From:
"Melinda"
Date: 2009-01-26 06:37:10 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Our Rescued Ferret
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
About a week ago we rescued a ferret from a woman who had no idea
what she was doing.
I was not planning on taking him, but after seeing how he was living
i felt so bad for the little guy i knew I just could not leave
him in that situation.
She had him in a one level cage, She fed him a really cheap fatty
ferret food and left him in the cage all day with no excercise and no
attention. And before I took him she ran out of food 5 days before
and was feeding him nothing but cheerios.
He was laying in nothing but shavings and had no bed to cuddle into.
He has a pot belly and is so heavy that he could not put all the
weight on his back legs because he would tire out quickly, So he
would just drag himself across the floor.
But mostly he would just lie there and do nothing.
So when we got him home the first thing i did was get all those nasty
shavings out of his cage.
And We are trying to litter train him. She never tried. She never
even gave the little guy a bath (So he was pretty stinky).
So we have lots of things we have been working on.
For bedding he has a pile of nice soft blankets (he loves Them).
He has a litter box, But we are still working on that, so he also has
piddle pads in there for him to go on (he is getting better).
I also Put him on a better food Which he seems to like better.
We also Take him out through out the day and play with him and let
him explore (safely).
I also bought him the vitamins that go into his water.
Before we took him, She told me she thought he was sick, and that if
he was she would basically just have to let him die because she did
not have the funds to take him to the vet. I think he had a touch of
the flu. He had a runny eye and he just seemed like he felt icky and
wanted to mostly sleep.(he seems better now). We Made sure he had
lots
of rest and fluids, and It only lasted a couple days.
So in a short amount of time of getting him, he is getting better at
litter training.
He is starting to walk more on his hind legs (he will take off
running), and he will actually beg and bite the bars to come out and
play. And he is a big snuggler, he loves to cuddle and have his fur
petted.
Also he is starting to play more and he is actually starting to get
more frisky.
He is still getting use to the whole bath thing, but he does play
when he is in the water.
I guess my question would be, what else can we do for him to make his
legs stronger? I do not want to push him or do things to quickly.
Because I do not want to hurt him or set him back.
Is there Any excercise or play that anyone can suggest for him?
He does love the crinkly bag thing, and he will play in it for quiet
a while.
Any Help would be great.
~Thanks
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/