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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 17:00:44 GMT -5
Idk why I go in pet stores. I wish I could get the frozen food in the mail So today while ordering food at the pet store, a sign saying "ferret- 99.99" caught my eye... I guess the "CAUTION, MAY BITE" helped catch it too! But usually they are 169.99 at this pet store in particular. Weird... So I picked up the little plastic hamster house in the enclosure, and BEHOLD. A full grown albino was curled up underneath. I asked what his story was and apparently he was given to the store by some people who were cleaning an apartment and found him there. Besides that, they have no idea where he came from or how old he is (and I think they said they've had him for a few days?). So I picked him up and loved him for a while. He laid right in the nook of my arm and took the loving pretty hard. He even gave me kisses on my chest and arms. I'm not an expert at aging by teeth, put they were translucent about a 3rd of the way up the canine, not quite to the middle of it. I'll try to snap a picture of it when I see him again, but I'm thinking he's probably around 5 years old, give or take a year. He's also got a touch of rat tail, but nothing a little cleaning can't fix I don't think. He either hasn't been handled much or doesn't have much trust because his back legs gripped my arm when I held him up and he got a little stiff. I put him down and hand wrestled with him... he's playful, but he nipped my hand pretty good! I told them I would take him right there for $50. They said they could only go down to $75, but that the manager would be in tomorrow and I could talk to him about doing $50. I'm kind of glad they didn't go down to $50 today for a few different reasons. The most important being I don't have another cage to quarantine him in from Yogi. They said I was more than welcome to bring in Yogi to see if they get along, but albino guy hasn't been tested for ADV so I don't think I want to risk it. Health wise, I'm a little concerned also. I have a glucometer that I used to monitor my previous business and wonder if they'd be ok with me testing him (or am I going too crazy ferret lady here?!?). It's going to be a hefty vet bill considering he's a weathered older guy and will need some blood work, an ADV test and I'll probably just go ahead and get the deslorelin implant done as well. I don't want to be rude, but I really just want to ask if I can just take this guy off their hands and only reimburse them for the rabies and I think distemper booster, since getting him vetted is going to be a hit. I also have my concerns of taking in an older guy, since I'm sure if he doesn't have insulinoma at this point, it will be in the near future... and I feel like I've had my fill of ferrets on pred and watching the toll it takes on their sweet bodies. And I wonder how he would get along with Yogi, since he's only 7 months old (although an old soul). What are everyone else's bargaining stories? Has anyone introduced an older ferret to a younger ferret and what was the result?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 17:20:33 GMT -5
My Marty boy was 6 when I introduced him to my nearly 1 year old at the time, Layla. I let them meet on my mom's bed, because at the time Layla's cage was staying in her room. The door worked as a sort of bridge, I remember. Anyway. Marty was interested in all of the toys that he could crawl in, and Layla went right after him. After a bit of I-sniff-you-sniff-me and Layla attempting to clean his ears, Layla decided it was play time, and Marty played back, but only by wrestling (he wasn't doing too well, he came from a bad home and only had a couple days or so on good food before meeting Layla, so he was still really thin). There was no blood, poop, or pee, but Marty was making the "wrong" noises, which is when I started to suspect he was deaf.
When he started getting tired, he followed her to her cage when she went to the litter box and just curled up in her blankets all by himself, Layla sniffed around a bit and curled up with him, but didn't go to sleep, she just stared at me for a bit with perked up ears like "Thank you mommy". They were only separated until I got the cage out of my mom's room, a few days, and since then they've been perfect together.
Its been a year since I got Marty, and you wouldn't recognize the little guy. He was almost bald, skittish, and would defecate whenever he encountered something new. Now he's long-furred, confident, and is starting to pick play fights with Layla! Layla loves him to death, and I'll have a rough road when he has to leave us.
Keep in mind that all ferrets are different. I was incredibly lucky to have two ferrets that were immediately willing to sleep together, on the first day.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 18:08:21 GMT -5
The little guy sounds like he has had a tough time. I'd love to see you take him home. Enabling device activated. Roamy and Juliet were on Craigslist. I negotiated with their previous owner and even told her to keep all the cage materials and cage and try to sell it. She came down in price. Wynstan was at Petco. He was there for almost seven months. We stop in that store and know one of the sales girls. She spoke to the manager ( a bit of a meanie) and they dropped the price on him to about half of what they usually get for a ferret. It never hurts to ask. Once you explain the possible costs to the manager, he/she may be willing to come way down and save the store the vetting fees. We did ask about that and the individual store carries the vet costs. I wish the little one all the best and hope he finds his forever home.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 18:46:44 GMT -5
I'd love to see you take him home. Enabling device activated. Yoooouuuu are a terrible enabler, hah! But last week I was talking to the boyfriend about being concerned about Yogi becoming lonely when I go back to work and he said we can get him a friend... via text. You know what that means? He left a paper trail. And now there's a screen shot to prove it ;-) mwahaha. I'm going to go in tomorrow and talk to them, see if I can talk them down and maybe even throw in some free ferret education for them. I'll let you know how that goes :-)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 18:47:55 GMT -5
In the mean time, here's a picture. It doesn't do him justice, he is actually quite the handsome dude.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 18:55:35 GMT -5
I'd love to see you take him home. Enabling device activated. Yoooouuuu are a terrible enabler, hah! But last week I was talking to the boyfriend about being concerned about Yogi becoming lonely when I go back to work and he said we can get him a friend... via text. You know what that means? He left a paper trail. And now there's a screen shot to prove it ;-) mwahaha. I'm going to go in tomorrow and talk to them, see if I can talk them down and maybe even throw in some free ferret education for them. I'll let you know how that goes :-) The little guy is adorable. Silly boyfriend leaving a paper trail. (giggle) I can't wait to hear how it goes. I had some cards made with the HFF website listed. I leave them at any willing petstores that I go into. It didn't cost very much and if we get one new member who learns more than I am happy.
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Post by Sherry on Sept 8, 2015 18:57:35 GMT -5
Our pet store won't bargain. Period. They had an older male DEW who was obviously adrenal and they wouldn't even consider surrendering him to the rescue.Those eyes look SO sad He NEEDS you!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 20:36:18 GMT -5
Our pet store won't bargain. Period. They had an older male DEW who was obviously adrenal and they wouldn't even consider surrendering him to the rescue.Those eyes look SO sad He NEEDS you! I'm really hoping they will work with me, especially considering that they got him for free (I hope I don't get the girl in trouble for telling me that!). Honestly I really don't care for that petstore... but I'm hoping someone has a heart. Honestly if they won't just give him to me, I'll probably end up buying him for $50. But I'm REALLY dreading the vet bill/finding out he's too far gone. He's older yeah, but I thought him a little too chill to be 100% healthy Obviously this is all dependent on whether he gets along with Yogi. ::fingers crossed" @poncesmom I've already got the boyfriend convinced to come check him out when he's up here for the weekend on Saturday ;-) If he's not already in my house by then lol. Sherry That's really terrible! Did they not believe there was anything wrong with him??
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 20:57:18 GMT -5
I can't wait to hear all about him.
You've made a connection with him. Once that connection is made, you will always care about him. If he doesn't come home with you, then you will always wonder about him. We all have one or two who got away. Mine was a little girl who I called Pandora. I waited too long and she was gone when I went back for her. I hope she had a happy forever home.
He may be chill because he is older and just plain bored. There just isn't much to do in those small ferret enclosures. Fingers crossed he is healthy and if he is not, we have plenty of ferrents who can offer advice and help finding good vets and keeping those vet bills a little more reasonable. For example, we have ferrents who take their ferrets Blood Glucose at home. They can suggest a reasonable meter and you avoid too many BG checks which add up.
I once had some bloodwork come back and the ferrents here helped me read the bloodwork and saved me from added vet visits. I'm not trying to imply that we can replace a vet. Just that you have a whole forum of experience and that is priceless.
:wave3:
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Post by Desiree on Sept 8, 2015 20:57:39 GMT -5
When I got my girl, Rebel, she was experiencing a mild insulinoma attack. I didn't know her and she didn't know me and it took me a day or two to notice anything was wrong. We took her to the vet and she was put on pred and then not even a month later was diagnosed adrenal. She is around 7 years old and still going strong. Knock on wood but we are coming up on a year of being together and she is doing great. The meds have certainly helped her. Even if this little one is sick, with proper care hopefully he will bounce back.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2015 23:29:39 GMT -5
Desiree You give me hope! I'm really just terrified he's too far out, so to speak. And I just hate the pred... my experience with it is after a while it starts to not work as well. Of course you end up upping the dose which helps for a while, but the long term effects of the med really takes its toll and I hate hate hate it! But, happy thoughts for now! @poncesmom So sad about Pandora... I'm sure she hit the ferret jackpot and found someone who gave her the best home (maybe it was even one of us ;-) ). Thanks for all the encouragement! Experienced ferrents are worth their weight in salmon oil! : : And so are ferret savvy vets! I have an amazing vet I took my previous business to, whom I was referred to by the ferret rescue I got them from. Granted it's about 45 minutes away, but I wouldn't trust anyone else! Knowledgeable, fair prices, and I think I even got a discount a few times when I went in (I had 3 seniors at the time... I think he pitied me a little, being a student and all, hah!). I also loved that he knew I was in the medical field, so we usually had pretty in depth convos about what was going on with the fur kids. Insulinoma, adrenal, CHF, splenomegaly warranting a splenectomy, hypoglycemic seizures, lymphoma... you name it and my fur kids probably taught me about it. So hopefully I'll be able to repay some of the knowledge shared with me, with my own! I do have a meter, which I will probably be taking with me tomorrow in hopes of them letting me check him out. Really this will all depend on my main man, Yogi. He's pretty laid back, so I have high hopes :-)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2015 8:08:14 GMT -5
I would not give rabies nor distemper shots to an older ferret-- As far as the law is concerned, I do what is best for my ferret. If he was a nipper and you were always around people, understandable. Rabies is about one of the most uncalled for shots in a ferret, as they have to be in direct contact with bodily fluids from a rabid animal. College students would need to give rabies in case someone complained over a ferret nip.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2015 9:26:04 GMT -5
I did it with my other business because I was recommended to by the rescue I got them from, but didn't when they got into their later years. Yogi hasn't been to the vet yet (he's 7 months, meh) but this guy would need to go. I feel like they're gonna push for the rabies and distemper... you know, the whole "well if your ferret bites someone, the only way to tell if they have rabies is by cutting it's head off. o.O I wonder what the incidence rate is of ferrets getting distemper? abbeytheferret6 what do you think of the ADV testing?
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Post by Sherry on Sept 9, 2015 10:15:58 GMT -5
It wasn't that they wouldn't believe anything was wrong. It was rather obvious. But they seem to believe they could STILL make some money off him.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2015 10:32:22 GMT -5
It wasn't that they wouldn't believe anything was wrong. It was rather obvious. But they seem to believe they could STILL make some money off him. That's truly horrible... I would have been infuriated! Gonna try to keep myself in check today though ;-)
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