Pregnant day 40 (advice please!!)

[Sherry]

Sent out messages to Phae, Heather, and Bev, lol

[crazylady]

Hi Hows she doing ? any changes in her behavior ? ( sleeping more? eating more? restless?) any sign of any discharge ? is she cleaning herself constantly? keep a close eye on her from today as you dont know exactly when she was mated look forward to hearing from you hopefully with good news take care bye for now
Bev

[Heather]

Just popped in. Please keep us posted. There is someone on just about all the time so don't feel like you can't bother us with questions.
ciao

[skye1993]

Hi all. She had them yesterday afternoon/evening. 7/8 that I can count, no complications thank god.
My "friend" expects she can just take them home when she gets back in two weeks, and I can't really stop her :/
Thank you all for your advice

[Deleted]

Skye, I'm glad that she is doing well. You have taken very good care of her and I do hope that you will check back in and let us know that she continues to do well. Maybe, a gentle nudge from you, will help your friend take a little more care of that sweet little girl and her babies. Please let her know about us and all the support, the HFF can provide.

[Deleted]

I'd be telling my friend that it's not safe to take her in two weeks. Sure, you can't stop her, but you can tell her the facts anyway. I'd be getting her to come by to your house to look after the babies if I could.

She's acting okay? Sometimes one baby gets stuck. Does it look like they're all eating? (not that you can do anything if they're not) Lots of squeaks coming from the box?

I'm really hoping you were lucky and it is indeed uncomplicated.

[skye1993]

I will tell her it isn't safe to take them, but I highly doubt she will listen I will advise her to talk to a breeder about it.
Lots of squeaking coming from the nest & mother seems reasonably happy.
My hob on the other hand is very curious as to whats going on poor fellow.

[skye1993]

Can anyone provide me with a link to any info about not moving mother and babies? So I have a way to back up my case.

[Deleted]

I have also just discovered she has fleas.. what can I put on her that won't harm the kits?

[crazylady]

Hi can you possibly get her out of the cage ? if you can once the kits are four or five days old you can spray mum with frontline in between the shoulder blades (kitten and puppy spray one spray per pound weight) with out harming the kits but it must be the spray for puppies and kittens you can buy this from your vet ( do your own ferret too and any cats or dogs you may have at the same time) if your friend moves mom with the kits when they are only two weeks old there is a very good chance she will begin eating them as she will think its better to re absorb all the goodness she has put into them than go through the stress of a preditor getting them ( and to her moving around and your friends new smell = a threat and a preditor ) I hope for the sake of mom and the babies she leaves them with you for the next eight weeks sorry but she should of thought of mom before she went away what would she of done if you had not been available? take care bye for now
Bev

[Heather]

First congratulations on the birth of your first litter
You are beyond a shadow of a doubt the most wonderful friend in the world (though personally I'd be burying your friend in a really deep hole * (headwall)) Fleas too....the poor wee mite, poor you too. Ask your vet for a safe product (you're in Australia right, Phae might also be able to help you with a product that is available to you and is safe for a lactating jill and kits) We don't have frontline in a spray, so perhaps something else might be available that is both safe and vet approved. I would have to admit that moving the wee jill to a new housing arrangement within the first couple of weeks of giving birth is about as irresponsible a move as leaving a jill who's going to give birth within a few days with a friend. I guess the whole thing shouldn't surprise me at this point. I checked through some of my medical books and could find no specific information regarding moving a jill and her newborn kits (I think because they wouldn't believe that someone would be that irresponsible). I did find this in "Biology and diseases of ferrets" in the chapter growth, reproduction and breeding....Dr James Fox notes that "it is important to maintain a narrow variation in environment, because it may induce abnormal behaviour in lactating jills and cause them to reject their young" It doesn't specify a time period but considering your friends absolute lack of responsibility in just leaving her jill at this time, I would think that hand rearing her jill's kits would not be something she would want to take on. With that statement, I agree entirely with Bev and though this gives you a lot of work, she should be prepared to leaving the kits and the jill with you for the duration, at least at the very minimum until they start to wean off and where the jill's rejection would cause the least damage.
ciao

[Deleted]

Revolution spot on is quite safe to use i treat my girls a few days before birth, but have treated them a day or two after birth. Quite safe and does everything but tapeworm (which is passed by fleas, so no fleas, no tapeworm, rare in any case). A whole pipette of the puppy & kitten solution (pink box) is fine.

[Deleted]

Ok great thank you
Should she still be having bloody discharge? small amount.

[Sherry]

I wouldn't think so.

[unclejoe]

I'm glad they're doing well. Great job. Are they all nursing?