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 Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 10:35 am
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Shanna66 Gabrielle_AnimalLuver I think I might follow in your footsteps...after Fae, I might be done with all this heartbreak. Fell in love with a fert at school. they need to make rats that live as long as dogs. 1-3 years just is not enough time for an animal that you fall so in love with sad @latrans future pet for you? or do you live somewhere that doesnt allow them. i cant remember what state you live in and i know some places out west arent as ferret friendly
Ferrets don't come without heartbreak. When they get sick, it goes from 0 to 90 in as short as 1-2 days. I lost 2 ferrets within 2 years of getting them (though they were pre-owned, they were still only 4 years old based on what the previous owners told us).
One of my girls who was only 1.5 years old at the time almost died because she stopped eating. All from a simple stomach acid problem.
And make sure you have a vet who will treat the pets, not just send you on your way with their best guess. When my first two passed I was incredibly frustrated, because we took each of them to the vet several times in a row and they wouldn't even run diagnostics tests, they just made us do treatment based on their guesses. Ferrets degrade so rapidly that you don't have time for that kind of trial and error. The one probably could have survived, but she became such bad condition we put her down to save her more suffering.
I adore mine, but knowing how short their lifespan is (4-6 years average), I've been thinking that when my girls pass I might avoid getting more. Because ferrets are such wonderfully personal pets, I've gotten a stronger attachment to them than any pet I've had before, which makes it that much harder when something goes wrong...
As for walks... if you can figure it out, let me know. I was looking forward to that before I got mine as well, but reality kicked in and they aren't having any of it. XD Getting the harness on is a pain, if you don't get it just right they can and will slip out of it, and even if you get past all of that... well personally, my girls were TERRIFIED of the great outdoors. >.> So I stopped trying. |
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 4:17 am
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Frozen Mist Shanna66 Gabrielle_AnimalLuver I think I might follow in your footsteps...after Fae, I might be done with all this heartbreak. Fell in love with a fert at school. they need to make rats that live as long as dogs. 1-3 years just is not enough time for an animal that you fall so in love with sad @latrans future pet for you? or do you live somewhere that doesnt allow them. i cant remember what state you live in and i know some places out west arent as ferret friendly Ferrets don't come without heartbreak. When they get sick, it goes from 0 to 90 in as short as 1-2 days. I lost 2 ferrets within 2 years of getting them (though they were pre-owned, they were still only 4 years old based on what the previous owners told us). One of my girls who was only 1.5 years old at the time almost died because she stopped eating. All from a simple stomach acid problem. And make sure you have a vet who will treat the pets, not just send you on your way with their best guess. When my first two passed I was incredibly frustrated, because we took each of them to the vet several times in a row and they wouldn't even run diagnostics tests, they just made us do treatment based on their guesses. Ferrets degrade so rapidly that you don't have time for that kind of trial and error. The one probably could have survived, but she became such bad condition we put her down to save her more suffering. I adore mine, but knowing how short their lifespan is (4-6 years average), I've been thinking that when my girls pass I might avoid getting more. Because ferrets are such wonderfully personal pets, I've gotten a stronger attachment to them than any pet I've had before, which makes it that much harder when something goes wrong... As for walks... if you can figure it out, let me know. I was looking forward to that before I got mine as well, but reality kicked in and they aren't having any of it. XD Getting the harness on is a pain, if you don't get it just right they can and will slip out of it, and even if you get past all of that... well personally, my girls were TERRIFIED of the great outdoors. >.> So I stopped trying.
i have been told that they are alot like rats because they dont die nicely of old age, but 4 still seems really young, everyone has been telling me they get almost to 10 usually.
either way though, its better than rats who usually end up getting sick and die between 1 and 2. ive only had one boy make it to 3 and my girls are going downhill a bit now so i dont think they will make it much past 3 if they can survive a couple more months to at least get to 3. they bond as well to their people as dogs and i just cant take that kind of attachment anymore if its only going to last a year or 2
i do have a great vet, i have 2 vets, one for my cats and one for my dog, im not sure which one would take care of a ferret but both are good with rats. ive been told that one of them would take care of a future ferret, i just cant remember if its the dog or cat lady. they are both at the same building so it doesnt matter and both are fantastic and are perfectly ok with good diets and dont recomend any of that corn filled crap
ive taken a couple of my rats on walks before, no harness because thats just useless on a rat. but i like to think that if i can get a small prey animal like a rat to enjoy it then maybe i will have some luck with a ferret. thats kind of why i would like a baby and i want to get to know the ferret before i buy/adopt. i want something thats really outgoing and will get into lots of trouble
the girl i did have my eye on at the shelter 3 hours away is very much a trouble maker, but is super shy so i dont know if it would work out. she is really cute and they said they might make an exeption about adopting her out to me since ive shown alot of interest in her, they usually only adopt out to people in the area so they can do homechecks alot which i find to be a bit of a turn off and i dont want to drive 3 hours for a maybe. not that i have any reason to avoid a homecheck, its just not something i want to deal with every month or so. i wouldnt feel like its my animal, more like renting in case something goes wrong |
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