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Post by lyles on Mar 14, 2021 12:31:41 GMT -5
It's been awhile since I been on the forums, a lot has gone on between my post after the tornado and today. The good news is my home was completely renovated after the teeth pulling circus between the insurance and the contractors. We had that Texas freeze here recently and I was lucky I wasn't on the Ercot grid. It did kill all my recently planted fruit trees though save for the nectarine. Alice is doing fine, just recently recovered from ECE that I brought home with me unknowingly from the pet store. It was rough for a couple of weeks but I hand fed her and made sure she drank plenty of water every day until she started eating on her own. All that duck soup went through my duck ground supply pretty fast. She'll be turning 7 next month.  So recently I bought a new ferret. His name is Aron and is a champaign blaze. No wardies though, can hear me just fine and is full of playful energy. He's been a bit tricky switching him. I want him to start eating the grounds and necks that I feed Alice, but he's been very stubborn. He will eat beef and chicken pieces over kibble but has turned his nose up at everything else. I have to stop feeding him chicken too because he is already showing signs of chicken allergy.  Then, just last week, I bought a baby and named him Sean. The petshop owner said he was 3mo. but there's no way, he was so tiny and looked like he was more like 4-5 weeks old. Switching him was effortless, immediately started eating the same food as Alice. He has a strange symptom of ragged heaving and coughing while he's trying to sleep, but does not do it at all while awake, save for a light sneeze every often. I'm planning on taking him to the vet on Tuesday to make sure it's nothing serious.  I really lucked out finding my vet in clearsprings. When Aron gave Alice ECE she was in really bad shape and I wanted to take her to a vet ER, but because I live out in the middle of nowhere the only 2 vets that see exotics are both over an hour drive, booked up over a month for appointments and do not have ER services. None of the smaller practices would not see a ferret either, except for one half an hour away. She's not an expert in ferrets but was willing to see them. She gave me anti-nausea and antibiotics just in case they get secondary infections and I was shocked at how inexpensive she is, both ferrets and meds only came out to 62 dollars. After a couple of weeks giving them both the medicine both made a full recovery. They are all getting along too. Both new additions tend to ignore Alice, as Alice doesn't like to play but does like to watch them play with each other. I was nervous at first at how rough Aron was playing with Sean as Sean is so small and he would make a lot of noise, but soon as I broke them up Sean would jump back into the frey  |
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Post by Charlie on Mar 14, 2021 19:45:56 GMT -5
Awww Alice looks so cute. What a pretty girl. Glad Alice and Aron made a full recovery from ECE. Aron and Sean are very cute too. Yeah, it looks like Sean is very tiny and definitely not 3 months. lol Wow, that's amazing how the one vet you saw was very reasonable with her fees!! My vet is reasonable too, not like yours but better then most. She considers ferrets pocket pets. I do have another vet as well that is 2 hours away that I take him to for the big things like his DES implant since my vet here doesn't see enough ferrets to warrant getting the implants in to her office.
Good to hear your house was completely renovated after the tornado. Sorry to hear that the insurance company and contractor were giving you a hard time. It seems insurance companies like taking your money but don't want to pay out when actually needed. The tornado must have been scary!
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Post by unclejoe on Mar 14, 2021 19:58:17 GMT -5
hey it's good to hear from you. I know the tornadoes were bad and I'm glad you are all ok. I lived in FL for 25 years and the couple times we had minor hurricane damage our insurance company was great. We were narrowly missed by a jumper twister that touched down 3 blocks away back in the early 2000s
Alice looks beautiful. She reminds me a bit of my first ferret, Bella, esp the spotted nose. No way Sean is 3 months in that pic. We have gotten several from pet stores at 6 weeks and being a male that's the max I would give him. Did he come with any papers? I would love to see more pics of him.
If you are able, please come back often. We've had a few older members retire from ferretry, and we have some new members that are just starting out with ferrets and raw feeding. Note that I got nominated as an admin. I am on my last 2 ferrets, and you may not even know them, Lilly and Bobo. I lost 5 last year, and a kat.
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
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Post by lyles on Mar 15, 2021 9:24:48 GMT -5
Thanks, Joe. I was really planning on Alice being my last ferret, then these guys happened. Reason I was going to stop caring for ferrets was due to my health. I had a low immune system due to injections I was taking for many years and would get multiple infections on a regular basis from cleaning their waste and handling all this raw meat.
I been off of those injections for 5 months now and my immune system is coming back so I'm not getting sick as often and when I do I can fight them off without antibiotics. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to get some more furkids lol.
Today was the first day I saw Alice actually play with them. She can't hop around or chase them but she can sure wiggle! She also adopted Sean, and grooms him often. They are getting along very well with each other now.
Also was able to get Aron to eat just meat today, so the kibble is officially gone. It's crazy just how much more they poop when they are on that junk, and it stinks so bad.
Sean is still heaving and coughing when he sleeps, sounds like a lot of mucus in his lungs, but when he's awake it's like he only has a cold, eating and playing just fine. It just sounds so bad to me, my vet opens up tomorrow so I'm going to take him there first thing to make sure that it isn't anything serious. I have some children's cold and cough medicine and tried giving him 1/8th cc to see if it helped any 3 times but I didn't hear a difference so I stopped giving it to him. Wasn't sure if it was safe for him or not but it didn't have any painkillers. I'll take the bottle with me to see if she approves it if it's needed.
I haven't been on any forums lately but I'll try to be on here every now and then to check out the new people. I noticed too that the price of ferrets have doubled since the last time I got some. $280! In a way this is good as it helps prevent impulse buying from parents for their kids. People who have to pay more up front tend to take more care like an investment. I wonder though that with how many people are in a financial bind right now and all the restrictions what they are doing with their surplus ferrets?
That's sad that you lost so many in such a short time, was there a thread about it? I thought about Alice a lot through the years that she might not live as long as an average ferret due to her birth defect, but she'll be turning 7 next month and looks and acts the same as she had years ago so I'm sure she'll have a full and happy life. I kinda felt bad that she was alone for the last few years since her sister died and I was hesitant on getting a replacement friend for my previous mention and I was afraid that a new ferret may be too much for her. I'm glad I chose to get more, I can really tell she's enjoying their company.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 15, 2021 10:27:01 GMT -5
So nice to hear from you Lyles and congratulations on the new babies and wow for Alice and 7th birthday! She is a tough one. You have gone where I have not as far as experiencing ferret longevity. 6.5 is about it for me. My little waardie just turned 6, so we will will see how it goes.
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Post by caitmonster on Mar 15, 2021 17:08:19 GMT -5
Hi there, lyles, great to hear about your little furry family. From what you describe it sounds like baby Sean might have an upper respiratory infection: nasty coughing while laying down, but appetite and activity levels are generally unaffected. Rocky had one recently. I came across a mention somewhere on these forums that Guaifenesin is acceptable for use in ferrets--but, of course, you would need a vet's input as to the dosage. Usually only supportive care like watching fluid intake, having them spend time in a humid area like a steamed-up bathroom, and giving antiobiotics to prevent secondary infections are what's prescribed. Many more happy years to little Alice!  |
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Post by Corvidophile on Mar 15, 2021 19:24:25 GMT -5
Hi there, good to see you back. That certainly is a baby ferret! Not older than five weeks, I would agree. Glad your home was fixed.
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Post by unclejoe on Mar 15, 2021 19:31:50 GMT -5
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Post by lyles on Mar 17, 2021 21:52:44 GMT -5
Thanks!
Sean is doing much better yesterday and today, he stopped heaving/coughing and only once and awhile he'll sneeze. Aron started getting a cough though. Speaking of Aron, he started ear sucking the other two. I noticed Alice's both ears wet and he was sucking on Sean's ear. I seen somewhere someone mentioned sudocrem, but I can't find it on amazon and it isn't in any of the local stores. Is there an alternative to discourage the sucking? I break it up when I see/hear it but I can't be around them all the time.
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Post by Charlie on Mar 18, 2021 22:07:30 GMT -5
He is doing it because he is so young. He may outgrow it. He left his momma way too early. Not sure what you can use as an alternative.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 19, 2021 3:55:37 GMT -5
Can you give him some kitten replacement milk every now and then? I know that would not give him the pleasure he gets from nursing though---just to fill the tummy a bit more.
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Post by lyles on Mar 25, 2021 19:06:18 GMT -5
Their hunger seems to be growing. Between 3 ferrets I'm reaching over a pound of meat a day. I don't remember having to feed that much with Nei and Alice when they were young, but these guys are crazy! When they are hungry and there is no food in their dishes they try to flip over their food station and cause as much of a mess as possible. I notice that after I started feeding them more the ear sucking mostly went away, I rarely see it now. I bought some dehydrated duck feet and it seems to distract them while they are hungry to a degree.
Sean (the youngest) barks, growls and jumps like a hedgehog when another ferret or my hand goes near his food while he's eating (won't bite though). Am I feeding them enough or should I put out more? Alice eats very little (2oz/day) and 16oz seems quite a bit.
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Post by Charlie on Mar 28, 2021 11:07:21 GMT -5
Feed them as much as they will eat, especially kits. Females won't eat as much as males. She seems to be eating enough. My sisters ferret is a female too and she is eating 2 oz a day as well.
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Post by Sherry Stone on Apr 1, 2021 22:48:26 GMT -5
Haven't been here for a while myself <3 Glad to see you are still coming by from time to time. So sorry about Alice and the ECE. Nasty bug! And congrats on the newbies!
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Post by lyles on Apr 7, 2021 19:37:33 GMT -5
Alice is fully recovered from ECE now too for the past week, all are doing fine and eating about 1.5lbs of meat between the 3 of them. I'm trying to figure out how to space out their meals. They need like double portions in the evening to last them the night but if I try to space out a serving for breakfast and lunch they gobble that up fast and throw fits before the evening. Seems like the more I break up their meals the more they will eat. They sure are growing fast though, Sean is as big as Aron was when I got him and Aron is a beast.
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