IT'S A FERRET'S LIFE

All is quiet on the (south) western front. My days are packed with ferret play, ferret cleaning, ferret feeding, ferret squabbles, ferrets-being-adorable, ferret medicating, ferret calendar-making, ferret bedding sewing and washing........It's definitely become my life! And I'm having a great time!

I've made some very cool friends and I am learning so much. And I love being involved. A week from Monday, we are going to a local library to do a presentation about ferrets and I'm really looking forward to it. Usually I can't attend these library functions because they are during the day on the weekdays, so I am working. Luckily, Monday is my day off, so I can finally go!

Snow is becoming more and more social and his little personality is starting to peek through. Last night he decided he would stay under the bed and not come out for his Duck Soup and meds. Just like a two-year-old! I had to bribe him with the bowl of soup to get him out from under there.

He and Ziggy, unfortunately, are probably never going to be friends. It's a shame, but what do you do? I've come to accept the fact that, yes, there will be an occasional squabble between these two and I just do my best to diffuse the situation (meaning, Ziggy usually goes in ten-minute time outs). The time-outs are effective, by the way. Ziggy is smart enough to understand that he needs to behave and he does! So in that way, I'm proud of him. I'm trying to give him a few extra lovies, just to let him know he doesn't need to worry about anything. And, yes, Snow gets those extra lovies, too!

All the other furrkids are great. Milo, my little pet store rescue, who was way underweight and had coccidia when I brought him home is now a whopping 3.08 lbs.! Dave comes in second at 2 lbs - somethin' -- can't remember exactly.

Anyway, that's it....

EVERYBODY DUCK!!!

Misty
Vestia

Oreo

The above photos are of the thre little girls I'm going to foster! I took these at the rescue, so when they get over here, more photos are sure to follow!

I've been pondering the Duck Soup issue and I don't think I'm ready to take it away from my guys right now. They love it, it's healthy for them and it is a special time I have with them when I give it to them. I won't be doing it daily with my foster girls, so that is kind of good. But my little ones just love it and why take away something that is good for them to have?

Go, Duck Soup!

INSPECTION DAY!

Outside playday! Snow peeks out of the cube; Rocky

and Ziggy are in the background playing with a sack!
Snow is a lovie bug and lets me hold him!

My Sweet Snow - Playing in the Cube

Here are a few pics of Snow and I'll try to get some more taken of him. He is so beautiful (I love his little cowlicked hair on his head!) and a bit camera shy. Nothing that a bit of Ferretone won't cure!

My inspection went well ! They were very thorough and so I'm honored they welcomed me on as a Foster Mom! I am going to have three little girls!!! Girls!!! I've never had girl ferrets before!! I am thrilled! I will pick them up this coming Sunday, so I have one more week to do some finishing stuff before bringing them home.

So, yeah! I'm psyched!

ABOUT DUCK SOUP:

I have been feeding all my guys Duck Soup every single day. I just found out today that it isn't necessary or even really desirable, unless they are old or ill. The recipe I use has a large fat content. Oops...They told me to cut them back to once per week. Easier said than done. My guys love the stuff and come looking for it!! I'm gonna have to wean them back, gradually. Boy, does that give me a break, though. It was being very time consuming. I didn't mind..I enjoy holding them in my lap and petting them while they eat their soup. It just takes a while!

My eyes are heavy --- it was a big day!!

IT'S A MOM THING....

I went to the County Clerk's office and got my DBA , so now I am "officially" Friskybiznus Ferret Foster Home and Adoption ! Next step is to write out my mission statement and a business plan of some sort (including a budget, LOL!). Luckily, Keith made me write out a ferret budget a couple of months ago. Boy, it that an eye-opener. I spend a lot of money on paper towels!!!

A note of thanks to all of my friends who are rooting for me and being so supportive!!! You rock!

In other news --- everyone is doing just fine. The Duck Soup dilemma seems to have passed and we are all eating it with enthusiasm, except poor Ziggy, who just can't quite eat his DS without my intervention. Usually, one he gets going, he eats it up...but it takes some real encouragement. He's no longer a baby anymore, our Ziggy, having lost the last of any "baby fat and fluff". Now he is as sleek and graceful as Rocky. It's weird.

Milo, the baby, is now the goofy, clumsy one and bigger than any of the others. His personality is so much like Ziggy's, it's uncanny. And we are always calling each of then by the other's name!

We all still miss Cupid so very much. It is a bittersweet feeling to see Dave sleeping in the sock nest alone...oh, writing this will make me cry.

That's it. Mother's Day was lovely and I am blessed to be called "Mom" by two amazing sons and five little fuzzbutts!

AIN'T SKEERED

These are photos from yesterday evening. Keith did this thing where we can now block off our side patio/garden area and the ferrets can go out and play. (He's just the best!) It's a long, narrow area and,of course, we are out there with them at all times. They can explore the garden, dig, go in the tunnel under the dog house...it's cool! We just let Ziggy and Rocky out last night to see how they'd like it and, as you can see, they were pretty happy!

I just looked out the window and I can see our gardenia bush has exploded with white flowers. The white oleander is in full bloom, as well. And some white lilies. White daisies, all in bloom. Cupid was white. I take all of the white blooms as a sign he is OK and his little spirit is dancing and dooking!

There is a little guy at the rescue named "Snow" (his picture is in a previous post) and he has been on my mind for the last few days. Apparently he was adopted once, but returned to the rescue when the guy couldn't afford to have him. How sad to be surrendered twice. Snow is a good little guy, very cute and sweet. A perfect match for our group. He just may be coming home with me on the 31 st....

I printed out the government forms for a non-profit status. I really want to establish my self as a very small foster home and adoption for ferrets. Hubby is kind of freaking out, I think. I see him struggle with his own love for ferrets and wanting me to be happy and his resistance to let the IRS in our business....he says he's scared. I ain't skeered. I have to follow my heart on this.

And I know he's prolly afraid I'm gonna end up with 100 ferrets, which isn't what I want. I'm talking small scale, here...like no more than 10, ever. I have a lot of work ahead of me, anyway...I'm going to attempt this without a lawyer -- the filing fees are outrageous enough without having to pay someone to do it for me on top of it. I can do it. I did FAFSA forms for both of my sons for five years. I can take on Form 1023.

And Now......The part of the blog you've been waiting for.........(drum roll, please).......

ZIGGY vs. THE BOWL OF DUCK SOUP

Damn. Again, tonight, he won't eat it out of the bowl. It's off of my finger or out of his little red spoon or nothin'. So that's what we did. Off my finger, out of his little red spoon. My plan to outwit him has failed. He is officially smarter than I am.

So wrong. Soooo wrong......

BUT RED IS YOUR COLOR

This is Snow, one of the rescue ferrets, demonstrating the thrill of Ferret Spa Day. He's a cutie-pie....

Tonight was ferret spa night - ears, nails and coat conditioner finalized with a nice brushing and a lick of FerretVite for good behavior. I actually came out of it without blood (mine) this time.

I completed the bedding set I had to make today, as well, and I am very pleased with it. I really wish I had a little girl ferret to justify flowers and cute girly patterns, but whoa is me...I got five stinky boys.

And they looooove their momma. Except when she puts a wet q-tip in their ear. Then, momma is barely tolerated.....

Pics of my bedding set.

Speaking of tolerated: My new Duck Soup recipe isn't going over as well as I thought. Ziggy is turning his nose up and will only eat it from my finger. George, Rocky and Milo eat it, but with a total lack of enthusiasm. Dave, God love him, laps it up like there is no tomorrow. I have a huge batch in the freezer they've got to eat. I'm hoping they will start to like it as time goes on....

Silly ferrets.

OH, MY ZIGGY...

My little Ziggy. He's one of my WildCatz. The last couple of days he had been very quiet and a bit needy. He wants to be cuddled and carried. He's playing, but he hasn't been doing any flying leaps onto my leg.

I get concerned when their personality changes. It's not that he's depressed, really. He's just...quiet. He switched off his Silly Button. I tend to speculate as to why. Perhaps Cupid's absence is starting to sink in? Maybe he's picking up on the fact that things are different? Maybe the "pecking order" is shifting?

He seems to be eating OK. But he has slimmed down. I know that is normal for this time of year and for his age, though. Rocky did the same thing last year at this time and I was so worried he was going to dry up and blow away! ....So I'm starting to understand their cycles....

Re: My Duck Soup made with fresh chicken and TF Complete Care mixed in ~ My blind guy, Dave, knows when I'm making a fresh batch of DS. He hears the blender and smells the smells and comes into the kitchen to check it out. He always gets a taste of the new batch. I was anxious to see how he liked the new recipe. Well....he loved it. His little tongue was on high speed, lapping it up! Too cute! I guess I got his seal of approval in the fom of tongue licks in the DS bowl!!

That's it for todays news...

EAT MORE CHIKIN

The Duck Soup recipe I use calls for chicken or turkey baby food. Tonight I decided to try boiling some chicken thighs, instead, and make it with that. Hopefully, my guys will like it as much as the Gerbers!

I'm also going to add some Complete Care (Totally Ferret makes it) to the batch to increase the nutritional value even more.

I feed my guys Duck Soup every day. In their eyes, it's like a treat and they can't wait to get it. But it's so good for them, there's no worries around giving it to them (sometimes Dave or George will get seconds -- because they're good boys). When Cupid got sick, he stuck to eating the Duck Soup even when he quit his solid food. So, we reaped the benefits of Cupid being familiar with the soup.

Everyone seems to be adjusting to Cupid's death. Every now and then, I see one of them looking for him. But it's getting better and better each day. Dave has played and romped so much more than he used to --and that just blows my mind. All five get along famously and stick together.

Rocky does a good job as Alpha and I think he has been great with the other four fuzzies as they adjust to the loss of their friend. In fact, I think it's Rocky that brought little Dave out of his shell and helped him gain some confidence, despite his blindness.

I think the psychology of the ferret is fascinating. They definitely think, they have feelings. Watching them with Cupid when he was so ill was very interesting. They would check on him and groom him. And it cracks me up to watch how they move their toys around and "arrange" the Hidey Hole. They have an empty Coke can in there. They set it up so that it falls and makes noise when the closet door is opened. They are so funny!

WHATEVER IT TAKES: HEADSTANDING

Cupid is still fighting to get better. His appetite hasn't improved much, and he's lost a lot of weight. I've tried all kinds of ways to coax him back to his kibble (including moistening it, adding a few drops of Ferretone on the moistened food, putting a little Ferretone on the dry food, mixing Duck Soup with the moistened food, offering dry food with my hand and...putting Dave in the cage with him so Cupid might succumb to peer pressure and eat). No real luck. He only eats a very small amount. So...it's back to Duck Soup three times a day. He eats that pretty good, usually. Sometimes he'll eat just a tiny bit of that, too, before pulling away and wiping his face on the towel and cleaning his feet. If I stand up and walk him around with the bowl, he'll eat a little more.

Whatever it takes. I'll stand on my head for him if it will get him to eat more! :)

He's being such a trooper. He gets scruffed and given three meds twice a day. He endures me waking him up to feed him. He looks a me like I'm crazy when I get all excited when he's awake and walking around. He's a very serious fellow.

The other morning George decided he needed to wrestle Cupid. Cupid put up with it for a while and then found another place to attempt to take a nap. Gotta love that silly George....

UPDATE:

I fed Cupid (he ate good) and put him in his cage for the night. Milo was still out. Before I could get Cupid's cage door shut, he was out, wrangling with Milo ! They chased into hubby's office and continued to wrestle. Milo, of course, was squealing like a mad bunny. I looked in and Cupid was on top of Milo, tail puffed out bigger than I have ever seen. It was hysterical ! My camera was in the other room, so I missed the photo. But it was great to see Cupid be in Sensei mode again !! Yay, Cupid !!