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OMG BYZANTIUM
Dec 30, 2008
Enjoy your smell weasels.

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CompactFanny
Oct 1, 2008

DAD LOST MY IPOD posted:

Thread's been going well and in a positive direction for a few posts now, so it's time for a bringdown!

We are having Rocky put to sleep this afternoon. His back legs are paralyzed and whatever's happening to him is progressive. Poor little guy, he survived insulinoma and adrenal surgery. Time to rest little trooper.

Sorry about your little dude. It is hard when they go but you're doing him the ultimate kindness. Also, he didn't survive insulinoma, it is terminal. Sorry I'm just the semantics police :v:

Re: ferret proofing
Imo kitchens should all be no ferrets allowed because they are full of dangers and, as you have found, are hard to make safe. The most elegant solution I have seen is a sheet of plexi fitted to the door frame, with a pvc pipe running along the top (so you can grip it). It was held in place with a thin little strip of wood like moulding or something, and a finishing nail. So you could just slide it down into the track and form a clear barrier, short enough to step over. We put stickers on it to help keep ferrets from running into it BUT that is also hilarious.

I hope I am explaining this well! :stoat:

Madmarker
Jan 7, 2007

CompactFanny posted:

Sorry about your little dude. It is hard when they go but you're doing him the ultimate kindness. Also, he didn't survive insulinoma, it is terminal. Sorry I'm just the semantics police :v:

Re: ferret proofing
Imo kitchens should all be no ferrets allowed because they are full of dangers and, as you have found, are hard to make safe. The most elegant solution I have seen is a sheet of plexi fitted to the door frame, with a pvc pipe running along the top (so you can grip it). It was held in place with a thin little strip of wood like moulding or something, and a finishing nail. So you could just slide it down into the track and form a clear barrier, short enough to step over. We put stickers on it to help keep ferrets from running into it BUT that is also hilarious.

I hope I am explaining this well! :stoat:

Unfortunately, there is no door frame, but i could accomplish something similar. I live in a decent sized apartment which is divided into 2 main rooms, a bedroom and a Kitchen/Living Room combined. The bed room is a no go for the little bugger, the air vents are on the floor in that room and are easy to get to, whereas in the main room the air vents are on the ceiling....go figure. So the main room is her main play area.

DAD LOST MY IPOD
Feb 3, 2012

Fats Dominar is on the case


CompactFanny posted:

Sorry about your little dude. It is hard when they go but you're doing him the ultimate kindness. Also, he didn't survive insulinoma, it is terminal. Sorry I'm just the semantics police :v:


Well, he had it last summer, had part of his pancreas removed and from then until his death had no problems with his blood sugar or reappearance of symptoms. What got him appears to be some kind of spinal disorder.

We said goodbye this afternoon. It was rough, but now that I have some closure I'm less upset about him. He was a fighter and held on as long as he could but it was time to rest.

We're about to take our other two to a new apartment so it'll be a fun few days of ferret-proofing. Can't wait to see what kinds of seemingly impossibly small spaces they can get into, but not out of.

Eifert Posting
Apr 1, 2007

Most of the time he catches it every time.
Grimey Drawer
I saw a wild stoat today in Korea. They're super rare, so I was pumped. We stared each other down for a bit as a gushed at my wife.


"Look somethin's movi-AAAAAAA STOATSTOAT- holy poo poo a stoat look look look! Look!"





OMG a stoat.

BONE DOG
Jun 7, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
Nice marmot.

ElectricSheep
Jan 14, 2006

she had tiny Italian boobs.
Well that's my story.
We noticed last night that our 3-ish-year-old rescue girl had very swollen lymph nodes under her armpits, and the ones near her neck are swelling a bit. The symptoms just seemed to present themselves in the last couple of days because we clipped her nails last week and there was no problem.

She's eating fine and she's playful and sweet but I'm going worst-case and thinking lymphoma, especially because she's had splenomegaly since we adopted her and our vet's been monitoring that. Since her quality of life hasn't been affected we haven't gone with a splenectomy, especially given her history prior to us adopting her. Unfortunately, his office is shut down today but at least he works on Fridays and Saturdays so maybe we can squeeze in a visit this weekend and figure out where to go from here.

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

ElectricSheep posted:

We noticed last night that our 3-ish-year-old rescue girl had very swollen lymph nodes under her armpits, and the ones near her neck are swelling a bit. The symptoms just seemed to present themselves in the last couple of days because we clipped her nails last week and there was no problem.

She's eating fine and she's playful and sweet but I'm going worst-case and thinking lymphoma, especially because she's had splenomegaly since we adopted her and our vet's been monitoring that. Since her quality of life hasn't been affected we haven't gone with a splenectomy, especially given her history prior to us adopting her. Unfortunately, his office is shut down today but at least he works on Fridays and Saturdays so maybe we can squeeze in a visit this weekend and figure out where to go from here.

Is she on any medication currently? We briefly thought one of mine had lymphoma, but it turned out to be a reaction to his prednisone that was causing his lymph nodes to swell. I won't lie, it eventually caused me to have to put him down, but he still had more time and quality of life.

Here's hoping it's some other kind of immune response. IMO, lymphoma is probably the worst of the fert cancers. :/

(You know, in case this thread had gotten too light-hearted!!!)

Maully Millions
Aug 10, 2014

Inappropriate.

I think Artemis might be an alcoholic.



Also, a co-worker called her Artichoke today. :3:

ElectricSheep
Jan 14, 2006

she had tiny Italian boobs.
Well that's my story.

Serella posted:

Is she on any medication currently? We briefly thought one of mine had lymphoma, but it turned out to be a reaction to his prednisone that was causing his lymph nodes to swell. I won't lie, it eventually caused me to have to put him down, but he still had more time and quality of life.

Here's hoping it's some other kind of immune response. IMO, lymphoma is probably the worst of the fert cancers. :/

(You know, in case this thread had gotten too light-hearted!!!)

She's not on meds, and she's eating and drinking fine without exhibiting any symptoms of illness. The wife and I are taking off work to get her a biopsy and blood work on Tuesday. The vet wanted to make us aware of the worst-case scenario, which we already ran through all Thanksgiving.

On a lighter note, right after we got a vet consult on Friday we took her out and about on her harness for her first trip to the local pet store, which she loved. Got a free Christmas picture taken and everything, which reminds me that they still haven't emailed it to us yet.

Madmarker
Jan 7, 2007

Ok, well I resolved the issues with ferret proofing the apartment, thick plastic and some tape did the trick. But now I need a little help here with the ferret's pooping habits. I know that she'll never be perfectly litter trained, but this ferret seems to actively avoid the litter box. I routinely clean it, and wash it out every few days, however she still seems to avoid it even with Fresh Litter. There are 2 places in the cage she likes to relieve herself, and whichever one I put the Litter Box in, she goes to the other one. Any ideas on how to litter train her better? I mean, whenever I catch her going in the litter box, as soon as she's done I give her a treat, but can't think of a better solution. Any ideas? I mean, worst case scenario, I'll just be buying paper towels by the pallet at Costco, so its not a huge issue, but it is annoying.


On the plus side though, she has only pooped out of the cage once, and that was the second day I had her, otherwise she does wait to get back in the cage, so no real complaints with that behavior.

peengers
Jun 6, 2003

toot toot

Madmarker posted:

Ok, well I resolved the issues with ferret proofing the apartment, thick plastic and some tape did the trick. But now I need a little help here with the ferret's pooping habits. I know that she'll never be perfectly litter trained, but this ferret seems to actively avoid the litter box. I routinely clean it, and wash it out every few days, however she still seems to avoid it even with Fresh Litter. There are 2 places in the cage she likes to relieve herself, and whichever one I put the Litter Box in, she goes to the other one. Any ideas on how to litter train her better? I mean, whenever I catch her going in the litter box, as soon as she's done I give her a treat, but can't think of a better solution. Any ideas? I mean, worst case scenario, I'll just be buying paper towels by the pallet at Costco, so its not a huge issue, but it is annoying.


On the plus side though, she has only pooped out of the cage once, and that was the second day I had her, otherwise she does wait to get back in the cage, so no real complaints with that behavior.

Advice: don't bother training and put down puppy pads where she likes to poop. You can get them bulk, trim them to the cage size, and they work incredibly well. Ferrets have like a 60% hit rate on where you want them to poop because they're like OMG GOTTA POOP NOW OOH A CORNER.

A CRAB IRL
May 6, 2009

If you're looking for me, you better check under the sea

Don't keep your ferrets indoors if you want your friends to ever come to your house again because they loving stink (ref: personal experience)

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

peengers posted:

Advice: don't bother training and put down puppy pads where she likes to poop. You can get them bulk, trim them to the cage size, and they work incredibly well. Ferrets have like a 60% hit rate on where you want them to poop because they're like OMG GOTTA POOP NOW OOH A CORNER.

Puppy training pads are the loving best. Buy on sale in bulk, f'sho. Put one in every corner. Every. Corner.

CompactFanny
Oct 1, 2008

Ok I have some potty tips.

1) choose corners for your box placements, try to use the same kind of box or pad or whatever in each location.

2) when they first wake up, they will want to go. Put them in the box. They will probably want to run off, but just keep putting them back. When they do go (it won't take too long) treat them with ferretone the whole time they go and after. Make this a "first thing when you wake up" routine.

3) walking forward into a box and then turning around to poo poo is very unnatural for the majestic ferret, he prefers to walk backwards to his poop spot (because predators might be in the cage, must be ever vigilant). So a flat thing like a pee pad tends to meet with less resistance than a box. If you do prefer the box, one with a low front entrance will be best.

4) litter: your ferret will not have interest in burying its presents. I never had trouble with paper pellet litter, but I have no experience with clay clumping litter. I personally wouldn't suggest it due to the dust and the possibility that they ingest some.

Go forth and potty train you crazy fert goons. :stoat::hf::stoat:

ElectricSheep
Jan 14, 2006

she had tiny Italian boobs.
Well that's my story.
Well, the biopsy came back positive for lymphoma.

She's had a hard life up to the point we got her from the shelter - her owner had been hit on-foot by a van and comatose for 6 months before she died, and the owner's husband was apparently drunk when he brought her and her two cagemates to the rescue. All 3 of them appeared malnourished, and 2 of them died about a week or so after arrival. She fattened up nicely after we adopted her though and she clearly appreciates it - she's a kisser and she loves to lick faces to the point where you'd probably tire of it before she does.

The vet recommends prednisone or oral chemo medications; I'm not sure how effective the latter will be if we don't combine that with a trip to a veterinary oncologist, and even that would just prolong the inevitable. At first we were planning on making that decision in about ten days when she goes back to have her stitches out from the biopsy, but I'm feeling more and more like I want to schedule a visit earlier to get her on medication so that we can make sure her quality of life doesn't decline with us just asleep at the wheel.

This sucks, especially because our other 2 girls (non-Marshall's bred) are nearly 5 and 6 respectively and both of them blaze around with a shitload of energy. Didn't figure it'd be the younger one first.

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

CompactFanny posted:

4) litter: your ferret will not have interest in burying its presents. I never had trouble with paper pellet litter, but I have no experience with clay clumping litter. I personally wouldn't suggest it due to the dust and the possibility that they ingest some.

My experience with ferts and clay litter was that they stick their noses right into it, get bits in their nose, then get upset because :stoat: BITS IN MY NOSE :stoat:

Cless Alvein
May 25, 2007
Bloopity Bloo
I thought people say no to clumping clay cuz ferrets are stupid and might get it stuck in their butts or something. I dunno I just use a big rear end bag of corn corb horse litter from tractor supply for like $10. ~50lbs lasts for drat ever.

Maully Millions
Aug 10, 2014

Inappropriate.

I use recycled newspaper pellet litter. The ferrets use the floor in the corner by the door next to the litter box. To each his own.

Cless Alvein
May 25, 2007
Bloopity Bloo
Yeah the ferrets have their preferred corner to poop in. I'd love to put a litter box there but it the door to my bathroom soo I kinda can't open the door then. Oh well I clean up a little poop sometimes or I don't notice it and the dog gets to it first. (ew)

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

Cless Alvein posted:

Yeah the ferrets have their preferred corner to poop in. I'd love to put a litter box there but it the door to my bathroom soo I kinda can't open the door then. Oh well I clean up a little poop sometimes or I don't notice it and the dog gets to it first. (ew)

Puppy training pads, man. One in every corner.

Maully Millions
Aug 10, 2014

Inappropriate.

Cless Alvein posted:

Yeah the ferrets have their preferred corner to poop in. I'd love to put a litter box there but it the door to my bathroom soo I kinda can't open the door then. Oh well I clean up a little poop sometimes or I don't notice it and the dog gets to it first. (ew)


Sometimes our roomba gets to it before we do :shrek:

ElectricSheep
Jan 14, 2006

she had tiny Italian boobs.
Well that's my story.
Our lymphoma rescue's made it this far, but maybe not much longer. We noticed symptoms of ataxia Sunday night, with the tilted head and jankety stride, and took her in today.

The vet's thinking what I thought; the cancer may have advanced to her nervous system, especially because her pupils are constricting unevenly under light. However, she's still eating, drinking, and playing in a very lively (if crooked) fashion. He gave her a cortisone shot and told us to keep an eye on her, but it's pretty clear her time is limited.

I'm surprised she's held out this long and still seems to be plugging away despite everything. I definitely don't want her to suffer and honestly thought I'd be euthanizing her today, but I can't argue that it's nice to have a little more time.

Nightmare Zone
Aug 3, 2014

Do you like sucking jalapenos?
I have a question bout these weasels. I'm a little allergic to them but not by much - would a diet improvement cause the allergens to be as bad? Pet store ferrets make me sneezy if I'm around them too long but I haven't been around any on a proper diet and figured that'd make the quality of their coat better and therefore reduce whatever I'm allergic to.

Asking because I'd like one in the future. I used to think I was allergic to cats too but I started using litter that wasn't lovely for my roommate's cats and my allergies "mysteriously" disappeared.

CompactFanny
Oct 1, 2008

Are you sure you weren't just irritated by the litter dust? A true allergy is a response to a specific protein, usually found in the saliva, and will have nothing to do with the animal's diet. Ferret allergies are usually pretty mild in my experience, and can get worse or better over time. Sorry this isn't very helpful, allergies are just weird.

Nightmare Zone
Aug 3, 2014

Do you like sucking jalapenos?
Yeah, with cats it seems to be just a litter issue and not the actual cat. That's good to know about allergies though , I thought it was just the fur. Huh.

I guess it'd be impossible to tell unless I was around them for a while.

YeehawMcKickass
Jan 2, 2003

WE WELCOME THE OPPRESSORS
Tifa here is either trying to steal my soul or entertain me. I can't figure out which one.

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

YeehawMcKickass posted:

Tifa here is either trying to steal my soul or entertain me. I can't figure out which one.



I see you're keeping your ferret's habitat interesting. They love random piles more than anything.

YeehawMcKickass
Jan 2, 2003

WE WELCOME THE OPPRESSORS

Serella posted:

I see you're keeping your ferret's habitat interesting. They love random piles more than anything.

her actual cage is boring. That box is her playtime box.

Maully Millions
Aug 10, 2014

Inappropriate.

We have a big bag of paper under the bed that our fluffs enjoy too! What else do you guys do? I'm always looking for more enrichment for them.

We've also got a hamper of old pillows and sheets in the closet, large pvc pipes running behind stuff, etc. And lots of cat toys, some of which they stole from their cat friend they stayed with over Xmas.

DAD LOST MY IPOD
Feb 3, 2012

Fats Dominar is on the case


So one of ours found a hole in the kitchen cabineting she can get into that doesn't appear to lead inside any of the cabinets. When she goes in there I hear a crinkling like plastic bags. She can come out and when she did last I grabbed her and put her in Ferret Jail but it worries me-- what if there's rat traps/poison in there? What if there are holes and she falls in one? I need to plug up the stupid thing.

HappyKitty
Jul 11, 2005

If not for our current crop of herbivores (3 degus, 2 guinea pigs, 1 chinchilla - caviomorph supremacy), my wife and I would love to get a couple of furrets. We have ferrt-sat for some friends of ours in the past, and we put their cage/play area in our basement. Even after the ferrets left, the lingering smell of predator made our rodents incredibly wary next few times we took them downstairs to play. Pretty sure that having fererts in the house 24/7 would render our poor rodents completely paranoid :ohdear:

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

DAD LOST MY IPOD posted:

So one of ours found a hole in the kitchen cabineting she can get into that doesn't appear to lead inside any of the cabinets. When she goes in there I hear a crinkling like plastic bags. She can come out and when she did last I grabbed her and put her in Ferret Jail but it worries me-- what if there's rat traps/poison in there? What if there are holes and she falls in one? I need to plug up the stupid thing.

Sometimes lazy-rear end contractors who put together the cabinets will leave Actual Trash or other bits in there, so it's best to get a bit of balsa wood to wedge in there and block it off. I used to have to roll up a rug in front of the oven at my old place because one of my ferrets could fit underneath it, which is definitely A Good Place To Hang Out when you're 1.5 lbs.


HappyKitty posted:

If not for our current crop of herbivores (3 degus, 2 guinea pigs, 1 chinchilla - caviomorph supremacy), my wife and I would love to get a couple of furrets. We have ferrt-sat for some friends of ours in the past, and we put their cage/play area in our basement. Even after the ferrets left, the lingering smell of predator made our rodents incredibly wary next few times we took them downstairs to play. Pretty sure that having fererts in the house 24/7 would render our poor rodents completely paranoid :ohdear:

Yup. Small prey animals know the scent of predators. You'd likely end up with some animals stressed to death if you tried to add ferrets to your home, just the way it goes. I always missing having guinea pigs, but with a dog, cat, and ferrets (though no ferts currently), the pigs would just be miserable. At least you're good enough to realize it's not a viable option. I've seen homes with dogs, cats, ferrets, snakes, rats, and all kind of other weird poo poo that struck their fancy, and most of the pets seemed miserable.

Addz
Apr 13, 2015
I'm surprised there isnt a Ferret megathread, usually people that own ferrets are passionate about them and have their own little communities.

I've always wanted to get a ferret, I put a lot of research into owning one and what always struck me was the smell removal/masking methods people use. Typically if the cage is washed very regularly you can minimise the smell to just around the cage, and an air purifier really helps. Anyone have any tips or advice with this? how do you minimise the smell, other than just getting used to it.

Also picture of friends ferrets :3:

Addz fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Apr 16, 2015

CompactFanny
Oct 1, 2008

Cover everything with fabric and wash it A LOT. The ramp covers are honestly the best thing, if you have a typical cage with a shelf. They wake up and go potty and wipe their bellies on the cage ramp going back to bed. I used cheap tube socks and changed them every day. It keeps the smells off their hammocks and stuff which stays fresher longer.

Of course, changing the litter/potty area at least twice a day.

ENZYME CLEANER. It has to say that on the bottle. Natures miracle is a popular brand. I like simple solution (I just like the smell).

Never bathe the ferret unless you have to (IE they got poop on themselves). When you do, use a gentle pet shampoo and don't use too much of it.

:stoat:

Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


I miss ferrets :( they're like better, more fun cats. And the smell is no worse than cat poop!

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

CompactFanny posted:

Never bathe the ferret unless you have to (IE they got poop on themselves). When you do, use a gentle pet shampoo and don't use too much of it.

:stoat:

Oh my god the awful smell of a freshly-washed ferret. :gonk: Do never bathe ferrets. Better to spot clean.

I can't wait to move into our new house so I can get catsneks again, though.

peengers
Jun 6, 2003

toot toot
Everyone likes to sleep under the desk.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Cless Alvein
May 25, 2007
Bloopity Bloo
I am still amazed at how much my little fuckers eat and poo poo. The two of them combined probably don't even weigh 5 lbs. Yet they tear through a 15 lb bag of cat food faster than the 40 lb dog does through a 30lb bag.

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peengers
Jun 6, 2003

toot toot

Cless Alvein posted:

I am still amazed at how much my little fuckers eat and poo poo. The two of them combined probably don't even weigh 5 lbs. Yet they tear through a 15 lb bag of cat food faster than the 40 lb dog does through a 30lb bag.

Like 3 hours from mouth to rear end, it's amazing.

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