Blog Paws Friday Recap

I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired or hyped at blog paws. It is a wonderful and exhilarating feeling.

breakfast was nice and calm being able to interact with just a few people at a time was delightful.

Marylin gave Jo from petside lots of kisses.  

At the first session we attended the speaker was Darlene Arden love her sense of humor and she explained how to create a book proposal in a very detailed way that understandable.

Also in attendance was Glogirly

Does that mean Waffle is planning on writing a book?

The ferrets and I took in the session on how to get free publicity. I am sure that Harrison  Forbes had no idea that there were ferrets attending but I loved his statement that you had “ferret out the information.”

I took the fur kids to hang out at Marshall’s small animal playpen. To their surprise new additions had been added by Bonnie and friend from Washington Metro Area Ferret Outreach 

  after checking everything out it was time for a nice midday meal and then off to the land of Napping  

If you didn’t know ferrets sleep between 14-18 hours.  The rest of the day was kind of a blur as it just seems to pick up speed and fly out the door.

I did put the breaks on and created an Honor Flag for Grace. Honor Flags is the brainstorm of Wanda Kruse and is her take on the Tibet Prayer flags. The Honor Flags can be made to honor a pet, or animal loving person both living or have made the trip across the bridge.

I found it very relaxing and the world seemed to slow back down a slow spin. This is the flag for Grace

Don’t remember much about the rest of the day as I think I was sleepwalking most of it. But I do know I answered a lot of questions about ferrets.

For a select few there was a mini ferret fashion show as Emmy and Allen Pearson took some photos of the kids modeling some of the fashions created for fur challenged ferrets and for the stylish ferret.     

Allen is the professional photographer for Blog Paws this year. Thanks for the great tips. These photos are mine how great it was to have nice clear images.

Can you guess who these Blog Paws Attendees are?

Can’t believe that it is already Saturday.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

This post is brought to you by the people of who kindly sponsored us to be at this great event.

Are We Jeopardizing Our Pet’s Health?

I watched The Doctors yesterday, February 27, 2013; the show was titled Guilty Pleasures Jeopardizing your Health.

I am sure most of us try to eat healthy and avoid the sugar trap. I found that many of the foods we think are healthy really aren’t. The most disturbing fact was that most of us consume 150 pounds of sugar a year. The recommended about is 34 pounds. That equals out to 6 tablespoons of sugar daily for women and men get to consume 9 tablespoons.

Most of us blow those amounts out of the water with our first can of soda or with our daily coffee intake. One can of soda has 10 tablespoons of sugar.

These facts got me thinking about our pets and how much sugar do we give them unknowingly? We know that sugar plays a role in obesity, diabetes, and it has also been suspected as part of heart disease.

Most of us know to read labels on the foods we eat and some of us have started reading the labels on our pet’s food as well. The problem is that our food is required to have a nutrition facts panel that must have specific things such as serving size, the amount servings per contain/package, and the amounts per serving and what the recommended daily value.

One of these facts is the amount of sugars. Example did you know that a serving of Cheez-It® has 0 grams of sugar.

But most pet food labels have what is called the Guaranteed Analysis.

“At minimum, many state regulations require a pet food to guarantee the minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat, and the maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture. The "crude" term refers to the specific method of testing the product, not to the quality of the nutrient itself.” Pet Food Labels – General

Typical Guaranteed Analysis for a Good Ferret Diet
Crude protein	38.0%
Crude fat	18.0%
Fiber	3.5%
Ash	6.5%
Moisture	10.0%

 

It is normal to see the following ingredients in ferret food.

Chicken by-products, herring meal, corn, cod fish, animal liver, dried beet pulp, brewer's dried yeast, cane molasses, salt, sodium propionate, DL-methionine, L-lysine, taurine, vitamin A, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin, biotin, choline chloride, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, BHA, vitamin B12 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (a source of vitamin K), D calcium pantothenate, manganese oxide, inositol, ascorbic acid, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc oxide, cobalt carbonate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite.

You can see there is no mention of the amount of sugar on the Guarantee Analysis. For ferrets that develop Insulinoma these ingredients can play a devastating role.

One of the ingredients Brewer’s Yeast is used to lower blood sugar which is something we don’t want to do in a ferret with insulinoma as his/her blood sugar is already low due to having too much insulin in his/her blood stream.

The other ingredient is cane molasses, which is a byproduct of white sugar, and the gram amount is 55-70 per 100 grams of molasses.

Just by having these two ingredients, we are causing a blood sugar drop only to have it spike again in our ferrets.

It would be interesting to know if these two ingredients could be causing the Insulinoma to show up in so many ferrets over the age of three.

Learning what goes into our pet’s food needs to become as high of a priority as knowing what is in our own food. By learning this we can better help our pets live longer and have happier lives.

What is your opinion? Of this list of ingredients do you know what they do or where they come from?

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Guest Post: A Ferret's Five Welfare Needs

 

Ferrets are inquisitive animals that require considerable attention and care. If they are regularly handled by humans from a young age, they can form strong bonds with their owners and become as good a companion as a cat or a dog. Ferrets display a range of playful behaviours and this renders them a fun pet to have around the house. If well cared for, they can live as long as ten years. However, their average lifespan is around six years.

When ferrets are not adequately cared for, they suffer from boredom. This can result in a variety of physical and psychological problems.

Understanding the Needs of Ferrets
Ferrets are domesticated mammals. Wild European and Steppe polecats are likely to be their ancient ancestors. However, since no wild counterpart is believed to exist, scientists are still finding out about ferrets' habitats, behaviours and needs.

Owning a Ferret
Looking after a ferret is highly satisfying and can bring with it many treasured memories. However, ferret ownership can also prove a challenge. The long-term commitment associated with ferret ownership is not to be underestimated and this is particularly true of the financial cost. Anyone who owns or is responsible for a ferret, even temporarily, is required by law to adequately care for the animal by ensuring that its five welfare needs are met. These responsibilities are detailed under the Animal Welfare Act, which was introduced in England and Wales in 2007.

A Ferret's Five Welfare Needs
No two ferrets are the same and for this reason, there is no ideal way in which to look after this animal. While one ferret owner’s circumstances may differ greatly to those of another, an owner must ensure that their ferret’s five essential needs are met. The way in which these needs are met may vary. However, all ferret owners must take reasonable action to ensure that they provide their animals with
• a suitable place in which to live;
• a nutritious diet and uninhibited access to clean water;
• the chance to behave as they normally would;
• the chance to seek out appropriate company;
• protection against, and treatment for, pain, injury, suffering and disease.

Disclaimer: This is a compensated post and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Enlightened Ferret. It is also from the stand point of those that own ferrets in the United Kingdom and the post does have UK spelling.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Updated 7/16/14: Removal of dead links

The Flu Isn’t Just For Humans

It’s here that wonderful fall season which also brings with it the not so wonderful influenza virus better known as the flu. The flu is no fun for us humans but what many don’t realize is that we can give the flu to others species.

Ferrets are susceptible to all strains of the flu virus, which also includes the swine flu. Unfortunately, there is no flu shot for ferrets. The flu can be transmitted from human to ferret or from ferret to human.

When I have a cold, I take extra precautions to prevent giving it to my ferrets. This includes using hand sanitizer before and after touching any of my fur kids, along with wearing a mask to limit the amount of germs I breathe onto them.

I also monitor them for any flu like symptoms such as:

• Any discharge from the nose or eyes.
• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Loss of appetite
• Weakness and lethargy
• Fever Normal temperature range is 101-103 degrees
• Puffy eyes

Sound familiar? Yep they are the same symptoms we get when we get a cold/flu. For many ferrets, having the flu isn’t a big deal but for those with depressed immune systems due to disease or being a senior having the flu can lead to complications such as pneumonia can prove to be fatal.

Any ferret that has stopped eating/drinking for more than a day or two and/or has a weakened immune system needs to be seen by their vet to evaluate and treat the ferret accordingly.

Like humans, most ferrets will recover from their cold/flu in five to fourteen days.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

“I’ve Never Seen…”

 

Most people finish that sentence with “Ferrets walking on a leash.” or “I didn’t know you could train them to do that.”

I believe if more ferret owners did take their beloved ferrets out in public more than a more people would have the opportunity to be introduced to the world of ferrets.

I am big on educating people about ferrets and the fact they aren’t for everyone. Those cute little balls of fur they see in the pet store grow up and required a lot of care.

Some myths are:

They are smelly.  While unfixed ferrets have a very distinct musky odor. those that have been descented and fixed have less of an odor but if bathed too much the skin replaces the oil that has been washed away with more oil which can lead to a smelly ferret. As can an unclean litter box.

They are cage only animals. This is one myth that makes me roll my eyes at the person telling me this. Ferrets are active critters that love being able to explore their surroundings and need at the very minimum 2 hours a day out of the cage to play.

They can’t be trained. Ferrets can be trained to use the litter box and with a lot of patience and rewards can learn to do some simple tricks. They can also be taught to walk with a leash and harness.

They are rodents. This one gets me really worked up. Ferrets are not rodents they were domesticated over three thousand years ago to hunt rodents. They belong to the same family as the weasel, mink, and otter.

They are great pets for children. I personally don’t think they are good pets for any child under the age of 10 and don’t believe they should be introduced to a family with a baby.  I am sure there will be others that disagree with me.

 

What other myths have you heard about ferrets?

 

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

Know Your Landlord's Rules About Ferrets

 

 

Just because your rental agreement says pets are allowed doesn’t necessarily mean that ferrets are welcomed. It is better to be over cautious than to find out a month later that your landlord has a strict policy against ferrets or any other type of unusual pet.

Some landlords will require a high deposit to cover any damage your new “strange” pet might cause. You may also find that you need to have a special permit to own your ferret. This can vary from state to state except in California and Hawaii where ferrets are illegal to own.

Active military personal are moved around and for those that reside on base it should be known that ferrets are not welcomed. The reasoning is not known and will probably never be revealed.

If you find a landlord who has never had a renter who had ferrets ask if the two of you can sit down and discuss how you will prevent property damage and offer to pay a deposit above the other required monies and take out some type of liability insurance encase of an accident involving your ferret.

Be sure to keep your ferret up to date on all vaccinations and have the paperwork available if the need for it arises. Also draw up a well-written contract that you both agree on and have it signed and notarized so that it what you both have come to an agreement on cannot be changed without consent on either party’s part.

I have been lucky in the fact that my roommate and landlady Judy has been learning right along with me about ferrets and have no problems with them.

But I have witnessed a ferret being returned because he wasn’t allowed in the apartment complex the girl lived in much to the relief of her mother who didn’t live with the girl.

Ferrets are still a fairly unknown type of pet and bad press has made them out to be vicious animals that coupled with all the misconceptions many people don’t want to take the chance of having them on their property.

By helping others to understand your unique pet, you help to remove the bad labels people have attached to ferrets.

This may earn you the title of "That crazy ferret lady" but it is worth it if you can help educate just one person.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo

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