Ho Ho Ho!

  Last Saturday, Dec 13th, I trucked myself, ( literally, I drove
my 2002 Ford Ranger), out to the Keene, NH Petco so that I
could put on the Santa suit and pose for pictures with peoples
pets. All in the spirit of Christmas and raising money for the
Ferretwise shelter. There was supposed to be several of us
there, I volunteered to be Santa, and I was supposed to have
2 or 3 elves, but due to the nasty ice storm the previous day,
some helpers had to stay home. It ended up being, Dino,
Alicia, and I and a petco employee to man the printer.

  There were actually people lined up and waiting with their
pets when I came out of the changing room so we got right
to business. I haven't got a final count from Alicia, but we
must have taken at least 30 photo's. There were a whole
bunch of dogs of various breeds, 3 cats, and a bunny. There
were also a couple of children thrown in for good measure.
A couple of families did family photo's with their pet and
Santa. Alicia got to be a better photographer as the day went
on. We were there from 11 am until 5 pm. I took the beard
off in between, with Alicia keeping a watch out for children
going by. I wasn't going to be the one to dash beliefs about
Santa.
  I really enjoyed the day being the big man. I know it
was to take pet pictures, but the smiles I got from little
children when they walked by made me feel really good. One
little guy kept steering his father around the store to come by
me again, and he had a big smile on his face. I really liked
that. One nice lady told me I was too young and too skinny
to be Santa, I thanked her. I am happy I was able to make
a few peoples day and maybe Christmas a little brighter.

In which JJ gets better

  When we were at the Children's Museum in October, I found
fairly good sized lump on JJ's neck that I hadn't noticed
before. It most definitely was not a good thing. So after
the day of fun, ( read previous post ), we went home and
I made an appointment to see Dr Guerino. Actually, it was
an appointment I had for Ozzie and Lizbeth that I switched
to JJ. They couldn't all go together cuz JJ is a ferret that
only likes people, with a very select few ferret exceptions.
We went on down at the assigned time and JJ got a strange
room to explore, rapture! He was so excited he was war
dancing all over the room, stopping in a corner to leave
the requisite present. I never have to bring a stool sample
in a bag, I just bring it in the ferret, it's easier that way.

  After a while Dr G came in and we got down to business
after the obligatory hello's. JJ was pocked, prodded, and
examined for a while. The doctor did not like the look or
feel of the new addition to JJ's neck. He took JJ to get a
sample for biopsy. So a few days needed to be waited for
to get the results, in the meantime we had JJ on some
antibiotics just in case. When the results came back,
they were of course bad, it was lymphoma, which was
not really a surprise, but I had hoped not.

  This left a couple of options open, chemo therapy, which
I didn't really like the idea of. It would just make his
quality of life not to good and for the moment, JJ didn't
know he was sick. He was the same happy boy he had
always been. The other option was a course of prednisone,
Which would possibly give him ulcers after a while if
He got some on an empty stomach. But I had talked to a
couple of people who had had luck with it. The other
option was to do nothing, but I went for the prednisone.
I just make sure he has eaten something before he gets
it. He loves the fact he gets all the stuff to eat. The
easiest is right after the morning soup. It is also made
easy by the fact that they compound the medicine with
a watermelon flavor that JJ loves, so getting it in him is
no chore.

  The dosage was .5ml twice a day for 2 weeks, then .5ml
once a day for 2 weeks. I was so pleased when after just
4 or 5 days the lump was mostly gone! Now after 4 weeks
it's like it was never there. I know the cancer is still in there
somewhere, but I think it is in recession for a while at least.
So with any luck JJ will be around for a good long while,
war dancing, eating treats and Greg's special blend soup!

Another day at the BCM ( 10/18/08 )

Last Saturday, JJ and I travelled to Boston and the
Childrens Museum for "Critter Day" with the Ferretwise
folks. Austin went with us last year, but he sadly passed
away from bone cancer this past spring. First, he got
his daily serving of soup, which he loves, then we were off.
We got there around about 10:30am and Dino met us
at the back door loading dock to let us in. Things were
already in swing, and we didn't open until 11:00! Turns
out there was a PBS camera crew running around the
museum and they decided to do a piece on us for a kids
show. I didn't get to make my TV debut, but they did
a spot with Alicia and talked about our furry friends.
After that we got things set up and were ready for the
business of introducing ferrets to any children that
came by, and they did.

This year there were 4 of us there showing off the
ferrets, Alicia and Dino, Susan and I. They brought 4 ,
Elrich, Barney, Destiny, and Blossom. We had a playpen
set up for who ever was on show at the time with a tent,
a sleep sack or two, food, water, and a litter box. And of
course treats! JJ had to take a back seat for a while
since he doesn't get along with other ferrets, just people.
So we set about the business of introducing and answering
questions. One little 2 or 3 year old guy thought Blossom was a
stuffed toy and tried to grab her from me at one point,
fortunately his father saw it and stopped him, then he
started crying because he wanted the toy. He just
didn't understand Blossom wasn't a toy. She was a stuffed
animal though! Wow, did those guys eat a lot of
treats! N-bones, cheweasles, foamy fries, cheerios,
you name it.

Once the 4 got tired, they went in for a nap, and JJ
got to come out and say hi, boy was he happy, he had
his share of treats, and got to look around the play
pen wondering where the ferrets that matched the smells
in there were. He didn't get to stay down long, I kept
picking him up to introduce him to children that came
by. Everybody loved him of course and he was very
patient with them. JJ didn't seem to get tired, even
when we put him in, and took out the 4 after their nap,
he was awake and bouncing around! We were there from
11 am to 2 pm, then we packed our stuff up and headed
for home, We were sorry to say goodbye, because
the kids were still coming, but our time was up and the
ferrets were pooped.

On the drive home JJ slowly, VERY slowly settled
down. He was still excited from all the new sights
and sounds he had been through. He was up until we
got home and I settled him back down in the room with his
brothers and sisters, Lil, Ozzie, LizBeth, and Sasha. Back
in his room with all the familiar smells, his poop was
finally popped, he crashed until after the Red Sox game,
when it was his turn to come out and run around.

Visitors among us!

Well, I recently made a trip to see Dr. G with JJ and
Austin. The visit was for Austin, JJ went along for
moral support. The boys REALLY don't like being
in the carrier for too long. Unfortunately it is a half
hour trip down to the vets. So they were bouncing off
the walls by the time we got there. We were there for
a couple of reasons, one was to get a ferretonin chip
into Austin, he has thin hair, so it was time for the
melatonin. Another reason was that there was a spot
on his belly that would scab up and then heal. Turned
out to be a mast cell tumor, Dr. G figured the melatonin
would help to clear that up. Austin didn't like getting
his chip, he squawked quite loudly. We assured him it
really was for his own good, but he was having none of
it. The last reason was that every one has been
suspiciously scratching at their ears lately, so we
had a peek at Austins ear goo, and my suspicions were
confirmed, there were visitors, ear mites. So we have
Revolution to put on everybody, 3 or 4 drops. Usually
works quite good. Plus, all the bedding gets washed.
They ALL hate that. Doesn't smell right for a while
afterward.

That was the business end of the trip. The fun part
was in the exam room before the doctor got there.
A new place to explore! Both of the boys were bouncing
around doing their happy dance in the excitement of it
all. Austin found a wicked fun thing, it was a waste
bucket about 3 feet tall. He just had to find out what
was in there! I caught him up on the rim a couple of
times and took him off. This made it all the more
important that he get in. I finally put it up on the
counter out of his reach, what a kill joy! There was
still fun to be had, JJ and Austin rolled around and
played for all they were worth in this great new place
with a ll the different smells. They never slowed
down.

Dr. G came in and saw the basket on the counter and
guessed what happened. He took the bag out, which had
yucky stuff in it, which is why I didn't want Austin
in there, and put it back on the floor. Oh rapture!
Austin zeroed right in on it the next chance he got
and plop he was in! Day of fun complete, almost. At
the end Dr. G said goodbye and left, and both boys
shot right out the door! Fortunately they didn't
get far, distracted by more smells. They were
apprehended and we went home.

Adventures in melatonin implanting.

Last Saturday Maurice, ( He's the one with his eye's
crossed in the photo in the Ferretwise Holiday Party
entry ), consented to drop by and help me get the
melatonin chips stuck into Starlight, Lil, and, JJ.
It turned out to be a little bit of an adventure.
In my experience it can go easy or the ferret in
will not be happy about it. The needle to do this
is pretty large. I remember Elliot didn't like it
at all and would jump around and complain. He bit
Dr G. once, which was very out of character for him.
Then there are Lil and Starlight who don't even notice
it happening.
We did Starlight first, she is a a very old little
girl, she is pushing 8! ( Go Starlight! ). So she
is very mellow. Getting her implant in was a breeze,
she didn't even look up from the ferratone to
notice anything happened. I waited a little to long
for her, she dropped some weight. But happily she is
coming back, so I will have to be a little more
attentive about that.


Since we were on a roll, we went and got Lil. Now
she is a poster child for these things. Last October
when she got her first chip, her tail was just about
bald. Now she has the most beautiful winter coat,
see the picture: Lil. She has put a lot of weight back on too, she
is a very sturdy ferret. I wanted to get her all set
so she wouldn't lose any ground. For this particular
case however, thick fur was a liability. We set her
up with some feratone on a saucer and I held her
while Maurice went to work. As I said, when she got
her first chip, it was quick and she didn't notice,
but her fur was a lot thinner. This time We couldn't
seem to get past the fur. Maurice tried 3 times, and
it kept bunching up in the fur and popping back out.
Maurice tried 3 times, and finally we had to stop
for a bit and let Lil calm down, she started to
notice.

So I went and got JJ, who was fast asleep, actually
in what I like to call the sleep of the dead. The
only reason you can tell they are alive is you can
see them breathe, and they are warm. I thought, cool!
We will be able to do this and he won't know! We laid
him down and Maurice tried, unfortunately caught some
hair and it popped out! ARGH! JJ woke up at that point.
So I gave him some ferratone and we got it in on the
second try. Now back to Lil. I decided to go get my
electric clippers and we gave her a little shave in
the spot we were aiming for. That done we let her
settle down in her room again, the clippers are very
loud. So after about 20 minutes we tried again, and
had success! We were glad, and so was Lil!

Can't we all just get along!?

In an attempt to make things easier on myself, I wanted
to try and integrate 2 of the groups I have. Right now
there are 3 separate groups who have their own run times.
Lil and Starlight are what is left of the original bunch
from when I moved into my house 7 years ago. Having
seniority in the house as it were, they get to have
during the day while I am at work for their run time.
The next group is JJ and Austin. They get to be out
from when I get home around 5:30 pm until I go to bed.
Now to try and make things fair I try to stay up until
midnight so they have equal time out. Then just before
I turn in I put the boys to bed and let out the kids.
These are Sasha, LizBeth, and Ozzie. LizBeth is barely
a year old and Sasha is 2 and half or so. I think
Alicia said Ozzie is 5, so he isn't technically a kid,
but who's counting? These guys stay out until I wake
up around 5 am. Sometimes I get home late if I am doing
something after work, so somebody gets cheated out of
their play time. So I make up for it on the weekends
if I can and leave that group out a little longer.

I have these groupings because nobody has tolerated
anybody from outside their own group. The drawback to
this all is I don't end up getting a lot of sleep during
the week and have to try and make up for it on the weekend
myself, which means I don't get a lot done around the
house, and I am pretty run down most of the time. So I
thought, these guys have all been in the same room with
each other for a year or so, they must be used to each
other by now. So I tried a little experimentation to
see if I could cut down to 2 run times. Lil pretty much
has disliked everyone except for Starlight since her
brother Phil and Sinbad passed away. I was hoping that
the melatonin chip would have mellowed her a little. It
did such a great job otherwise, she has a wonderful winter
coat this year! ( Her tail was nearly bald back in October).
So I put her out with Austin figuring that he is about
as mellow a guy as you can get. No go, she went right for
him and wouldn't let go. I didn't even want to think what
would happen with JJ. I waited a day, and then tried to
see what she would do with Sasha, who is the definite
dominant one in her group. No go there either. Lil likes
who she likes.

So I waited a week and thought I would try and see if JJ
wanted make nice with another ferret. So I put him and
Ozzie out. JJ is a ferret who likes people, not ferrets.
He thinks he is a person. He likes Austin and that's
about it. JJ pounced right on Ozzie and got him by the scruff
and wouldn't let go. It took a couple of minutes to get him
to let go. So much for that experiment. I felt bad for Ozzie,
he didn't do anything! So he came out and watched TV with me
for a while. Which wasn't long, there isn't a ferret around
that will sit still for more than 5 minutes when in a new
place. I couldn't let him roam out where we were though, it
is not ferret proofed, and the cat doesn't seem to like
ferrets. But he seemed to have gotten over the ordeal. I gave
him a chicken N-bone, and he was content. (This meant I
had to give Sasha and Lizbeth one as well. Fairs fair.).
SO the integration of groups is not to be. I think I am going
try and make some kind of room divider so I can let the
boys and the kids out at the same time. We'll see.

I have to add that this is in no way a complain post about the
ferrets. I love my kids to death. It is just me rambling on
about the latest madness going on around here. peace.