Oh boy, even more behind!

Ferrets, ferrets everywhere, and not a drop of calm!

The big news this week is Dallas, a 2-1/2 year old male dark-eyed white who had not been left out of his cage for over a year. “Oh yeah, he bites,” the owner said after he chomped on my finger while opening the carrier.

The poor thing is completely neurotic. The first night he attacked my shoes (we’re not talking play biting, we’re talking trying to get down to the meat) and everything else in sight. He kept at it for hours, too. Even the toys I tried to get him to play with were viciously chomped. I had to handle him with a leather glove for a while until he stopped chomping on the hand that was holding him.

I think we’re making some headway, though. He has learned the delight of Ferretone, and with many small treats, he is starting to look at humans differently. It is heart-breaking, though, to see him flinch if he sees my hand in the air.

The vet prescribed Clomipramine, an anti-anxiety drug prescribed for dogs. It takes a while to work, but at least I haven’t seen any bad side effects.

I’m not saying the previous owners were horrible people. A very human reaction to being bitten is to swat at the animal. Things escalate, people smack harder, then they got a dog that wanted to eat the ferret, and so they just left him in the cage. He was being fed Walmart food, and way too much backbone was showing when he came in. He’s been eating and eating and eating since he arrived. I love how most ferrets will recognize good food and chow down. He is already plumping up a bit.

I am hoping to be able to bathe him by the weekend … wish me luck!