Xmas party coming up on Saturday!

We have a wonderful Xmas party comihng up at the shelter on Saturday, December 12th at 6:00 p.m. There will be HAM! Here is the official website info:

December 2009 Friends of Ferrets Xmas Meeting
When: Saturday, December 12th
Time: 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: 17560 S. Holly Lane, Oregon City, OR 97045 (the Oregon Ferret Shelter)

We're having the annual Xmas party! Bring a gift or two for the ferrets' gift exchange -- something around $5 to put into the mix. A hard rubber toy, some treats (N-bones or Cheweasels), a sleepy sack -- these are some good selections.

Also, if you want to bring a gift for the shelter ferrets, items such as food, laundry soap, bleach, paper towels, baby wipes, scrapers, and litter are always appreciated. Our babies always need help, and we have more than 200 in the shelter right now.

If you have any questions, please call Dave or Chris at (503) 557-8369.

The dinner is a shared potluck. We will be providing delicious and yummy ham! Singles please bring a main dish, families please bring a main dish and a salad or dessert. Tableware and drinks will be provided. Healthy ferrets are welcome to join the play group.

The Giving Tree -- A Great Way to Help Our Ferrets!

This is Charlie. She is one of our furkids on The Giving Tree this year.

The Giving Tree is a way for people to “adopt” or sponsor an individual ferret and play Secret Santa to a needy furkid. Shelters send in pictures and stories of up to 10 ferrets for placement on the Tree's web page. Would-be Santas can then go to the page and click a picture to find out why that ferret is at the shelter, some details about their life there, and what he or she would most like for Christmas.

The Oregon Ferret Shelter was able to post 10 of its most deserving special needs ferrets on the Giving Tree this year. We are on the bottom half of Tree 24. Our kids are: Farina, Vinnie, Orchid, Mario, Charlie, Monsieur Ferret, Probee, Spike, Travis, and Butters.

If you would like to see the Giving Tree in action, you can access it at: www.ferretgivingtree.com. Once there, you can choose from a huge selection of deserving candidates. Directions for use are right on the website and are easy to follow.

If you have any questions about the Oregon Ferret Shelter kids, you can call Chris Mathis at (503) 557-8369.

The shelter contest!

Well, so far we only have 20 votes. But they are high-quality votes! I loved reading the wonderful things people said about us. Here are some of the nice things people said. Thank you thank you thank you!

Nancy Busso
The OR Ferret Shelter is a wonderful, caring place and ferrets get excellent food, medical care and love in a clean environment.

Barbara Trierweiler
They LOVE animals. Not just ferrets, but all animals. They help the Oregon Humane Society with foster homes for some of their animals, without asking for credit, They have a no kill policy so you feel safe bringing your babies (like mine), if circumstances beyond your control happen and you have to give them up. They're the best.

Rylie Coiteux
I used to have two ferrets from this shelter, and before them we almost bought two different ferrets from there. They did not sell us those ones because one ferret was sick. I appreciated them not selling me a sick animal. He ended up dying two weeks after we were going to buy him. I also love how much attention the ferrets in the shelter get. They get trained to stop biting before they are sold, and they are just the cutest animals in the world. :) .

Damon hathaway
I have adopted 2 beautiful ferrets so far from this shelter. Oregon Ferret Shelter have knowledgeable people, with such love in their hearts that I have never heard of them refusing any ferrets brought to them .

Andrea Land
This shelter is amazing!!! We currently have ferrets and tried to take some in from a friend of ours that had to move away and one of the boys wasnt getting along so we called and asked if the shelter could find it a better suited home. They accepted with no questions asked and when we got there we found out he had adrenal gland disease thing and that they were going to do the surgery to fix him!!!!! I am so happy to hear this good news. .

Carole Clark
I love ferrets. They should all have the loving care they get at this shelter.

Shiver Carr
This shelter has a wonderful reputation and the work they do is so very important. .

J Stufflebeam
There are not many Ferret rescue facilities and they provide a much needed loving sanctuary.

Patti Riggert
The Oregon Ferret Shelter is run primarily by Chris Mathis with help from whoever she can recruit. She works basically around the clock and a ferret is never turned away, no matter what the issue. Without Chris and the Oregon Ferret Shelter there would be hundreds of ferrets that would not have homes or would have been put to sleep. This is a shelter that is funded by donations and adoptions fees and does not get the large funding that dog and cat shelters get. That money would REALLY help a lot of ferrets that need surgery, medications and a forever family to love and care for them! Thank you!

janell cody
there are not many people who would do the job that chris and dave do at the ferret shelter with out them all the fuzzies would end up being put down instead she is a no kill shelter every one deserves a second chance.

SAMANTHA MATHIS
I LOVE THE OREGON FERRET SHELTER BECAUSE THAY HELP A LOT OF FERRETS THAY DO GOOD THAINGS

Jeni Clark (this one is mine)
The Oregon Ferret Shelter helps hundreds of ferrets each year without the huge funding that dog and cat shelters get. Chris Mathis works around the clock -- yes, even in the middle of the night -- to make sure all of her charges are well-cared-for even with the limited resources at her disposal. She is amazing and an inspiration.

Help us become America's favorite animal shelter!

From the Care2.com website: "The America's Favorite Animal Shelter contest is a chance for animal lovers everywhere to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter and rescue animals while helping their favorite shelter win a donation."

OK, yes, I know we don't have as huge a following as the dog and cat people. But that doesn't mean we can't show how much we love our tiny ferret friends! If we get enough votes, we could win some money. And there are several ways to win. We have until December 16th to gather votes. Tell your friends, tell your coworkers, tell your mom!

Clicky clicky HERE to VOTE! Or click on Gabriella above!

Halloween Costume Contest!

I love October! It's the time of year where we do unspeakably embarassing things to ferrets, like dress them up in fairy costumes, for prizes. It makes me feel like a little girl again, dressing up my cats in doll clothes. (Free tip: Cats REALLY don't like booties. Neither do ferrets.)

Unfortunately for me, my sewing machine broke and I was unable to contribute to the contest. But it was fortunate for eveyone else, as this left me able to get some really nice pictures of the other contestants!

I put all of my pictuers together in a slide show for your viewing pleasure. I also wrote up the whole thing with my usual goofy flair.

Clicky clicky here!

TUBES!

Buy a tube for your ferret! You'll be glad you did! (Dana sure is.)

A GOOD Craigslist post!

I was cruising Craigslist again, and I saw this post. It's a bit blunt, but I am really glad that someone is looking out for ferrets' best interest. Awesome!


To people looking for ferrets (everywhere)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2009-10-11, 1:02PM PDT
Reply to: comm-ecdyt-1416747894@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have notice a lot of people looking for free or no cost ferrets recently. I would like to let people know that ferrets are VERY high maintance animals. They need 4+ hours a day outside the cage of supervised playtime. They need their litter changed DAILY. Ferrets also need special food. Made for Ferret although some people think that they can feed them cat food it is very bad for their teeth. Ferret food cost $10 for the smallest bag so it expensive. Ferret also need vet care a lot of people don't relize that they need rabbies and distemper shots. Ferrets can also have lots of health problems. You need to find an experinaced vet who knows about ferrets. I have four ferrets of my own and have spent well over $2000 on my ferrets this year. This is only for things they must have such as cage, litter box, shampoo, nail trimmers, water bowl, dishes, beddings, leashes and harness and some ferret toys. I hope that if you REALLY want a ferret your willing to pay at least something for them. If your not even willing to pay a rehoming fee that suggest to me that you might not be willing to properly take care of your new pet and it will most likly end up on craiglist again to be rehome. If this does not apply to you then I am deeply sorry but hopfully this post will open someone's eyes to how much responsiblity an animal is this something that a lot of people on craigslist seem to do. They buy an animals have and acciendtly have more of them and then they rehome them. Also ferrets are illegal in califorina and hawwii so if your going to move there don't bother getting one it will be back on cariglist because you didn't do your research. Please research ferret in dept before you decide to take one into your home

Ferret Legging

I came across an odd photo today, It referred back to the sport of ferret legging.

Cracked.com has a lovely article about it on their list of the eight most baffling sports from around the world.
http://www.cracked.com/article_16697_8-most-baffling-sports-from-around-world.html

I suspect that a lot of your success in the sport depends greatly on your choice of ferrets. We have some nice oldsters at the shelter who would probably just curl up and nap, thus opening the way for you to beat the current world record at five hours and 26 minutes (set in 1981). Not that we're advising you to stuff a ferret down your pants. Sicko.

Adoptable Ferret of the Day: PEARL!

I have known Pearl for quite some time, and I just love her to pieces. I hope that she can find a home very soon because she is a very special ferret who really needs a human of her own.

Originally, Pearly Girl was an albino breeder girl who didn't know that biting was bad. She would just bite you because she didn't know how else to communicate. It was awful because she is just the cutest tiniest girl you have ever laid your eyes on! This tiny gem of a ferret came to my friend Lavon's house in desperate need of socialization.

After many months, Pearl has become as lovely in manners as her name suggests. She has not bitten me in months. Indeed, she looks at me in a very puzzled way if I even approach her with suspicion in my eyes. She is still not a snuggly ferret, but her days of biting are long over, and she is now eager to have a place of her own.

If you decide to adopt Pearl, her biggest concern now would be: Do you have a tube for her to run through? Because she REALLY loves tubes!

Pearl is a true albino, and her eyes look like flame when the light catches them.

Pearl is from a private breeder. She is smaller than most ferrets. People think that she is a baby, but she is fully grown. Her toes are so small and perfect! She looks so sweet and fragile. But believe me, when she gets going, she can play as well as the rest of them! She's a little gymnast!

Just so you know, Pearl is not de-scented. And she will "poof" if she gets scared. She is also leery of de-scented ferrets, so a non-de-scented companion ferret would be recommended. The Oregon Ferret Shelter has some non de-scented ferrets you can test-drive her with if you want to adopt more than one.

Come by the shelter and ask to see Pearl! You'll be glad you did!

Star Wars and ferrets!

Who knew? In some film called "An Ewok Adventure", there is a ferret!

Click here!

Personally, I don't like Ewoks. They eat people. That kid is gonna be lunch for sure.

Craigslist Again...

I tried to post to Craigslist this weekend to tell the public that we have a temporary reduction in our adoption fee. ($150 for two young ones, $75 for two if they are more than 4 years old! Come and get em!)

But people kept flagging me. I finally asked the community why (and put my ad under a different headline, one that didn't mention the Oregon Ferret Shelter).

I got some interesting responses.

"people flag shelter ad's because the shelters so not know hardly anything about dogs especially. they advertise a "english pointer for adoption" when in reality the dog is a german shorthair black lab mix, that's why. if the shelter could post a right ad, people would stop flagging the shelters...."

Ummm... not really an issue with us. But thanks for the info.

"Ferrets are prohibited on Craigslist. ferrets are prohibited in CA < - > where Craigslist is based, therefore prohibited on Craigslist. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/forums/?ID=136756020"

No, they are not prohibited on Craigslist. Just in California and Hawaii. Don't EVEN get me started on the whole "banning them in California" thing.

"My guess would be because the ad is for a "commercial" shelter not private owned? Again, a guess."

This one is totally possible. But we are, actually, privately owned. So maybe I need to make my post a little less ... professional? I just don't know. I can only do the best I can.

I did get some really positive feedback from the community. Like this one.

"I think its great what your doing for ferrets, keep up the good work and hopefully people will stop flagging your ad."

Which left me on Cloud 9 for a few hours! I just love it when we get supported, even if it's just a little email.

It seems that this Craigslist thing needs a little more finesse than I am used to. I'll just keep working on it.

Life is totally unfair

This is Jinx. He came here just a few weeks ago with his friend Zelda. He is super super cute in this picture, sticking out his tongue at me. He was a pleasure to photograph -- very playful, very cuddly.
He is dead.
Chris found him in his sleepy sack last week. We don't know what happened to him. There wasn't a mark on him. No symptoms. Nothing.
A 2-year-old ferret should not just die for no reason. But that is what seems to happen in shelters. Sometimes people bring in ferrets, and they don't want to tell us that the ferret has had strange symptoms. They don't want us to refuse to take them, like some other shelters do, because they are sick. So we have to find out on our own. And sometimes, finding out on our own means we find out too late.
Relying on our detective abilities, especially with so very many ferrets to take care of, is just cruel. It's cruel to the ferret, and it's cruel to us, because every time we find a dead ferret, we die a little too.

Weasels Dancing in the Park pics!

The Weasels Dancing in the Park pictures are up on Facebook -- all 172 of them! Feel free to have a look.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2019025&id=1173589870&ref=mf

Hope that link works.



We raised $2600 this time around. We had fewer donations this year. Even OMSI wouldn't give us any tickets, and they usually can be counted on for a small donation. I guess the economy has hit people pretty dang hard, just as it has hit us hard.

At least I was able to get some wonderful stuff at the auction. I got a wonderful ferret basket full of food and treats. Bongo, of course, tried to take all of the treats and food for himself. He has turned into a right wily treat thief!

Lots of fun was had by all. :)

Whew! Page is back

Our page is back up. Here's what they sent.


Hi,

Your account was mistakenly suspended due to an error by Facebook's site security system. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience. We have reactivated your account and you will now be able to log in.

Thanks for your understanding,

The Facebook Team

Someone disabled our Facebook page!

Well, isn't that special? Some total jerk decided that our Facebook page should be disabled.

I was doing my normal thing, and I saw I had a friend request from someone named Slinky Baker. I accepted it. Suddenly, I was logged out, and a FB page came up saying "Your account has been disabled".

When I find out who did this, THERE WILL BE BLOOD!

...Oh, sorry. Channelled Daniel Day-Lewis there for a second.

There will be A FURIOUS DOOKING! A DOOKENING, as it were.

Another A-hole on Craigslist

Here's an ad from Craigslit:

Marjorie is a relatively young and petite ferret. She's very well behaved, and is one of the most chill ferrets I've ever met. Of course she loves to play too!! And gets along with the cat and the 7 month old puppy I previously had. Marj (as we call her) has a 2 story cage with a hammock. It has a plastic slide out bottom for easy cleaning.. we lay newspaper on the bottom and she does her potty business in one corner. She likes to take a shower with you or be bathed in the sink :) So I'm asking a rehoming fee of $50 including Marjorie, her cage, the leash/harness. **I'm actually the roommate of the owner and the only reason she agrees to get rid of her is because I'm 5 months pregnant, due early Dec** If you have further questions you can contact me by email, Thanks! -- Lindsey

Oh I'm pregnant BOOHOOO I can't possibly allow the OWNER of the house where I am RENTING to allow a pet. I am the only person who ever gave birth in the world and everyone must cater to me me meeeee!

Seriously??? What a f***tard. If she were my roommate, she would come home to all of her crap being out on the front lawn in a charred, smouldering heap. Buh-bye!

I met a Facebook Dumb*ss

I stepped into the middle of a ferret-based conversation on Facebook. I am so stressed out now.

Sabrina: I wish they were legal in CA. I would totally have one. Maybe I should get one anyways. lol

Toby: I wonder why they aren't??

Sabrina: they are considered 'rodents'. and they breed like crazy.

Toby: Oh yah, I think I heard that the female will die if she go's into heat and cant mate!

Jeni Clark: Sabrina, ferrets are not rodents. They are strict carnivores. They EAT rats and mice. Also, since 99.999999 percent of ferrets in the United States are fixed before the age of 4 weeks, they are completely unable to breed like crazy. Come see my website oregonferretshelter.org to learn more about these adorable pets.

Sabrina: um. ok. well that's what i heard. I'm not too concerned with it

Sabrina: "Ferrets are illegal in California because the California Department of Fish and Game claims that if ferrets are let out into the wild, they would mate, multiply, become feral and could threaten native wildlife". Let's see mate, multiply, OH and they carry rabies very easily in comparison to other animals. That seems pretty rodent-like to me. I wasn't hating on them. I was just saying. Plus, I think they are ADORABLE and have friends that own them.

Jeni Clark: Actually, there is a rabies vaccine for ferrets. All of mine are vaccinated. In addition, they don't carry rabies more easily than other animals. If they do get it, they are far more likely to die before they can spread it than other animals, so the OPPOSITE is true. And, again, I tell you that 99.999999 percent of ferrets in the United States are fixed, so the Dept. of Fish and Game is wrong in their statements that they could breed. I have a boy that was not fixed until yesterday, and I had to go through hoops to get him. There are only a handful of ferret breeders in the US, largely because it is difficult to breed them (yes, Tony is right when he says that females have to breed when they go in heat or they will die, and if you don't have a hob [male] in rut or a vasectomized hob, you can lose your female). I am working hard to inform the community and get these guys legalized. I wish I could recruit you to help inform people -- you sound like a very passionate person!

Jeni Clark: OMG Tony I am so sorry I am hogging up your FB page. This is my career now, tho, ferret and animal rescue. I apologize.

Sabrina: i really dont care. its not that important to me

Sigh. Some people are really ignorant. But do they have to be rude too?

Pix from my new camera

Bendy ferret is bendy! Tekkie on left, Millie on right, and Snoball is bendy in the center.

Tekkie sleeping on Snoball's butt.

Group shot: Tekkie on left, Tiberius in center, Snoball on right, and Darkpaw on top. Aww!

I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the new camera. It takes great pix!

Getting a New Camera!

I am so happy! I just purchased a Nikon Coolpix P6000 13.5 Megapixel over ebay. And it was only $280! (Target sells them for $499 -- yikes!)

I know, I know, buying electronics from ebay? Well, this guy I bought it from seems very solid. He has good feedback, and the purchase is covered by Paypal if something should go wrong. I am a very experienced ebayer, so I know the ropes. However, if something does go wrong, you, my readers, can taunt me at length.

If all goes well, we will have some beautiful new pictures in the next few weeks. And lord knows we need some -- we have a ton of new faces to get on the web!

Rescued Breeder Ferrets!

This is Cameron. He's only a year old. He has lived as a breeder for most of that, so he doesn't know humans very well. We don't know if he likes socks, or if he hates squeaky toys, or if he steals ice cream whenever he gets a chance. We don't know if he will beg for N-bones. Not yet, anyhow.

Cameron is an albino with butterscotch coloring. We don't know if he is that color because of the food he ate (he was being fed dog food). All we know is that he needs to be neutered and given a good home where he will be treated like the sweet pet we know he can become.

This is Cameron's buddy Brutus. Brutus is a huge ferret! He is also very alert. (An alert fert lol) He follows you as you walk by his cage. He is magnificent! At three years of age, he has had the benefit of growing up with all of his man-bits intact, so he is quite a bit larger than the usual group of kids we see. He also has quite a royal bearing, and his coloring is amazing! In short, this guy really lives up to his name. When he gets adopted, he will be the center of attention wherever he goes.


There is another ferret that I want to mention. I did not get her picture, but her name is Aurora (my camera is really going out now, and many of my pictures are screwed up -- so sad!)

Aurora is a tiny little sable who looks a lot like your average female ferret. But when I picked her up, I got a huge surprise! She is SUPER-DENSE! There is not an ounce of fat on her -- she is all muscle! She is super sweet too. Chris has to keep her a while because she might be pregnant. But after that, she is going to make someone a very happy ferret owner because, with all of that muscle, she'll probably be a great gymnast!

Garret the Ferret!

I have a friend named Garret. (OK, my husband has a friend named Garret, and I am just kind of along for the ride.) Garret has made it clear to me that he doesn't like ferrets. Even though his wonderful, gentle, and extremely intelligent son loves them, Garret always has a nasty thing to say about our poor little weasels. It's just a damn shame.

Today, while I was volunteering at the shelter, I came across a recent addition -- Garret the Ferret! Surely my friend could not hate his namesake! Especially such a cute namesake with a little black dot on his nose! So I photographed Garret with my phone and shipped the picture off. (Yep -- that's why the quality is so bad -- it's a phone pic!)

Turns out that when Garret was a child, they used to mock him by yelling, "Garret the Ferret! Garret the Ferret!" Being a child, he did not realize what a very great honor those children were paying him. All he remembers is the silly rhyme that made him sad. So he takes it out on poor helpless weasels by shunning them and putting the hate on. Poor Garret. Poor weasels!

I suggested to my husband that, maybe after 40-odd years, it might be time to put the hate away. I can only hope he passed on that message to Garret. Because, if Garret doesn't stop badmouthing the weasels, I know what I am going to do -- bring a weasel-shaped cake to his summer BBQ with "Garret the Ferret" written on it!

He Eats Everything

OK, I have always heard how difficult it is to get older ferrets to eat new kinds of kibble or soup. Ferrets form their ideas about what is food and what isn't food within the first year of their life. It's hard to get them to accept new food ideas after that point.

However, I did NOT consider the corollary to this: Ferrets below one year of age will, if Tiberius is any indication, try to eat any kind of food. Especially if you are eating it. He just has to try it -- yogurt, cereal, peanut butter, dog food -- it all goes in his face unless I catch him in time. This is quite surprising to me.

No, I don't have children. Why do you ask?

Northwest Pet & Companion Fair -- DONE!!!

We did it! We actually had a booth at the NW Pet & Companion Fair. It was awesome! At the last minute, everyone pulled together and helped out. I was blown away by all the help and kindness everyone gave.

I even managed to sell enough jewelry to almost pay for the entrance fee. Almost.

The ferrets also had a great time. Boo, shown here, was a picture of gentleness to all who held him. Awww.

I also found out at the Expo that Ike is up for adoption. Ike has always been one of my favorites. He is white with a dark tail, is super gentle, and likes to hang out on his back. In fact, I was going to adopt him when he first came in. Several people were fighting for the right to adopt him, but we spent too much time fighting and not enough time adopting. Nothing bugs Ike, which is why he was commandeered by Chris to take care of some baby ferrets that had been abandoned and needed mothering. Chris said, "I keep telling you, if you see a ferret you want, you have to take him right away, otherwise he may not be here tomorrow. Case in point equals Ike." But now the babies are raised, and Ike is free!

Now I just have to get my husband, James, to approve of me adopting Ike. This is not easy. I may have to resort to subliminal messaging. My husband says that we already have eight, and that is already too many. I say, well, what's one more? This strategy does not usually work. I may have to do what I did with the last one -- sneak him in and see if James notices.

Answering a Question

OMG! Someone actually read my blog! And they even asked me a question. I am in shock!

Anyway, here is the question:

"Hey, I fell in love with a ferret at a pet store and my girlfriend said that they're "dirty animals" so we couldn't get one. I was wondering if you had any insight as to whether or not ferrets are any dirtier than other animals?

PS Even if we were to get one I wouldn't get one at a pet store

PPS Is it true that ferrets can't see depth and may walk off of ledges?"

OK, first off, ferrets are not dirty animals. A healthy ferret is a remarkably clean animal. They groom themselves (and each other) a lot, although not as much as cats.

That being said, they have a smell. A musky smell. It's not as strong as the smell you'd have from a dog living with you (and I have a dog -- Golden Retriever -- so I know this). But it is noticeable. And some people just can't stand the smell. I always liked musky perfumes and colognes, so I never had a problem. But if your girlfriend doesn't, then she might have a problem with their scent.

Ferrets can see depths, but they can't see very far. They are nearsighted. And yes, they may walk off ledges, but that kind of depends on your ferret. I had a ferret who was stone blind and would walk off ledges for the hell of it. We called it "Fippy Bungee-jumping". (Fippy is pictured here, safely on the ground in a tube, one of his favorite hangouts. I miss that little guy.) Most ferrets are more careful around ledges, which is fortunate because otherwise the species would have died out a long time ago.

Thank you so much for reading my blog and asking a question!

Millie update

I am hanging out with Millie. She seems almost fully recovered. My poor little bald ferret! She is just so sweet-natured. I took her out of her hospital cage the other day. She is already back to being the preferred snuggler for all of the other ferrets. I am keeping an eye on her stitches so they don't explode from all the snuggle pressure.

This picture is from when she first came home from the vet. She looks pretty trashed here. Sleepy-eyed, very pliable. It was the first time I ever could get her to deliberately pose for a picture. Usually I have to sneak up on her to get anything good on camera. Even in her sedation, I could only squeeze out three pictures before she realized what I was doing and tried to make a run for it. Jeez, so camera-shy.

I am glad she is back on the job. I had to go to the Easter Hat contest using a diferent ferret. It just wasn't the same. She is my go-to gal for all costume contests, even though she hates being dressed up, simply because she is so small and so cute! She is a crowd favorite.

Thank the powers that be for her speedy recovery!

Millie is done and OK!

Millie is done with her surgery. She looks good so far. She even ran away from me when I snuggled her "too much" (for her tastes). I just had her laying on my chest, but I guess she has intimacy issues because after half an hour, she went and hid under a chair.

I just want her to be well. Snuggles later are fine.

Millie is getting her adrenal surgery

Right now, Millie is getting her right adrenal surgery. I am so worried. At least I know that I have the best people on the job. I just want her to be well and get home safely.

I was so frazzled that I forgot to leave them some of her kibble. I even brought it in a bag and everything like they asked. Fortunately, if they have to give her kibble, they sell both Totally Ferret and Evo, which are her favorites.

....

worry worry worry. Has it been only 5 minutes since I last looked at the clock? Time is slow.

Northwest Pet & Companion Fair

For some reason, my mind has determined that we should have a booth at the Northwest Pet & Companion Fair.

http://www.petfairs.com/

I have been obsessing on this for several days. I don't know why. Maybe it's because the other two charities I volunteer for have booths, and I think that Chris is at least as deserving as they are, if not WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more.

Aside: OK, yes all the charities I volunteer for are wonderful, but I have a special place in my heart for Chris. You should see how hard she works every day to make that shelter run. It inspires me and breaks my heart all at the same time.

OK, so I am trying to get us a booth. Chris is waiting for the guy to get back to us with the correct form. He sent her the wrong one -- the vendor one -- for a booth that cost $450, not the nonprofit $160. YIKES! So we're not on track yet.

More later.

Adrenal Surgery for little Millie

It's a sad day for the household. I finally took Millie in to address her adrenal symptoms. Bad news: It is adrenal, and it's a right side adrenal.

The right side is the bad side. The right adrenal gland is super close to the vena cava, a major vein. Doing any kind of cutting around it is not a good idea.

However, I took Millie to the most skilled veterinarians I know, Emily Stuart and Meg Frey, who are over in Lake Oswego at Full Circle Veterinary Care (formerly LOV). Emily talked to me at length. They are the vets who amputated Millie's tail when she had that chordata, so they are quite fond of her too. (OK OK I'll tell that story later.) I totally trust these two vets to do their best by Millie.

Not only does Full Circle have the best vets in town, they also have the best vet tech in town, Tina. Tina always remembers me and my ferrets. She's always so good with my babies, even though Millie doesn't have a tail and thus has no easy handle to grip for taking temperatures.

So, if it had to be a right side adrenal, I have the best team in town to handle it. Now I just have to get through until Tuesday. I am so worried for my little polar bear ferret!

Scamps Has Improved! YAY!

I made another visit to Scamps. (I KNOW! I should stop doing it, but I just can't.)

But this visit held happy news! Happy news for the ferret community!

Up above the cages, the management had put an information sheet about ferrets. Their nature, how to care for them, etc.

So, the ferrets were still in pine bedding, and they were still too young, but there was a definite effort made.

I would like to personally thank the management and employees of the Lloyd Center Scamps for taking a step toward more responsible ferret care. Many kudos to you!

fertgirl

Disapproving Weasel Disapproves!

Disapproving Weasel disapproves of Mondays!

This picture just cracks me up. It's a marbled polecat from http://tinyurl.com/bfo7x3

The page was created by Cara Brown, Pensacola Junior College Zoo Animal Technology Program, Fall 2005. Giving credit where credit is due!

Valentine's Day!

Love love love! C'est l'amour!

In my house, Tiberius and Millie are sharing a hammock and a tender moment on this beautiful day.

They have much to celebrate. The Friends of Ferrets Fundraiser brought our shelter $1278!
Now our shelter babies can get the adrenal surgery they so badly need.

Now, dear readers, scoot! Scoot! Go and enjoy this scrumptious holiday! Eat some chocolate, drink some wine, and share some FerreTone with your fuzzy friends.

Hugs!
Fertgirl

Friends of Ferret Shelters Fundraiser is ALMOST OVER!

The group Friends of Ferret Shelters is giving us a fundraiser! WOOHOOO! What a super bunch of peeps!

Two new items have been added. And it's not too late to buy tickets.

**Entries are due by 9 p.m. EST on Friday, February 13. ***

Check out all the cool stuff at: http://shelterfriends.blogspot.com/

Scamps

Why, oh why, do I go to Scamps?

Well, it's in the mall by my house. And I just can't seem to pass up any chance to see ferrets. (Maybe I am mentally ill, like Rudy Giuliani says. Don't know about Rudy and his hatred of ferrets? Check it out here.)

Anyhow, to get back to Scamps. I went in there, and I saw that the ferrets had no food. These were young ferrets. (At least they weren't the babies that Scamps had during Christmas, but that's another rant.) If anyone needs a steady supply of food, it's a young ferret.

So I went to the nearest employee and told them.

"It's OK, we feed them in the morning," he said.
"A ferrets' digestion process is only three or four hours long. They need food all the time," I said.
"Well, if we feed these guys all the time, they gorge themselves and get distended bellies. So we only feed them once a day to protect them."

...

"Don't worry, it's OK. I've dealt with ferrets for many years now."

Um, yeah. Thanks. I feel better. Oh, no, wait... that was a brain hemorrhage. I have to go before I either fall down or accidentally punch you. Take care.

Actually, I just stood there while he walked away. For a minute or two, I wondered if I could somehow sneak some food into their bowl while the guy wasn't looking. But there were chains and a padlock on the cage. Perhaps too many people were gorging his ferrets and making them dangerously bloated, much like Monty Python's Mr. Creosote.

Instead, I came here and wrote a blog post. Then I waited a day so it wouldn't sound too vitriolic.

I swear, I wish I could educate the whole pet-selling world about the special needs of ferrets. I wish I could tell everyone everything that they would need to know about these fuzzy guys. I'll work on it.

Sign a Petition to Give Father Nature's Ferret Rescue an Extreme Makeover

An online petition is being circulated to get the recently destroyed Father Nature's Ferret Rescue on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. This would help them rebuild a much-needed shelter, as well as help that family get back on their feet.

I can't think of a more deserving family.

The goal is to get 500 signatures.

Here is some information is directly from the site:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Rebuild-Father-Natures

"Due to a house fire that destroyed not only the home of Keith and Evelyn Krysz, but also the Ferret Rescue that was ran from the home, we are pleading with you to help them rebuild safer home for them and their Rescue.

The sooner they get their house rebuilt, the sooner they can start doing what they are meant to do.... rescue and re-home ferrets that are abandoned, abused, sick, or just dropped off due to lack of love.

they want to go home.

To read more about them and see some of their work, visit their website at http://fathernaturesferretrescue.com/"

Please visit the petition site and sign up to help them out. Thank you.

Friends of Ferret Shelters Fundraiser!

The group the Friends of Ferret Shelters is giving us a fundraiser! WOOHOOO! What a super bunch of peeps!


Check out all the cool stuff at:

http://shelterfriends.blogspot.com/

Personally, I want the adorable ferret-shaped scarf. But I'm sure you can find something too. :)