Its me again! =-)

Question

-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
  Oscar has had a full exam and is completely healthy from head to toe. His teeth are all in perfect shape, his nails are trimmed weekly he doesn't seem to be in any pain.  Our vet did bring to my attention that when I am in the room Oscar is a perfect little angel, but when I had to run to my car for something, He wouldn't let the vet hold him and he kept trying to get to the door. All in all I think it's been chalked up to him just being the biggest baby ferret I've ever seen. I've also tried the rectangular litter boxes on each floor, Lily is using them most of the time now, Bebez (the senior) doesn't seem to like them so I've had to switch her back to a corner pan on her top floor, and Oscar, still won't use it.  I've also switched them to recycled paper litter, and he seems to dig at it more, regardless of how much of their little nasties are in them. I just don't know what to do with him. Don't know if he's mad at me for me being away, (even when they are out, he doesn't use them) Or he's just THAT stubborn. Any more suggestions? :-) I appreciate the help thus far :-) Oscar is just one of a kind. We have also switched their diet to 8-in-1 due to some contraversy with our previous provider, only problem is, the local pet store only carries it so often, and rarely re-orders, i've tried online stores including the ferret store, but most places only take credit  cards, any suggestions? Thanks.
         -amy-n-lynze-
-----Answer-----
Hi Amy & Lynze:

First of all, I want to apologize for being so late in answering your letter - my computer has been down for 3 days now <sigh>, but I'm finally back online now.

Great to hear from you again!  I'm happy to hear the Oscar checks out perfectly at the vet. That eliminates a lot of 'maybe's'.  

One thing we haven't talked about yet is that with Oscar's coloring, he *may* be a Waardensburg ferret. Maybe your vet mentioned this? Those are ferrets who were part of a breeding program many years ago in an attempt to get lots of white coloring and certain color characteristics, which worked somewhat color-wise, but a high majority of ferrets that carry the Waardensburg gene are white with some slight markings on them (especially around the head) can be deaf. People can have ferrets for years and not know they are deaf.  I'm not saying that Oscar IS, but that it's a possibility you may want to check him for.  

When he's looking the other way, jingle his favorite toy, or call him, or bang a pan with a spoon - just be sure he doesn't SEE or feel vibrations from you're doing. Many deaf ferrets compensate wonderfully by being more aware optically, so you really have to sneak around to be able to make a noise and see if he jumps or responds when he's not looking. I have a friend with a deaf ferret and she calls her ferret by stomping her feet; the ferret feels the vibrations and goes looking for mommhy at the source of the vibrations.

IF you test him and he is deaf, write back to me and I can give you some links that are really helpful. Deaf ferrets who haven't been abused (sometimes they are because the owner is unaware the ferret does not hear them)  also tend to bond very closely to their owners; they seem to have endless energy; and they are just little stinkers from the ones I've been around, anyway. They are incredibly lovable because they do bond so closely and are often more affectionate than hearing ferrets.

There's a great chance that he's just very very bonded to you too, if you are his main caregiver. Some ferrets bond closer to their human than others. My kids go nuts when we go to the vet. They hang onto my neck and won't even get on the table to be examined until I make them, then I have to 'hold their paw' LOL. The first move from the doc and straight up my shirt they go if I don't have a good hold on them!  So, I think what you're describing at the vet's is pretty much behavior of a ferret who knows his mommy and likes his life the way it is!

As far as the litterbox...another thing we can try - put NOTHING in the box...just empty box. Don't clean it out really well (leave basically just the 'smell') just wipe out lightly with a paper towel and put it back in the cage with NO litter or anything in the box.  That leaves them nothing to dig.  I also know people who lay out newspaper sections, puppy pads, or paper towels in the litterbox to get around the digging problem.

I do believe that if you can get them to stop digging for a while, they will forget about it and/or they will grow out of it.   One of my ferrets was a pretty bad digger, but as soon as he would start, I'd holler his name and say "GILBERT, NO NO" and I would start heading for the cage. I'd clean up the litter mess and shortly after when I walked away, he would dig again and I repeated the same each time.  Sometimes I wonder if it is his way of saying 'Hey, mom - wanna come play the "Gilbert no-no game?"  Maybe he's just needing more time out or something more to do to get his energy out when he's playing.  My Gilbert has a wonderful temperament, so I think he was just doing it because it's fun and he's a ferret! :-)

I made a dig box for him. You can make them out of children's play sand you get at home depot (it's nice and white and has no 'outside crawlies' in it that you might not want in your house. Be sure to keep it damp if you get it because it will really raise a cloud of dust when they start digging!  People also use regular (not instant) rice in dig boxes, which gives them a lovely smell when they come out from playing :-)   You do have to watch because they *may* think their dig box is a litterbox and that would need to be cleaned out right away (my other ferret was famous for doing this when Gilbert was busy digging LOL.    

A dig box would be a GREAT gift from Santa to your kids this year :-)  I liked the sand the best because I put the tub (3-ft across and a food deep) on a carpeted area and it was easy to just vacuum it when they were finished. It really does help them get their need to dig directed in a different place. It's worth a try - I think you could get a big tub to stick in a corner of a room somewhere and sand for under $20 and it's a blast to watch them in it - I would play with them in it too - bury their clear dryer hose tunnel under the dirt and watch them go up and down the tunnel and dig stuff up, bury stuff, just dig for the sake of digging (just don't forget to keep it damp LOL).

As far as purchasing food from online pet stores without a credit card, I'm really not familiar with that. I've always used a card and not paid attention to what other types of payment they might take - maybe PayPal? Money Orders? Especially if you order by telephone instead of online. Call the 800 number instead of ordering online. Just an idea. I know most of them put out a catalog, so surely you can order and pay by check or money order? If you place a telephone order, surely they would accept a money order or check payment sent to them.  They probably won't send out the order until the check clears tho.

Only other thing I would suggest is that you mix at least two or three high protein (37% protein or more) foods together and get them used to several different ones. Just in case the one they are eating changes their recipe, or goes out of business.  Ferrets imprint on their food and if suddenly you offer them something totally different to eat, they are likely not to even recognize it as food.  The  beauty of mixing the new ones in with the one they are used to is that the flavors mix and they get to taste the new food without it being a big ordeal.  The best food that you can get that meets ferret nutritional requirements (that you can get in your grocery store or local KMart) is IAMS KITTEN in the purple bag. This is a good 'mixer' to go with other high quality foods like 8 in 1 Ultimate, Totally Ferret, Path Valley Farms, Zupreem, 8 in 1 Superior Choice - those are the best that I can think of right offhand.  IAMS is the only ferret food you can buy outside of a pet store or ferret specialty store that meets ferrets nutritional requirements. Other cat/kitten foods just aren't good for them and over time can really shorten their lives and cause all kinds of problems. There's another one you can probably get at your vet's called Hill's I/D Feline kibble. Right now those are the only other options I can think of.

I know it sounds far out that a company could just up and change their recipe and it would affect ferrets, but actually Iams Kitten changed their recipe just a few years ago and people were panicking that were using that as their only ferret food. We had ferrets all over that wouldn't eat and it was a real problem! So, it really IS a possibility that you can guard against really easily.

Hope that helped.  I think time and probably a dig box would be really good for Oscar and the other ones too :-)   You'll have a wonderful time watching them fling sand all over the room LOL.  They really get into the digging when allowed (why it's so important it's slightly damp all the way thru cuz once it starts flying, it can really make a mess. I accidentally let Gilbert in the dig box once when it was dry and when I returned to the room a minute later, I couldn't hardly open my eyes in the thick dust to see him!  LOL

Have a great holiday. Keep doing what you're doing with the litterbox.  Keep blankies around it - lots of them. You'll be surprised, once they are litterbox trained, you don't even HAVE to have litter in there - you can use puppy pads, paper towels, newspaper - lots of options and they can't dig them either!

My kids got a dig box for Christmas several years ago and the fun has worn off. This year they got a pet stroller where they can be zipped inside and see out thru mesh on all sides. It arrived today and I couldn't wait to try it out, so I put them in it and they wanted the top unzipped and both of them stood up on their back legs just looking all around the whole time we were walking until (we went around the block) we got in front of our house and Gilbert apparently recognized it and he lept out of that stroller SO fast I couldn't have caught him if I had to! He was at the front door before I even realized what was going on.  He was just standing there as if to say "MOM, THIS is OUR house...don't go NO MORE!"    Have a great holiday!

sincerely,
jacquie rodgers



        Sorry to hear about your computer, glad to see it's back up and running :-) I will try the training pads, they just might work for him. I might try to order the food over the phone, or I might just go ahead and get a credit card specifically for that purpose. Guess it's really a win win right?  The ferrets will have good food, and at the same time I can build good credit. I will however, not buy from IAMS. I am a member of PETA, and stopped buying from IAMS after their animal testing incident.
      I have heard of white ferrets with other markings, although Oscar doesn't have a blaze on his head, he used to have a silver stripe down his back, which was really cute, that has since disappeared and he's down to being almost completely white with just a little silver tip on his tail, which he might also lose as he gets a little older. He has however been tested for deafness the first time he had his vaccines and check up and checked out okay. Not to mention when he's out running around the house, he will find something he's not suposed to be getting into and i can hear him from the other room, i will yell, Oscar no! he'll run into the room and look at me, then take off in another direction to get into something else. :) He also tries to get in my lap and get what i'm eating, and no doesn't work on that. So i'll get up and run and he'll chase me down the hallway and climb up my leg to see what i'm eating (he never gets it though) Usually after one game of hallway chase he loses interest and finds something to play with (like the cat) They were raised together, so they play for a little while then hop up in the chair together and go to sleep. (they have their own chair with little stairs to climb into it). Unfortunately, they have grown tired of their sandbox as well this year, it's packed up waiting for them to forget they have it so i can bring it out later on. We also have one of those cute little strollers, but they prefer walking on leashes, except the older one, so she gets the stroller to herself while the two young ones walk with me. We just finished our Christmas shopping for them all, they got all kinds of treats and little toys, new cubes and blankets, and  a large set of connector tubes they can play in. they enjoy trying to open their presents every year, although, it's the paper they're more interested in, not what's inside.
    As far as abuse goes, to my knowledge he's never been abused, and never been owned by anyone else, unless the breeders themselves were abusive. I wasn't originally the primary caregiver until a few months ago when our jobs switched.  She started working long hours, and I stayed home  to babysit, but nothing has changed as far as the relationships, Bebez is still her baby, Lily likes us both, but likes her more, and Oscar is my baby. Guess it will always be that way.  When we first got Oscar he was VERY mean, so maybe he was abused? Not your typical ornry nippy kit, he was flat out mean. If you walked toward him to pick him up he would jump at you ready to bite. When we got him, Amy picked him out, when she held him he bit her and would not let go, bit her so hard he drew blood. She didn't want to get him after that but i talked her into getting him (because i've never seen a ferret as cute as him, ever) I told her i would work with him for awhile and so we got him. Maybe thats why he's closer to me, I gave him a chance to straighten up :-) Which brings up another question. When they do get into trouble, do you ever scruff them on the back of the neck and hiss at them like their mothers do? If so, do they ever yawn in your face? LOL Mine Oscar does it every time, he closes his eyes and yawns. What does that mean? Anyway this is getting be long, but I'm sure i'll be back again. Thanks for your help :-) I appreciate it :-)
-Lynze

Answer
Hi again Lynze!

Wow, I think I've found someone whose ferrets are as spoiled as mine! LOL  Sounds like they have about everything a good ferret should ever need and you are doing exactly the right thing by removing some toys for a while, then giving them back later and they think they are all new all over again!  Aren't ferrets wonderful that way?   And isn't it funny that the wrapping paper really IS the important thing on Christmas morning? LOL

I think you're spot-on when you said that your training Oscar is what makes him so connected to you. It just about confirms, however, that for SOME reason he didn't trust people before you (the biting - he wanted them to put him down).  He has grown to trust you, however, and knows he is safe with you. Whatever happened that he was originally afraid of humans, he has overcome with your love, but he is still leery of other people handling him.  I have a ferret like that - she won't let anyone touch her except me.  I got her after she had been brought back to the pet store as 'a biter' from the initial purchaser.  Makes me wonder what they did to her because she doesn't trust anyone except me and in early years, she would even approach others (including my husband!) and hiss at them as if to say "Leave HER alone, SHE belongs to ME!!" and wouldn't let him get close to me or she would bite him SO hard it would always draw blood.  One ferret friend I have came to visit one time and *thought* she could break her of the biting. She walked in the door, picked her up and said "what's this I hear about you biting everybody except your mommy, little girl?"  Kylie proceeded to sink her fangs deep into my friends thumb and I literally had to pry them off her. By the time I removed the ferret from her thumb, my friend had NINE holes in her thumb. I thought we were going to have to get her stitches!!!  On the other hand, tho, same ferret is incredibly cuddly and kissy and affectionate to me.  She's over 6 years old now, so she's not going to change, that's obvious.  I have run out of volunteers to see if she's changed too LOL.  So, we've both had the same experience and I'm sure Oscar loves you the same as Kylie loves me - just don't anybody else touch! LOL

Yes, I do scruff my kids and hiss at them to indicate "no no" (especially when they were small and still learning).  The scruffing in itself triggers a yawn response - always. Vets use this to their advantage when they need to check for sore throats. They scruff and the ferret yawns - it's much easier than saying "open wide"!!  :-)  It just means that Oscar is a normal ferret.

Have a great weekend.  I meant to tell you - if I haven't already....there's a great book called "FERRETS FOR DUMMIES" by Kim Schilling that is a 'must have' for all ferret owners.  Just in case it's not too late to put in your request for what you want for Christmas :-)  It really IS a good book - most other ferret books I've seen are a waste of time, but this one is really great, so thought I'd mention it.

Don't hesitate to write anytime!  I love hearing about your kids! Glad mine aren't the only 'spoiled' ones!! <grin>

Sincerely,
jacquie rodgers