A look into a life with ferrets and other animals ... sharing thoughts and ideas and awesome posts!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Ferret Frenzi
RIP all my babies, I loved you all (named in the order they came into our lives: Bandit, Princess, Sugar, Bear, Georgie, Mittens, Panchito, Roxy, Ginger, Cookie, Benjamin, Brownie & Scrappy). I will keep the great memories close to my heart.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
RIP Cookie

My beloved baby Cookie passed away on New Year's Day.
I remember when I brought her home. She was still so young, her umbilical cord had not yet fallen. I treated her like my baby and she loved every moment of it. No one could comfort her like I could.
Who will comfort me now that she is gone?
She will always be remembered.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Roxy / Baby
Roxy has an unknown past, I don't know how old she was, where she came from or what history she had. I only knew very little. She initially belonged to a teenager who was the son of a friend of my friend (makes sense??). Apparently this teenager was doing all kinds of things they were not supposed to do (big surprise) and the mom put this kid out. When she put her kid out (he was of age) she had a HUGE mess to clean up. This kid had a HUGE mess in the basement / room. My friend went to help with the clean up and discovered this ferret with no food or water. Roxy was lucky to be alive. I guess my friend initially tried to call me to see if I would take it but I was unavailable and her son decided he wanted the ferret. When I called to see what was up she told me she had given the ferret to her son. I was a bit disappointed because I felt that it would be better of with me (another factor of ferret math).
Well a little time passed and her son decided he did not have the time to watch over her so they gave her to me. I did not consult my husband for this one and when I brought her home he was upset. So I set out to find a good home for Roxy but I would keep her in the meantime.
I found a home that I thought would be suitable for her and I could keep a close eye on her and I gave her away. When my husband came home from work he immediately asked me about Roxy. I told him I had given her away. He was upset.
Apparently he had bonded with her but did not want to tell me because he was upset I brought her home. Now he was feeling bad because she was gone. Well, she wasn't gone for too long because she bonded with us too. The home I had taken her too was to a friend of mine and she called me to tell me she thought there was something wrong with the ferret. I asked her why she thought that and she told me that Roxy would not come out to play and she would just lay there.
I went over to see what she meant and when I was there she seemed to be playful enough. My friend said she did not behave that way and she must be missing me. I took her home. When we arrived home my husband was so happy she was home.
Roxy had to be let out in a different area than the other ferrets because she did not get along with them (especially Mittens). We would let her out in our room. I would let her stay out overnight and this is where she got her nick name Baby. When we were sleeping Baby would climb up onto our bed and sleep between my husband and I like a baby would. I made a bed for her on the floor next to us and she would still climb up on the bed between us. I moved her to the one side of me so my husband would not accidently roll over on her. She moved back into the middle of us. She was not happy if she was not sleeping in our bed in the middle of us both.
Baby was sick, but I did not know the severity of her illness. Her hind legs would give out from under her when she was walking. I thought that because of her size, she was very young and that might be a handicap rather than due to an illness. For Baby to climb up onto our bed was a feat. She was so specail and loved for so many different reasons. She was a very special ferret.
Baby did not last very long with us (less than a year) when we had to have her put to sleep. She suffered a stroke and the whole left side of her was paralyzed. Shortly after that she went into a siezure (it was not caused by low sugar) and would not stop siezing. We took her to the vet and of course we could have prolonged her life by trying to figure out what was causing her to sieze or we could do what was humane. It was her time and we loved her enough to let her go so we did.
I will always remeber my baby, Roxy.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Panchito
When we took him in I was really sad at the state of him. He was treated more like a dog than a ferret. He had a harness that was double wrapped around his neck so tight that it cut his skin. He had open wound under face. I was so upset. How is it that we can not think that this is wrong. Can we honestly claim ignorance? This is another case where I really bit my toungue about the state he was in because I knew the family and did not want to cause any friction. I was glad when they never claimed him back.
Panchito was a dark ferret and everywhere you went Panchito was sure to go. We nick named him shadow for that reason. It was really cute when he wanted attention he would come up to your leg, put a paw on you, and look up at you with these eyes ... and if that didn't work to get your attention he would then lick your leg (if it wasn't bare he would find or make a bare spot to lick). I could not resist his wiles! Sometimes his licks turned into lick, lick, chomps. This was when he was feeling very persistant. He loved to eat french fries and steal Bandit's stash of raisins. Why save for later what you can eat now. He was the biggest fan of Golden Raisins.
Panchito passed away an old fert altho he was not without a few complications. He passed away at home in 2006.
Mittens
We were not looking for another ferret. We still had Bandit, Princess, Bear, & Georgie but she was too cute so we took her home. When we took her home Georgie reacted to her much like princess reacted to Bear. It was too funny. When we would let the ferrets out Georgie would grab Mittens by her scruff and drag her away. I would scold Georgie, put him in his cage for a time out and then let him out a little while longer. He knew what he was doing was naughty because he would watch me and as soon as I wasn't paying attention he would snatch her up and drag her away. Sometimes I would catch him in the act of dragging her away and he would see me in time to RUN off with her out of my reach! He was such a little booger and I adored him for it! (SUCKER!)
Mittens and Georgie were really good friends, he eventually stopped dragging her around. Mittens is (of these original ferrets) the only one left alive. We brought her home the summer of 2001. She is now 7 and fit as a fiddle, spry as the day we brought her home. She is afraid of heights tho but then she was always afraid of heights. She climbs up then starts shaking and looking around for someone to rescue her from her predicament.
We have a new generation of ferrets but she doesn't get along with them so she is in a cage by herself now. This is very difficult to evenly distribute the attention they all neeed but we manage.
Well, that's it for now about Mittens.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Curious George
Good nite!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Bear
When we took him home, Princess forgot all about Bandit and started dooking & following "Little Bear" everywhere he went. Oh my! I would guess that her maternal instincts kicked in or something because she definitely followed him like she needed to protect him. Sugar was not affected either way by his presence. It was really sad to see her deteriorate but "Little Bear" flourished so much so we don't call him "Little Bear" anymore, he's just Bear.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sugar & Spice
The only way to treat the greenies is by feeding the ferret Pedialyte (for loss of electrolytes) and a duck soup. And contrary to what "experts" say about how to feed the ferret these things I do not suggest using a syringe. This method can actually cause the ferret harm due to the fact that if the ferret swallows down the wrong pipe it can aspirate. (Just a tidbit of advice)
Friday, December 03, 2004
A Companion for Bandit
Side note: In the book Ferrets for Dummies written by Kim Schilling I read that it is better to have the ferrets in groups of three because ferrets are very sensitive and if their companion passes away they can become very depressed and pass away too but with three they still have their other companion to keep them company.
After I made the appointment to see the ferret(s), I heard about Princess. I did not know what I was going to find out about her. I talked to my husband and he said okay go check it out. I went ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (Jaw dropped and feeling of dismay in my heart) Oh my goodness! You will never believe what I encountered.
When I left my home, I left with a carrier and a blanket ready to take home a ferret. I was still very new to the ferret experience and did not know what to expect ... plus I had not read all the way through my" bible" Ferrets for Dummies. I show up and I looked at what her surroundings were and what habits she had. She was the perfect color and exactly what I imagined Bandit's new companion would be like. He immediately took to her and she took to him. They romped around the room like a happy couple. As they played and I kept a watchful eye on them I listened to the "owner" of Princess tell me about her. From the information, I gathered I deduced that poor Princess went through a couple homes and she was not wanted by anyone. No one wanted to play with her or give her any attention and when she did receive any attention, it was to do something awful to her. This "owner" has three very young children, and I am not saying that people with young children shouldn't have ferrets, but the "owner" shouldn't have ANY pets with these young children. MY, MY, MY! They grabbed princess by her tail, picked her up by the throat, squeezed her middle and dangled her by her tail. I was so very upset. The worst part is that I knew these people and had to remain polite. I think that was a true test of character for me because it took every ounce of will I had not to tell them off because the next thing they told me was that Princess liked to bite so they took a pair of NAIL CLIPPERS and CLIPPED her canines! How could anyone be so cruel?! ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Remembering this event brings deep feelings into my heart. I hurriedly picked Princess up (using a towel because she had been so brutally abused that she would bite if you came near her with your hands) and put her in the carrier and rushed home.
Monday, October 04, 2004
Our Ferret Story
The summer of 2001 I went to visit my “mom” and it just so happens she had a HUGE cage in my sister’s room with a lonely ferret in it. It was love at first sight! I would not have asked for him if it weren’t for the fact that when I saw him his cage was full of poop everywhere, he did not have water, and he did not have food in his bowl. His nails were long and he wanted to come out of his cage. I felt so sad for him. I got really mad at my sister for not taking good care of him, and then I asked her if I could have (buy) him. She said no, but then I asked my mom. Hehehe! Mom said I could, of course, but there was only one problem… I had to convince my husband of letting me bring him home.
My husband is so fickle. I told him all about the poor ferret and how he really didn’t have a name, how they called him stinky, how he was living, and how much I wanted him. Of course I gave my husband the puppy dog eyes and he said yes. “YEAH!” I thought, but I waited to long. My husband changed his mind. ARRRRRGH! My husband was working out of town during that time so I had to wait for him to come back to ask again. I guess I could have asked over the phone but it doesn’t work the same. Can’t give him the puppy dog eyes over the phone. When he got home, I asked again, and again he said yes. I thought, “YEAH!” I tried not to delay and bought the ferret some food and other miscellaneous items and I didn’t for a second think he would have changed his mind a second time, but he did. I asked him why?! He said we didn’t know enough about ferrets to take care of one. So I did what anyone else does, I turned to the all-knowing Internet. I found some really interesting websites and some informative websites. I printed them out and feeling accomplished I showed them to my husband. He tried to find other excuses but I found answers for those excuses. He had no choice but to say yes! That day I called my mom and told her we were on our way! We jumped in the car to claim our ferret! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY!
We brought him home (and I don’t think I was fully prepared for a ferret) we (I mean my husband) cleaned his dirty cage and gave him a name. Bandit, the curious lint trap!
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Ferret Frenzi
The picture I posted is of my very first ferret. His name is Bandit. My husband gave him that name. We adopted him from someone who thought it cool to have one but didn't want to do the work that came along with owning one. It took me three months and lots of research to convince my husband to let us have him. Three times he said "Yes." and twice he said "No." On the third yes I did not hesitate, I immediately went over and picked him up. We now have SEVEN ferrets in our home and four that have passed. Of all the ferrets we have six have been "adopted" (more like rescued) and the other five have been purchased (can't say no to the cute little faces they make; especially when they are babies). My husband and I love these little critters as if they were our children. One ferret we had, Roxy (aka Baby), used to climb in our bed and sleep in between us. It was really cute. She had a stroke a few months after we "adopted" her and went into a seizure. We took her to the "emergency" vet clinic and had to have her put to sleep. The ferrets we have had come through our home or are still in our home are (in order that they came): Bandit (the one to start the Ferret Frenzi in our home) I have to go bake a cake for my husband's birthday... so I'll blog you later! |
AAAAARRRRRGGGGG!
I have been typing for 30 mins and in a bad click I lost it! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!
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