Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

 

Jo

Duck Soup

 

Over the weekend I was talking on twitter about feeding Marcuz his duck soup forgetting that most of my twitter followers are dog, cat, and other pet owners and don’t know much if anything about ferrets.

Duck soup named after a ferret named Lucky Duck whose owner and vet came up with a food he could eat when he was very ill and now the name is given to many concoctions that help a sick or injured ferret get back on their tiny paws when they don’t feel like eating.

Marcuz is getting both his regular kibble and his duck soup as he just doesn’t have the energy to eat enough of his hard food to keep his weight up.

Next to Marcuz Manny looks like extremely fat. Which he isn’t but he is a big boy to say the least.

Most duck soups are just that a soupy consistency that can be lapped up easily and are just as easily digested.

There are many recipes for Duck soup but I just make mine as needed from the boys kibble.

My recipe is:

1/2 cup of Marshall’s Ferret Food

1/2 to 1 cup of Water depending on the consistency I want

3 T of Ferretone

1 T of Ferretvite

1-2 T of Chicken baby food (omitted because Marcuz doesn’t like chicken)

I mix this all together and heat it for 4 minutes in the microwave then stir it until the kibble becomes a soft mush. The more water the more soup like it becomes.

I store this in the refrigerator and scoop out the amount I need for a serving.  This makes enough to fill a small margarine tub.

Last night I added some bacon drippings to the mush and Marcuz ate it up a lot faster and he also ate more of it. I give him the soup twice a day so that he thinks he is getting a treat before getting his meds.

I let Manny have some just so he doesn’t feel left out.

Marcuz is playing more as well and he pinned Manny during a wrestling match. I think Manny let him win though.

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

 

Jo

Pawing Forward

 

 

 

I’ve been fortunate to meet some really great people and their pets through my blog and on twitter.

 

One of them is Cokie the Cat . My boys got to meet Cokie’s stand in at Blog Paws along with Flat Tyler.

Cokie has this truly awesome contest on his blog. The contest is for a 100 lbs of pet food from Natural Balance for the next few weeks. That means you can enter each week for your chance at winning.

Natural Balance is helping to promote the famous skateboarding dog named Tillman and his new show on Animal Planet called Who Let the Dogs Out .

Cokie is feeling a little low cause not many are taking advantage of this great chance to get some free pet food for themselves. He’s wondering if maybe people don’t realize that they can donate their win to their favorite no-kill shelter.

Think how much relief a 100 pounds of free food would take off of the shelter’s mind. While it is true a 100 pounds of food might only last a month that means that their budget just got extended by a month.

So hop, run, wiggle, walk your way over to Cokie’s blog and enter into this fantastic contest and don’t forget to check out Who Let the Dogs Out on the Animal Planet.

 

Have a chittering Good Day,

Jo

Featured Ferret: Fig

 

 

Hi world,

My other hoomans named me Fig but they had to move and the place they are living now don’t allow any critters. Can you believe that? No pets what so ever. My poor hoomans are going to be so lonely without me.

Right now I am exploring the Kitsap Humane Society here in Silverdale, WA. I was showing this hooman I could do some of the paperwork. That was until they got out the clicky box to snap this picture of me.

I am a six month old boy who has experience with cats. I get overly excited and tend to be nippy. With the right hooman I will out grow that bad habit. But it is so hard to control myself when I want to play so much.

I am hoping to find new hoomans that have the energy to keep up with me and let me explore new things. Do you know the perfect hooman for me?

 

Disclosure: I get no compensation for featuring ferrets from the Pet Finder site or from the shelters that they are residing at. The bios for each ferret are my own created from the information available and are works of fiction unless otherwise noted.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

 

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Featured Ferret: Poe

               A Dream

A wilder’d being from my birth

    My spirit spurn’d control

But now, abroad on the wide earth,

    Where wand’ rest thou my soul?

In visions of the dark night

    I have dreamed of joy departed --

But a waking dream of life and light

    Hath left me broken-hearted.

And what is not a dream by day

    To him whose eyes are cast

On things around him a ray

    Turned back upon the past?

The holy dream – that holy dream

    While all the world were chiding,

Hath cheered me as a lovely beam

    A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro’ misty night,

    So dimly shone afar --

What could there be more purely bright

    In Truth’s day-star? (1)

 

Hi, I am Poe. As in Edgar Allan Poe.  I am resting up at the Ferret Waystation here in Austin Texas before wandering in to the right hooman’s heart and home.

I am a wee lad looking for a happy place to bounce, scurry, and dance at along with maybe nicking an item or two for my own special hidey hole.

Any hooman out there that has an affinity for Poe? Or perhaps is just a writer looking for a muse? I can be that too. Richard Bach, he’s a writer you know, has ferrets that are his muses so I know I can be one too.

Or I can just be me and take away the gloom of the day by making you laugh and getting you to chase me. We can have lots of fun together.

Sides they won’t let me out of the Ferret Waystation unless I am with a hooman something about me being to little to be on my own.

My markings make me a Blaze ferret and there could be a 75% chance that I might be deaf. 

Hope my hooman is reading this right now.

Edgar Allen Poe Ferret

Disclaimer: I get no compensation for featuring ferrets from the Pet Finder site or from the shelters that they are residing at. The bios for each ferret are my own created from the information available and are works of fiction unless otherwise noted. 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

1. Poe, Edgar Allan “A Dream” The Unabridged Edgar Allan Poe 1983 Running Press

The Scoop on Ferret Poop

 

The way most of us feel about Mondays it makes this the perfect day for this post.

                  

You can tell a lot by the leavings of a ferret. It can tell you if they are in good health or if they are sick. Sometimes this can even help you know what your ferret is sick from. The lack of poop can tell you stuff as well.

I won’t lie ferret poop does smell and while the amount may seem small. You have to remember their digestive tract moves stuff from mouth to rear in 3- 4 hours.  That can add up to a lot of piles for just one ferret. I have two now and at one time had nine. Unlike a cat a ferret does not cover their poop with litter.

Poop will change as a ferret grows from kit to senior so knowing what is normal can be critical.

Normal poop has the consistency of toothpaste and will often look like a ribbon of one to two inches of brown toothpaste.

Most ferrets will pee at the same time they poop. You can tell which ferret went. A girl will pee a lot closer to the pile than a boy ferret.

Most ferrets will also do what is called butt drag racing. This is just how they wipe. Ferrets are very fastidious about being clean.

Ferret poop dries quickly and turns into hard pieces that can be easily picked up and thrown away. Great for when accidents happen outside of the litter box or for when you find where they have decided to leave their little presents when they are out playing.

The coloring will also be determined by the type of food a ferret is provided. I feed Marshall’s Ferret Food which gives Manny a light brown and for some reason Marcuz had a more dark chocolate coloring.

By cleaning the litter box daily you will notice any changes that can indicate a problem.

Yellow: Can mean that the food your ferret is eating isn’t being properly digested. There are a number of reasons for this from stress to an infection. Best to make a vet appointment.

Green: Has been associated with Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis (ECE). This is an infection that can be transmitted to other ferrets. But it could also be from the dye used in some treats. 

Black: Can be an indicator of blood in the stool. If it is tarry then you need to be at the vet ASAP as it means there is some kind of internal bleeding going on that may or may not be life threatening.

Any consistency changes in a ferret’s stool need to be watched as well. Just like in humans gastric upset can lead to diarrhea.

Some ferrets will have poop that looks like they have been eating bird seed in them. If you have birds make sure this isn’t the case.

If you don’t have birds or have ruled out that it isn’t the bird’s seed then you need to think about changing your ferret’s food to one that doesn’t contain corn as a first, second, or third ingredient. As they can’t process grain or starches related to grain because they lack a cecum.

That is some of inside info on ferret poop.

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

 

Jo

Update on ChipIn Request

As many of you know Marcuz has a narrowing between 2 disks just under his shoulderblades and is expected to recover from the injury.

But like all back injuries it could reoccur and I would really like to be able to take him to the vet immeditatly if it should reoccur.

I live in a rural area and there is no public transportation here. That means no Taxi cabs, buses, or other mass transits that are available in a more populated area.

The nearest store is a ten mile walk from my house and to walk to the vet would take 1/2 a day to get there.

And a specialist is beyond walking distance from here.

These are the other reasons I have decided to ask for help in getting a vehicle.

If the chipIn does not work or asks you for a shipping fee like it did one donor you can use paypal and mark the donation as a gift. If that is the option you wish to use please email me at enlightenedferret@hotmail.com and I will send you the addy to use for paypal.

Seems our ChipIn keeps asking for a shipping fee of $4.50 so please take this into account when making your donation. You can either add the fee to the amount you want to donate as we the entire amount or start with the shipping fee and add to it until it is the amount you wish to donate.

Remember this is a way to get your twitter name, blog, or business free advertising as everyone that donates will be placed on the vehicle. I am also going to give two lucky donors a ride to and from Blog Paws 2012 that are on my route of Interstate 80.


Thank you in advance and I hope you have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Marcuz’ Vet Visit

 

Marcuz was great until Saturday morning after breakfast. It is still unclear as to what happened. I fed both him and Manny their breakfast and went to do some chores for about an hour.

Returning to let them out for playtime only to find Marcuz laying on the bottom of cage in an awkward position and unable to move his front paws or hold his head upright.

I gently picked him up and carefully checked to see if I could find anything wrong. The only thing Marcuz did was flinch a couple of times along with grinding his teeth, a sign of pain, but I couldn’t feel anything out of place.

I then placed Marcuz in the travel tote I have for the boys which has a nice fleece bed and a soft blanket in it. I heated up one of my handmade rice packs and put that in with him as well. That seemed to help him relax enough that his paws were no longer sticking straight out as if he was part of a zombie movie.

So started our long weekend of Rescue® Remedy, heat and ice, gentle massage, and range of motion. Marcuz slept a lot more than normal for a ferret but I am sure that the pain wore him out.

I know the whole weekend wore me out as Marcuz wasn’t able to move himself well I had to reposition him every few hours so his skin didn’t break down as well.  I also had to hold him upright so he could go to the bathroom.

A ferret lifts his tail over his rump and uses it like a pump to release the waste matter and food should travel from mouth to rear in 3-4 hours.

Roomie offered to watch Marcuz while I slept a little bit. The nap I took helped to refresh me and cleared my mind enough to realize that our vet has something called Pet Portal which allows you to ask questions and request appointments. Only thing was they had changed the format since the last time I had used it. I filled out a form and submitted it.

By Monday Marcuz didn’t want eat anything but furo-tone®  and Greenies® and I still hadn’t been able to find a ride to the vet’s. Nor could I get through to talk to some one at the vet’s office.

I asked a friend if she could take me to the vet’s on Tuesday as that was when I had requested the appointment only to find out she had appointments of her own.

Tuesday brought on a new problem green diarrhea which can indicate a nasty bug called ECE. Ferret owners call it the green slime disease more on that in another post.

Tuesday night I hadn’t heard back from the vet office so I went back to the Pet Portal and it was then I realized that I had filled out the wrong form. I submitted the right form and heard from the vet office the next morning and was given an appointment time that worked for my friend as well.

Wednesday afternoon had us at the vet’s office. Gave the tech the stool sample. She had never seen ferret poop and trying to accurately describe it was a challenge.

She asked if I had any problems holding Marcuz while she took his temperature. Ferrets will poop if something startles them by touching their anus and Marcuz pooped a lot of green slimey poop his temp was elevated. What I didn’t know was green poop will stain things. Next she weighed Marcuz and he is a 2.5 pound boy.

Then we had to wait for the vet. Who let me know right away that she wasn’t overly knowledgeable about ferrets and felt I should try another vet that might be more so. The ones I know about are another fifty plus miles away from me in any direction and impossible to get to without transportation of my own.

She then examined Marcuz from head to toe and asked my opinion about getting an X-ray done of his spine which I told her I wanted done to rule out possible breaks or dislocations.

Marcuz did great and I forgot my camera so I couldn’t take a picture of the awesome X-ray of his spine and what it revealed.

 

This is not of Marcuz but it shows the skeletal system well. Note where the neck, front leg, and back are.

Note the spacing between each vertebrae or disk. It is approximately 1/8th of an inch apart. Marcuz’ X-ray revealed a narrowing of the space between the disk just after his shoulder and the next one in his back.

While it doesn’t appear to be pinching a nerve it is causing some issues with his front legs and neck.

But the prognosis is good for a full recovery provided I can keep Marcuz from doing what ferrets do best which is running, climbing, jumping, and basically doing everything for the next couple of weeks.

He is also on four different types of medications. Two for his green slime and two for his back. 

As of this writing his green slimey poop is getting back to normal ferret poop color and consistency and his energy level is raising.  He is also using his front paws more and is able to use the litter box on his own.

Because I have to limit his movement he has been upgraded from the tote to the boys travel carrier. Where he has access to water, food, a soft bed and his litter box. His play time for the moment consists of massage, range of motion to his front legs and lots of love and petting.

The vet said it maybe a one time thing but more than likely it could happen again and it might not have happened on Saturday but could have happened months before and Marcuz either moved wrong or Manny landed on him the wrong way when they were playing in the cage.

Cost of going to the vet for an emergency was almost two hundred dollars. Half of that is Marcuz’ medication of which I get to wear pretty pink polka dots of amoxicillin at least once a day.

Disclosure: The X-ray photo do not belong to me but to Ferret Health and Long Beach Animal Hospital

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Not So Wordless Wednesday

 

The weekend before Valentine’s Day Marcuz got hurt. Which would not have been a problem except I didn’t have transportation to the vet’s and relying on friends doesn’t always mean you will get the result you want.

So I am reaching out to those in the Anipal community to help Enlightened Ferret get a vehicle. The ideal one would be a Dodge® Caravan.

Every donor will have the choice of having their name or twitter name placed on the vehicle. The finished painted vehicle will be featured in a thank you blog post with links to everyone’s blog or business page.

Finally we would give a ride to two lucky donors and their pets to Blog Paws 2012. Who are along our route which will be Interstate 80 from Western Pennsylvania to the hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah and back.

Once at Blog Paws another photo will be taken with those attending and the supported vehicle.

Thank you for your support.

 

and as always have a Chittering Good Day,

 

Jo

Featured Ferrets for Valentine’s Day

 

Happy Valentine’s Day.

 

My Valentine

By Martina McBride

If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you

If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you

And even if the sun refuse to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
You're all i need
My love, my valentine 

 
All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly

I've dreamed of this a thousand times before
In my dreams i couldn’t love you more
I will  give you my heart
Until the end of time
You're all I need
My love, my valentine

 

Will and Widget are from the Williams Animal Control in Knoxville, TN. Will is about 4 years old and Widget is about 6. Their combined adoption fee is $120.

Valentine is from Animal Rescue League of Boston, MA

Disclosure: I do not receive any compensation for promoting these cuties from Pet Finder . I also thought this song fit the day and found a site that had the lyrics. My Valentine is by Martina McBride.

 

Have a Chittering Good Valentine’s Day,

 

Jo

Brushing Manny’s Teeth: Video

 

 

I have to get better at placing the camera.

 

 

 

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Featured Ferret: Sunny-D

Hi down der. No it isn’t the window talking. It’s me; Sunny-D.

I am checking out all the nooks and cranies here at the Ferret Inn Rescue and Shelter in Columbia, MD while I wait for the perfect pet hooman to come and be adopted by me.

I had a hooman once but they didn’t know much about me and left me in my cage all the time and never checked on my collar. I grew and it didn’t. When I first came here they found that my collar was trying to grow into my neck but they fixed that really quickly.

I am a single male ferret and I am about two and a half. I love a good photo op

I like to talk a lot while I am cruising around the shelter looking for new things to climb and other ferrets to play with.

So if you are looking to have a fuzzy with a Sunny disposition then I’m da guy for you.

Disclosure: I receive no compensation for featuring ferrets on my blog other than the hope that someone will give these fun, furry little springs a wonderful home.

Have a Chittering Good Day

Jo

P.S. would you please nominate us for a Shorty Award in the #Blogger category only need to do once thank you.

Brushing Your Ferret’s Teeth

The top dental issues for ferrets are periodontal disease and fractured canine teeth. Periodontal disease is easily preventable with daily brushing. While I don’t brush my boy’s teeth daily I do brush them weekly.

Brushing is easier to do when you start doing it when your ferret is still very young. It can be done when you have an older ferret but you will have to offer a lot of praise and good for their teeth treats for letting you mess with their mouths.

You will need:
Pet toothpaste I am using and the tube will last me a long time.

A toothbrush that you and your ferret are comfortable with; I use a Colgate® Wisp that I have pried the mouthwash bead out of.

You will also need a container of water and some dental treats for a reward afterwards. I use Greenies® Feline Dental Treats.

I recommend that you let your ferret out for playtime and let they run out of energy. It will make the experience more pleasant for the both of you.

Set up the area where you will be brushing their teeth. Having a table that is the ideal height and a comfortable chair for you will beneficial while you are brushing your ferret’s teeth. Put a small amount of pet toothpaste on the brush and have it next to the container of water.

Once they have run most of their excess energy off you can pick your ferret and get ready to brush. First you should run your hand along their jaw to feel for any bumps or unusual feeling areas. By doing this often you will know what your ferret’s mouth should feel like.

Now it is time to brush their teeth.

Scruffing your ferret will let you see inside their mouth without hurting them or you getting bit. Scruffing does not hurt your ferret.

Pick up the prepared toothbrush dipping it into the water and then gently start brushing the back teeth with the same motions you use on your own teeth. Look to see if there are any discolored teeth that may need looked at by your vet.

Move to the canine teeth and check to see if they are chipped or have any evidence of fractures. Such as cracks, missing enamel, or even pieces missing. Don’t forget the tiny teeth in between the canines.

This picture isn’t the best but Marcuz was a jewel to let me brush his teeth that day.

By brushing your ferret’s teeth you help to eliminate bad breath and are more aware of what their mouth looks like and will notice if a problem arises sooner than if you didn’t. You will also surprise your vet as most ferret owners don’t brush their ferret’s teeth thinking that it isn’t needed.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

National Pet Dental Month

February is National Pet Dental Month. Until a couple of years ago I didn’t realize just how important it was to regularly have our pet’s teeth checked and to learn how to brush our pet’s teeth.    

Just like humans our pets are variable to the same types of mouth issues. Such as gingivitis, cavities, and some oral cancers.

The American Veterinary Dental College  (AVDC) recommends that we have annual dental check ups for our pets and do a minimum of brushing of once a week although daily is preferred.

Dogs and cats are mention on the site but other pets are not listed. When I found out about the recommendations I started brushing my ferrets: James and Lance at the time, teeth.

At first it was a real chore as they were older and there isn’t a toothbrush on the market for ferrets. But with continual trial and error we found what worked and while we couldn’t reverse some of the problems we did slow down others. 

Manny and Marcuz get their teeth brushed twice a week unless they have had something really sticky then they get their teeth brushed more often.

I surprised my vet because I do brush my boys teeth and am the only ferret owner he knows that does.

Because I do brush Manny and Marcuz’ teeth I know what their mouths look like and will know if something isn’t right before it becomes too big of an issue.

Disclosure: Picture of the ferret teeth is from a blog called teeth pictures.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo