Marcuz’s Grand Adventure: AKA Heart Stopping Fear

Yesterday was a day of highs and lows and one very prolonged heart attack. I cannot stress the need for ferret proofing and being observant of your environment. Yesterday was Monday and I had to get up early to go to job training down in Butler, Pa.

That meant I had to get up at 6am to get everyone feed, watered, and rotated. Now the room where Boyd the cat normally resides is being remodeled along with the roof being done on that side so he and I are residing in the ferret’s room.

During the day, the ferrets are out of their cage and at night, Boyd gets out of his crate to roam the hallway and the room. Boyd has a bad habit. He scratches at the window screen and nothing has stopped him from doing it. What I didn’t realize was that he had actually put a hole in the screen, which wouldn’t had been a problem if I had seen it before I left for my training that lasted from 8am to 5pm

I get home around 5:30pm and go upstairs to get out of my jeans and take my knee brace off entering the room I noticed that several things are out of place on the windowsill and then I see the six-inch long hole. Panic sets in and I start looking for my fur kids. Sleeping in a bin is Manny and Marylin.

As you can see from the pictures, I tore the room apart looking for Marcuz.

Looking out the window cold fear starts to develop as I realize that Marcuz had to have gone through the hole and out onto the roof. Racing down the stairs, I grab Manny’s harness and a leash speeding through the living room roomie asks what is wrong but the lump in my throat won’t let me speak so I just wave her off.

Stopping on the porch, I peer around the corner afraid to find a tiny broken body. There is none so the cold fear starts to receded and the panic starts to take over again. I can’t call for Marcuz as he is deaf and wouldn’t hear me. After checking around the outside of the house I go back in and get my voice to work long enough to tell Roomie that Marcuz has to be outside somewhere.

To which she tells me that Mr.. Z had been going ballistic earlier in the day and she thought someone had been knocking at the door but when she checked there was no one there but Mr.. Z laid on the floor and stared outside. Roomie thought it might have been the stray cat that comes around or the dog from across the street.

Back upstairs to make sure I hadn’t over looked one of Marcuz’s hidey-holes. I hadn’t so back down the stairs and Mr.. Z and roomie are outside checking out things. Mr.. Z seems to be on the trail of something but what it was unknown and didn’t seem to be Marcuz. Thankfully, our neighbors are good and they put their own dogs inside or in the dog’s kennel.

This weekend was the community day yard sale and I hadn’t gotten all the boxes back inside so before getting off the porch for the third or fourth time I shook each box in hopes of noticing a weight difference or having Marcuz pop out of one.

Around the block, checking the tree Marcuz loves to dig at when we go for cool evening walks to the back yard where the Ferret Chariot is parked. Roomie says to check under the garage. It is kind of dark under there so I start to go inside to get the flashlight when I hear something on the porch. I stop and look to where the sound is coming from and from behind the board leaning against the wide railing comes this grayish pink nose.

Marcuz’ white first is dusky grey and he smells of dirt but he is perfectly fine. Did he drop from the roof to the ground? Or did he get down to the gutter and follow it around to where the plastic was stapled to the roof and used it as a rope to get down? Or did he somehow figure out how to go down the ladder? I have no answers but there is not a mark on Marcuz.

I am sure that my neighbors finally have proof that I am the crazy ferret lady after this adventure. Taking Marcuz back up to the room I secured the window and took his access to it away before letting him loose and what does the little booger do? He starts weasel war dancing around the room with this look of pure delight.

My nerves are still shot and my chest hurts from where my heart was pounding on it but thankfully, Marcuz has been found uninjured and unfazed.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS CHECK! Ferret proofing isn’t a onetime thing and needs to be constantly updated.

Have a Safe and Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Let’s Not Fry the Ferret…

The summer heat is just now starting to creep up on us here in Western PA. I have a feeling it is going to be very humid and hot this year.

Now is the time we should be preparing our pets for the coming heat.

Ferrets do not do well in temperatures over 68 degrees and like many animals do not have sweat glands to regulate their body temperature.

While dogs can pant ferret’s don’t and it is easy for them to suffer heat stroke.

Each year we hear of children and service animals (police dogs) that have been left in the car when the temperature seems reasonable outside it is slowly baking them from the inside out.

I try not to take my fur kids on outings when the temperature is going to soar well over 70 degrees and if I have to do so I have a number of things I do to keep them cool and comfortable.

1. I fill a gallon jug with water and freeze it.

2. I fill a gallon size sealable bag with enough water that it will lay flat and freeze that.

3. I have a crate fan and keep extra batteries.

4. Plan out where you have to go and the amount of time you will be at one place.

As I said I don’t take them on outings if at all possible but sometimes emergencies arise and you have to go out with your ferret.

The gallon jug of water does two things. The first is I place it in front of the crate fan so that the air is cooled and isn’t just the heated air being blown around. Yelch. Second as it melts it is a cold drink for the ferrets. Just like humans animals need to stay hydrated in the summer heat.

The frozen flat bag is placed inside the carrier with a covering over it. This gives the ferret a place to lay down and stay cool and comfortable. The cover keeps the ferret from getting too cold or having their belly stick to it.

The crate fan I have uses 2 D size batteries and can eat them up in a matter of minutes depending on how long and how high I have the fan on so it is best to have extra batteries.

By knowing how long I will be out allows me to schedule stops at places where I can let my ferrets out of their carrier and the car. One of the best places is the park and since most of the outings go past the park they get numerous chances out. I am also lucky that the local pet/farm store allows animals inside where it is air-conditioned.

The best rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t want to stay in the car with windows up leave your pet at home. For those that earn a living by helping humans then the humans need to plan for the heat.

Police dogs should have adequate water and if it is possible a gallon jug of frozen water in the back with them.

If you see a pet in distress in a car call 911 and report it.

Best Advice: If you don’t have to take your pet with you DON’T!

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Save a Yorkie named Cinnamon

I don’t normally write about other critters unless they somehow relate to ferrets so this is a completely different kind of post for me.

Roomie, Judy, started fostering at the beginning of the year in hopes of helping her adopted puppy mill rescue Ariel learn how to be a dog.

At the moment, she is fostering Curly who is a seven-year-old yorkie who has cataracts and diabetes and requires insulin twice a day.

She received an urgent email from Save a Yorkie Rescue about another little yorkie named Cinnamon.

Little Cinnamon was surrendered after being hit by a car. This little guy is just a year old and is suffering from one dislocated hip, one  broken hip, along with his pelvis.

As of this writing, we don’t know if he has made it through the surgery that was scheduled for yesterday (February 13, 2013) but the rescue has paid out the large sum of $3000 as a down payment for the surgery and will be owing another $3000 for his care during his recovering if he survived the surgery.

The reality is that Cinnamon may come out of the surgery paralyzed, permanently incontinent  which will make it harder for this little fighter to be adopted.

 

Knowing that I have many readers who understand special need pets I am hoping that some of you can help this wonderful rescue out by donating to his care even if it is $5 as it does add up and help pass this along so that Cinnamon might find the right forever home.

 

By clicking on the Save a Yorkie Rescue logo you will be taken to Cinnamon’s page where you can make a donation.

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Update On Marcuz and Other Things

 

Marcuz is back to his old self. Climbing things he shouldn’t and trying to be the dominate male. For now Manny is letting him think that he has won but it will only last until Manny gets tired of Marcuz pushing him around.

For that I am grateful as I am for those that have donated towards the Ferret Chariot. There are so many amazing people out there thank you all.

I am sure that most of you noticed that I’ve been gone for a week both on my blog and twitter. While I could just say I nothing I feel that an explanation is needed.

First you need to know I suffer from Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD) it is a type of depression that hits many in the winter months or those that don’t get a lot of sun. 

There isn’t really a lot known about it and while mine is mild it can become extreme if I am not careful. Which is what happened.

Marcuz getting hurt was just the start. The stress from not being able to get him help and the weird weather threw off my sleeping and eating habits.

Then finding out about a friend losing someone to suicide brought up some unresolved issues of losing someone extremely close to me on the 15th sent me deeper down that dark road.

The final nail that made me withdraw was the fire that cost two people I’ve never met everything and I felt helpless that all I could offer them was a few handmade toys.

I needed to get myself collected and back into the habits that help me deal with my own depression that could have affected how well Marcuz recovered. I know our pets can feel our moods and will try to make us happy.

I didn’t want Marcuz trying to do his funny jig so I would laugh it would have been and is still too soon for him to do that type of wiggling.

So I am back into the habits that keep my SADs in check and the fact that the sun has been out more helps but I am still not 100% but then I don’t think any of us hoomans are ever 100% but I am a lot closer than I was.

 

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

Headed to Bark World Expo

     It’s hard to believe that next week at this time we will be should be at Bark World thanks to GMC offered up 15 GMC Terrains for people to carpool down to Atlanta.

     Our friend Brewski Butt’s mom was one of the chosen 15 and we are hopping a ride down with her along with some of her really cool art.

     With us going on our first real road trip it meant redefining the boys travel kit. Reducing it from a 5-gallon tote to a backpack.

     The main reason was space but having things closer to where their carrier in case James has an insulinoma episode would be a bonus.

     The backpack I chose to use is a JanSport® because it was what I used to carry all my college books in and it’s still in great condition.

 

     In the front pocket is going to be the boy’s papers.

     These papers contain the facts that someone would need if something happened to me. James and Manny each have a sheet inside a plastic sleeve. The information includes but not limited to:

1. Name and birth date if known
2. Vet name and number
3. Who to contact in case of emergency
4. A recent picture of each ferret (I’d split this one in half)
5. Medication: Name, How much and when.
6. Reason for the medication
7. Any quirks that might seem unusual to someone
8. Likes and dislikes
9. Foods feed and the feeding schedule
10. Litter used
11. Sleeping arrangements

     I am sure I’ve forgotten some things for this list but as James Insulinoma progresses his sheet will get longer. At the top of his sheet will be a large red cross like you see on med alert bracelets but inside it will be the vet caduceus.

     The other items inside the pocket will be James glucose meter and his preloaded Nutri Cal syringe. The instructions for both will also be on his sheet. Extra batteries labeled about their use for the crate fan that will be on their new carrier.

     The main space will hold the grooming case, large baggies labeled with the name of the food and whose it is. Two large baggies filled with Feline Pine® litter, bottled water, and travel toys, two leashes and harnesses sets and a container for James used needles called a sharps container. Again this is just a short list and it may grow longer but by using the backpack I can’t keep adding things because I think James and Manny may need it.

I want my little guys to be comfortable but I also want to be able to enjoy our trip without it being a stressor to either of us.

Keep on Chittering,

Jo

The Ferret and the Disposable Diaper

      Most of you by now know that James has a plastic bag addiction and has to be in any kind of plastic bag and will work hard at removing what is in the plastic bag. This last week was a scary one for me.

     Disposable diapers come in plastic wrapping that has a perforated area to open it. Which would have been all right if that is what James had used to enter into the bag. He didn’t he chewed his way in and in the process ingested bits of the diapers he tried to remove from the bag. It may be that he only got small amounts of the fluff in his intestinal tract that kept him from needing surgery.

     James wasn’t acting like his normal self but didn’t seem to be sick or hurt. Picking him up to give him some loving I noticed that he had a slight bulge on one side. It wasn’t hard and he didn’t seem to be in pain and being the weekend I had to wait for Monday to take him to his vet. I would’ve normally given him some Ferret Lax® to help him pass whatever he had ingested but I was out of it and on Sundays there isn’t  much open around here.

     Thankfully, I remembered that  Kevin Fitzgerald of Animal Planet's Emergency Vets used a small amount of peanut butter with a ferret that had ingested an eraser with good results. I gave James a small amount of peanut butter that he licked off the spoon.

     I watched him and made sure he was eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom. He did all of this with no problems. The only thing that he didn’t want to do was run around too much. I kept checking to see where the bulge was. The first one moved through his intestines but was soon followed by several others.

     I was glad when Monday finally got here and was able to take him to the vet. An ultrasound revealed that he had several small blockages that were moving towards the rear.

     Because he was eating, drinking, pooping it was decided that he would come home and see if whatever it was would pass on its own in a day along with giving him an inch ribbon of Ferret Lax® twice a day. By Monday night, James had passed a large amount of shiny stool with granules in it. I recognized the granules as gel from the fluff of disposable diapers.

    I don’t know what the fluff is made of but it seems to be non-toxic and James has passed almost all of it out of his system. I am grateful that this ended in the best way and reminded me just how determined a ferret can be about getting into something.

     Needless to say diaper bags, disposable diapers, and any other type of bag plastic or not is not allowed on the floor where James can get to it.