waiting for us to start back up, but when she's done she likes to curl up on something soft and watch us with squinty lovey eyes hoping for some neck scritches to give her a bottle brush tail.
Her partner in crime is Tadakichi, also a DEW but doesn't have Waardenburgs. I adopted him as a birthday present for myself in June 2009, he's about 6 now and is a mellow fat boy that has his occasional spaz moments. He also loves towel rides and leashed walks, neck scritches, and has a tennis ball fetish(stashing, not chewing). He likes to sneak into bed with me to cuddle and LOVES to lick my feet after I get out of the shower, and is pretty content to just follow me around the house as I clean and work. Running circles, chasing me around the kitchen island is always a fun game for him.
Both are altered, have Real Canadian tats, have been on raw (Frankenprey style) since late 2009, and get along fairly well with our cats and the dog (mostly ignore each other, although Tadakichi will occasionally nip at the other animals if he feels they're getting too curious, and I've caught Akiko cuddling the cats when they allow it.) They got along well with our other two ferrets when we had them (Ovana passed due to insulinoma and Mokkun ran away after company left a window open), but have not been around other ferrets in a couple of years so I don't know how well they would integrate into a new business. Neither are biters when it comes to people (although will gently mouth while playing), they're well socialized, well loved, and have no current health issues except, despite being on raw so long, their teeth have never been great. Akiko had one molar removed during a cleaning last year, and one of Tadakichi's canine's has looked dead (brown with horizontal lines) since we got him, but the vet hasn't seen any reason to pull it, and both have some tartar build up on their back teeth again. Both were vaccinated for distemper and rabies when we first got them since their histories were unknown, but none since. They would come with their FN 142 and related gear (litter pan, bedding, harnesses, etc).
There would be no charge for them or the gear, but I would want to do a home visit to make 100% sure that they would be going somewhere wonderful, regular updates, and a written agreement that if things aren't working out for any reason, they'd come home to me. As many fears as I have about being able to juggle everything, I am not desperate to find them a new home and won't do it unless I feel they're going into an equal or better situation than I'll be able to continue providing. Thanks for sticking with me this long, and if you're in the Pacific Northwest and have an interest in them, please let me know.
I'm afraid once the baby's here, I won't have the time or energy to keep up with the cleaning they require, and I'm definitely not comfortable with with the idea of having ferret messes in the carpet with a baby learning to crawl. I'd be cleaning things up as they happen like always, but there's still residue and with all the shampooing, there's soap and moisture in the carpet... I've been trying to figure out if we could space things out so the ferrets only have access to one or two rooms or just the rooms with wood/tile, but the way our house is set up (very open floor plan) that only really works with our bedroom (which they're used to when I'm limiting their messes, but we practically use it as our living room so would want to turn into a "clean" area) or the bathrooms. They're accustomed to at least a few hours of daily free-roam/play time, and I'm already feeling guilt because anywhere I could confine them would also segregate them and really reduce both the interaction we have and their play space. I'm stressing out about a lot of things related to this pregnancy and trying really hard to figure out a good balance for maintaining the ferrets' quality of life without pushing for more than I can handle. I'm really conflicted and crying just typing this up, but I need to be open to the possibility that something might have to give, and I want as much time as possible to figure out the best situation.
About the ferrets: We adopted Akiko Valentine's Day 2009, she's about 5 years old now, a DEW with Waardenburgs and deaf. She's pretty feisty and loves to wrestle our hands, teaser toys, and Tadakichi, towel rides, and harnessed walks around the backyard and park. She'll flat ferret if we stop playing with her, waiting for us to start back up, but when she's done she likes to curl up on something soft and watch us with squinty lovey eyes hoping for some neck scritches to give her a bottle brush tail.
Her partner in crime is Tadakichi, also a DEW but doesn't have Waardenburgs. I adopted him as a birthday present for myself in June 2009, he's about 6 now and is a mellow fat boy that has his occasional spaz moments. He also loves towel rides and leashed walks, neck scritches, and has a tennis ball fetish(stashing, not chewing). He likes to sneak into bed with me to cuddle and LOVES to lick my feet after I get out of the shower, and is pretty content to just follow me around the house as I clean and work. Running circles, chasing me around the kitchen island is always a fun game for him.
Both are altered, have Real Canadian tats, have been on raw (Frankenprey style) since late 2009, and get along fairly well with our cats and the dog (mostly ignore each other, although Tadakichi will occasionally nip at the other animals if he feels they're getting too curious, and I've caught Akiko cuddling the cats when they allow it.) They got along well with our other two ferrets when we had them (Ovana passed due to insulinoma and Mokkun ran away after company left a window open), but have not been around other ferrets in a couple of years so I don't know how well they would integrate into a new business. Neither are biters when it comes to people (although will gently mouth while playing), they're well socialized, well loved, and have no current health issues except, despite being on raw so long, their teeth have never been great. Akiko had one molar removed during a cleaning last year, and one of Tadakichi's canine's has looked dead (brown with horizontal lines) since we got him, but the vet hasn't seen any reason to pull it, and both have some tartar build up on their back teeth again. Both were vaccinated for distemper and rabies when we first got them since their histories were unknown, but none since. They would come with their FN 142 and related gear (litter pan, bedding, harnesses, etc).
There would be no charge for them or the gear, but I would want to do a home visit to make 100% sure that they would be going somewhere wonderful, regular updates, and a written agreement that if things aren't working out for any reason, they'd come home to me. As many fears as I have about being able to juggle everything, I am not desperate to find them a new home and won't do it unless I feel they're going into an equal or better situation than I'll be able to continue providing. Thanks for sticking with me this long, and if you're in the Pacific Northwest and have an interest in them, please let me know.