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Post by katt on Nov 16, 2011 2:37:29 GMT -5
I think you should focus on different textures as well as smells. I Luke the suggested idea of laying different rugs and materials down. You might also try some different toys with different shapes and textures. She may or may not be able to be enticed into playing with toys she can't see, but even deafies like playing with rattle toys for the vibrations and stuff. I have a few more ideas but ai have to drive home so I'll post them later
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Post by katt on Nov 16, 2011 3:42:13 GMT -5
Okay more ideas! If you put her in the play pen, when she begins to feel more comfortable with the pen you could tie a strong across the pen from one end to the other, and hang things from it. I'm thinking like a small veil of ribbons, or a soft, lightweight piece of fabric. It might scare her too much, but it might give her something fun to run through too. Or you could say hang different ribbons at different lengths that are scented differently. They'll brush her as she runs through/past it providing touch-stimulation. Like a little bead curtain only softer. Or in only a few more spaced out spots. Either way. Maybe try both - the curtain might startle her more though. Derby eggs would be good, maybe a rubbermaid dig-box with a few of them in it (so that she can find them vs them randomly laying around or you handing them to her lol) so she can feel the vibrations of the eggs, and the thumping of the eggs as they roll and hit the sides of the box. A subwoofer on full power with loud bass! ;D A few small tubs or boxes lined up filled with different scents? Not sure how you could do this best, but maybe some fabric scraps in each box that you got from different places? Or spritzed with extracts. For the fabrics for example you could leave some laying outside a few days, bury some in the dirt for a day or two, put some through the washing machine with different detergents/fabric softeners (watch for EO's), rub one on a frozen chicken, etc etc. Also how old is she? Not to be a downer, but it sounds like she's in a tough spot already, does she have a prognosis for her potential life span? On the one hand you don't want to shorten her life any more than it already has been, but on the other if you feel that she only has a little more time left anyways, perhaps EO's wouldn't hurt? Quality vs quantity... I'm not too sure of the symptoms EO's cause though, I certainly wouldn't want to cause her any discomfort, but if it's just small amounts to scent the walls and such, it might be gentle enough to not cause discomfort but enough scent stimulation to make her life a little easier. You'd have to worry about the other ferrets for the walls, but perhaps for toys just for her or something? Just a thought. Thoughts on this anyone....?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2011 7:06:39 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your girl's troubles. Brain damage can affect their sense of smell. You may want to test her smeller. That may be one reason she isn't eating her former treats - she doesn't recognize them any more. Ferrets olfactory senses are a large part of their brain and input from their environment.
Definitely stay away from the essential oils and mints. I'd avoid vanilla extract as extract has alcohol in it. Or at least use it and let it dissipate for a bit so the alcohol evaporates. Try more real earth smells. Like a handful of dirt drizzled along the baseboard. Get some grass from the lawn and scrub it down a hallway. A freshly broken tree limb scratched along the floor. If she's a raw fed ferret leave a trail of rid bits for her to follow. If kibble fed, do the same. Her whiskers will soon giver her tons of feedback.
My Fizzle has gone blind, and there are days when it seems as if Roman is losing his sight. Fizzle gets around as good as the sighted ones, even climbing furniture and jumping off! Where her lost sight bothers her is when the others want to play and she cannot read their body language. She still romps with them if they stay close. But she can't run and chase them.
Good luck!
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Post by miamiferret2 on Nov 16, 2011 9:03:58 GMT -5
I have had them lose their eyesight when they get old. So I leave the furniture etc in the same places and I don't move anything around. I have used little carpets with different textures and it seemed to help them get around. I guess when they walk on a certain carpet they know where they are. As for trails of smells I agree w/ heather & I would not use essential oils. But there are other things you can use. Take a handful of fresh basil leaves and rub them along your baseboards leading to her bed/ eating area. Cut the handles off of those crinkly bags from the grocery store and put them in certain spots. Get those plastic Easter eggs and put uncooked rice in them. Roll up aluminum foil into balls. They sell these sleep/play sacks that have crinkle material in the lining.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Nov 16, 2011 9:11:09 GMT -5
You kind of know they are blind bc they don't look at you anymore. They hear you come in and they have their head turned and looking at the wall sniffing at the air. It is sad to me when I see them get old and senile. I've seen then bump into things a lot. I have always used a large carrier that I leave open and my ferrets use it use it as a bed. When they are blind they hit the sides with their face as they are entering it. Others hit their face or mouth on their ceramic food bowl when they would go eat. So if they aren't totally blind it seems that most of them lose their depth perception when they get up there in age.
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Post by acodlin on Nov 17, 2011 20:19:15 GMT -5
With Naobi you have to keep in mind that she circles... she circles and circles and circles till she finds a wall or something she knows and then she can follow it, but if she loses track of where shes at, its back to circling. Its hard to explain but its what she does. She's around 4 years old and in otherwise good health.. no adrenal/insulinoma. We are trying to reintroduce foods to her, she got use to eating A/D and canned baby food, its pretty hard.. she has to eat a min of 100ccs a day, 20ccs per feeding so I can't afford for her to not eat.
Warm and soft seems to = happiness for her. I think I might try stringing some strips of fleece or felt across the pen.. she might like that. I'm not sure if she'd react to the derby eggs but my other kids would love them if she didnt. I think I might brings some leaves in for her once it stops raining for a couple of days >,< new smells and texture for her.
I dont know how to test her sense of smell, I know she CAN smell because as soon as I heat her food up she will wake up from a dead sleep and start sniffing around for it.
I wasnt going to douse the walls in oil, just a couple little dabs from a q-tip here and there. She usually runs into the wall and then walks along it, not up against it. She's also not really grooming herself so I dont think she would ingest it. I could try herbs instead. My baseboards are pretty light in color so I really dont want to rub dirt all over them, my house gets cruddy enough with the other critters.
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Post by Sherry on Nov 17, 2011 20:39:31 GMT -5
It is going to take her a while to adapt. I think she may be circling like she is so she CAN find something familiar. At least the way you've described it she seems to be. That's definitely where they scents will help her. They'll keep her oriented as to where she is just by the smell, once she comes to associate them with particular places. You just have to keep those scents the same all the time. Check out Wolfy's site. It does have some good ideas.
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