From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2003-07-20 18:46:34 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] I need help with Fie Fie
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <3377.192.168.132.34.1058726794.squirrel@mail.seaconinc.com>
Angela,
It's hard to tell what's wrong with Fie Fie from your description
alone. Your vet probably knows best. If she does have the flu -
ferrets can and do get it - you're just going to have to let it run
its course. Since the flu is caused by a virus, antibiotics don't do
a darned thing for it. Your best bet is to keep her comfortable,
hydrated, and fed. Pedialyte (children's electrolyte solution, get it
at a drug store or grocery) is good for helping with the hydration,
especially since many ferrets like the taste. To keep her eating you
might try softening her food, or look into a "duck soup" recipe for
her. Or try feeding her slightly warmed chicken baby food - the plain
kind with no vegetables added.
Ferrets are very intelligent and absolutely can get depressed. They
most often seem to get depressed when a playmate dies, or when they
change homes, or when some other major change occurs. If Fie Fie was
especially attached to her old cage, she might be upset, but I
wouldn't immediately think that's your problem here.
If you haven't already, you might want to wash her new cage
thoroughly. It sounds like it might have some manufacturing residue
on it that is making her itch. Then again, it might just be the
stress of the new cage - one that doesn't smell like her yet - that is
making her itch. Did you put her old hammocks, beds, pans, etc. in
the new cage? Some familiar old pieces will help her adjust.
roger & the wolverine wannabees
missing bear and lancelot