Monday

Nice to meet all the new kids, totally loved everyone .. first though I must apologize to tomorrow's volunteer as I left a bit of a rush. Cash's old dish is still soaking in the sink and I didn't put a new bag in the poop bin. I think I also forgot to fill in the times on the sheet.

 

Everyone was out for about an hour and a half. The singles all went out for a walk in the stroller and on the leash. I was concerned that Moose might not want to put on the harness but he was a good boy, no problems at all. He loved his walk, when I first put him down he didn't know whether to roll in the grass or sniff everywhere first, he was so happy outside, even in the stroller when the wind blew in his face he just put his face into the wind and kinda closed his eyes and sniffed it all in.

 

Cash ate about a quarter can of AD, sitting on my lap eating from a spoon, he had eaten about half of what was in his dish, and I left another quarter in his bowl in the cage. They are both so thin, but beautiful boys, and those lovely dark noses. Loot kept digging at the food bin trying to get the lid off so I finally took it off and he would lean in and grab a few bites and then run and hide them, he was breaking my heart so I moved them to the other room. Loot would have nothing to do with the AD so I gave him quite a few 8 in 1s, which he really enjoyed.

 

Jinx and Frederica both had good walks and were very well behaved and loved nosing around outside.

 

No nasty poops at all, I'm all ready to take everybody home with me, as usual .. loved them all.

 

Cheers, Sue

 

PS GREAT JOB with Moose, the new improved Moose is adorable !!!!

The Not a Saturday Report - 082308

Sooo….. we have new ferrets at the shelter, so everyone can check in for their shifts. Three are some who will be unavailable, so please check back through the emails and see if you can cover for these people who are taking vacations.

Bonnie and I went first to Mississauga Animal Control to pick up Kirby, a special needs boy, he has a serious biting problem and no-one should go near him unless you wear the gloves, at least for the first few days. Also, note; NO sandals or Shorts if you value your ankles and feet. He has adrenal disease and that may be the issue. We also think he was abused. I picked him up several times with the grip Randy taught me several years ago so he could not bite me, and I held him for short periods. He was wandering behind Bonnie's feet and she moved and Kirby went for her ankles. I had to pick him up again. So please, some caution. Speak to Randy if you are not sure of handling him yourself until she can teach you how to. Kirby is about 3-4 years old. And he actually is quite cute.

Randy thinks Kirby may also have cutaneous lymphoma, you can see he has an ear problem.

Next up is Frederica, a lovely gentle sable who has a huge vulva, a cold, adrenal, and Guardia, she has issues. Please ask Randy about her meds, she needs them regularly,

She slept most of the time after we brought her in, so I cannot say much more about her.

She needs some special TLC. We were told she is 5 years old.

And now we get to Jinx. Noreen picked him up in Hamilton and stayed with us the afternoon to help settle every one in. Jinx is a sable boy who also may be adrenal, but is a very gentle playful boy. He will put his teeth on you but lets go immediately, no biting.

Jinx is probably around 1 ½ to two years old. He is very playful and active. He should not last long in the shelter.

And Finally, Socks. She has some serious issues……………

Socks is bald, naked or bare whichever way you put it she has no hair, or just a few hairs on her face. She is about 5 years old and seriously adrenal, with insulinoma. She also has a cordoma on her tail, and a mast cell on her flank, and to top this off, she is diagnosed with a slightly enlarged heart . She needs some special feeding and care, so she gets to stay at our house for awhile. She is not too steady on her feet and so far sleeps a lot. She is very affectionate, she loves licking in the ears and on the cheeks of whoever picks her up. She does seem to have good energy to explore her new surroundings. We'll keep y'all updated on her progress.

Not a great day. Four ferrets all adrenal, amongst other issues. With all this we have to do some serious fundraising.

Nigel and Bonnie.

Sunday 20th July

This time we did the Sunday shift. There is a new boy “Seth”.

On arrival, Phillip was up and so was Gadget so we woke up Ronnie and the three came out. As there was only three groups we decided not to double up our runs as we usually do and just enjoy the ferrets. With the three boys out, and exploring, I decided to see if the new boy Seth could work with this group, so out came Seth, under the supervision of both Bonnie and I. He bounced all over everyone else. He did not seem so interested in butt sniffing as to scruffing the boys. Not biting their ruffs but scruffing them. Not hard holding. A good shrug but the scruffee and poor little Seth would fall of. The boys on the other hand spent the first ten minutes trying, mostly in vain to sniff out this new comer. Seth was bouncing too fast for the boys. It made for a very interesting half hour. None of the boys got aggressive with Seth although he did after a while start pushing Phillip about a bit more. Still no real concern. We did put him away fro awhile as he was getting a bit over enthusiastic with Phillip, not what you would call nasty. Just too much energy.

We then had Kiwi out. She is still adorable. She played with me for a half hour then decided to try for a nap in the ball box and when I put my hand in she enjoyed playing with my fingers. She nips. She then went into the padded cube where there was lots of paper and curled up. I put my hand in around her, she sniffed it and then snuggled in closer and took a few winks.
Kiwi has a beautiful new tail and has started to grow hair on her back. Let’s hope she can make it a full coat.

At about this time we had visitors who were looking for adoptees and were mightily impressed with Ronnie, Gadget and Phillip, although it was the pictures of little Kiwi that drew them in. They have adopted from FAS before and are now trying to make up there minds as to who to adopt.

Finally, Ronnie and Gadget, Sorry, Phillip was in there but jumped out just prior to taking this picture.

Have a great week
Nigel & Bonnie

Tuesday

Aggie everyone missed you and sends their love and best wishes to you and the family .. everyone went for a walk today, Phillip and Kiwi were very good on their leashes, Ronnie and Gadget wanted to go in opposite directions all the time but Ronnie was quite quickly happy to sit in the stroller as long as we were nearby. Everyone was in good spirits and nobody tried to run off and sleep .. Ronnie didn't totally drive Gadget crazy with his grooming but he came close when I put Gadget back in the stroller with him.

And sorry O I cleaned up all Gadget's food again, today it was all over the floor in front of his cage so I put the attachable bowl in with a mix in it.

Everybody has pretty loose poops.

I totally messed up the times on the sheet, I was so surprised that it was six when I got picked up (I thought it was five) .. I lost an hour somewhere (my first clue should have been when the lights turned off !!) .. too much heat what can I say ... it was lovely and cool in the shelter though.

I have appointments made for the distemper shots and for Kiwi to have a look-over.

Cheers all, Sue

Monday ..

It sure was hot out today, but everyone got out for awhile .. we hung out in any shady spots we could find. Kiwi just loved her walk, she very good on the leash and happily sniffs everything .. she much preferred the shade too. She gave me the most heart-rending appeal to go back out again .. she reminds me of Dahlia with such a pretty expressive face .. and she was standing by the back door just with begging eyes, asking to go out again. After she helped me clean up and put everyone else to bed we went for another walk until my ride home arrived.

 

Ronnie certainly loves to groom Gadget .. his walk didn't go too well as I couldn't adjust the harness to get around his middle !!! I finally let him down with only the neck part done up, but he seemed happiest just sitting the stoller so he didn't walk too much .. next time I'll get the harness adjusted before we leave. Gadget had a good time though, and so did  Phillip .. he's quite the amazing climber .. I watched him as he climbed up to Ronnies floor (both cages were open for cleaning) using the outside doors as support !!! little devil .. but he loves exploring outside and was much calmer than last time I took him out.

 

Love the new light in the back, I was doing my usual fumble for the switch on the lamp when I arrived and nothing was happening, then I remembered ... try the switch !! amazing .. a great improvement.

 

Poops were all pretty good .. Gadget dumped both dishes of food so hard to tell which he's eating !!

 

Olympia I'll call you later this evening re tomorrow (I can cover the shift) .. and also Phillip's eye appt which we can do and possibly some of the distempers ..

 

Cheers all, Sue

The Saturday Report - June 28 2008

First of all……a little test with a prize.
Can you guess who this is; the winner gets to take this ferret home. Please disregard the manicure or lack of it.

First off, lets see who has or has not gained weight.

As you can see; no big changes in health. There are a couple of issues though. I think Terrence has some issues and needs a vet visit. And Bonnie noticed that Phillip has an eye problem. His left eye is milky and swollen. Randy mentioned something about possible glaucoma. I think he will be to the vet soon.

I had Gadget and Ronnie and Bonnie had out Terrence and Phillip . I found both Ronnie and Gadget active and playful but did need lots of attention from me to be that way. Gadget kept coming over to me and scratching my feet and legs for a pick up and hug. He just loves that type of attention. Meanwhile Ronnie looks put out that he is not getting attention. So he got as many p/u’s as Gadget. Ronnie loves to roll over on his back and pull himself along under the cages by the bars. I found out while eating my ham and swiss cheese sandwich that Gadget likes both swiss cheese and ham. At least the first few pieces then he stashed the rest.

Gadget lived up to his name and tried to steal ( collect) my pen.

Gadget and Ronnie both love the soft moist treats, Ronnie just moves too fast to get a pic.
Bonnie tells me that Terrence was good and active for the first half hour then took a 5 minute battery recharge before playing again. He did this a couple of times. Phillip was Ok and active. Playful and active but did not do any of his usual climbing. Maybe his eye was bothering him, as I said before, it was a bit swollen, actually obviously sticking out.

Finally Kiwi got her time out. Kiwi is a favorite with Bonnie and I as we had a much loved cat called Kiwi, who was a favorite of all who met her.

Kiwi has steadily gained weight whilst at the shelter, she loves lot’s of attention and loves to give little love nips if given the chance and you scritch her neck.

Did I forget to mention, that she loves the ball box to sleep in. She caught several winks in there today, when we let her.

But she can be coaxed out or at least to come up for air, to check out the action and then retreat back to continue the nap.

Well folks, that was it for today.
Nigel and Bonnie.

Monday

As usual, I want to take all five of them home with me .. there isn't one of these guys I truly wouldn't adore to have.

 

Terrance and Phillip were quite active .. Terrance had a nasty poop while out .. runny and seedy .. he definitely doesn't have the energy he had and seem quite skinny .. but he was playful and they had a great time in the tubes playing .. they had time in both rooms and went out in the stroller. We were just ready to set out when it poured with rain, but some animal had gotten into the recycling bin, tipped over and opened a few bags spread litter etc. all over. The lock on the bin is out of it's hole, I tried to fix it but I don't have the brute strength needed. Anyway I cleaned up the mess while the boys watched fronm the stroller. I stopped raining and we took a walk to the park. Phillip enjoyed being on the leash, didn't mind the wet grass at all and had a good sniff around. Poor Phillip was simply overwhelmed but it gave me a good excuse to hold him and he was quite happy with that.

 

Ronnie and Gadget .. Ronnie was soooo happy to be out with Gadget I thought Gadget might get miffed with him .. but they settled down and had a great play. Ronnie sure loves his treats, making happy noises as he chowed down !! what a cutie .. Gadget did a great cleaning job on my left ear .. they are both just adorable. Ronnie seems awfully bald behind both his ears ???

 

Kiwi .. such a tiny little beauty .. quite nervous but she was quite active and played as long as I was in the room .. whenever I left and came back she'd be curled up but she'd jump up as soon as I came in .. we played in the shredded paper and she had lots of soft treats. She does seem 'shaky' and she did seem to loose her balance a couple of times .. she did not stare off into space though .. on my way home I was wondering if she should be getting some AD, she could use to gain some weight too. Unfortunately I didn't think of this until after I left.

 

I also noticed how nice everything is looking, I havent' been in for awhile so there were a lot of new innovations, which I loved, found the 'bottle holder' very useful and loved the new covered bin !! and the fancy compostible bags .. all very nice. The pictures look great too !! and I liked the lights in the main room .. at first I found it quite dark, but it's nice on the eyes. Are the lights on a timer ??? are we supposed to leave them on .. or was this discussed as a possibility for the future .. I couldn't remember so I turned the lights out.

 

Cheers all, Sue