Dances with ferrets

These pages are dedicated to my first 3 ferrets- Jilly, Angel and Jack... Through them I got to know ferrets and they changed my life and enriched it in many ways which I am very greatful for. In 2004 I then became interested in skunks because I thought they were like big ferrets and they turned out to be a great addition, bringing a lot of happiness and laughter, just like the ferrets.

Introduction

This is my husband Pete and myself, Ulrike, proud parents of:

Bobby, Wesley, Leo, Piper, Ruby, Jake, Phoebe, Kobi and Honey

Missing Angel, Hope, Igor, Barney, Tom, Spike, Jilly, Jack, Mason, Bella, Baby, Hobo, Fox, Tara, Reno, Dana, Jasmine, Riley, Rose, Willow, Jade, Gremlin and Spike II
:*-(

These pages are about our ferrets (and other animals). Scroll down to the 2 buttons towards the end of the page to get to the rest of my web pages. They are an honest account and also include mistakes I've made. Maybe they'll help other people avoid those mistakes and make people realize that they should think hard before making any decisions. One decision that I made without thinking long enough was to give my very first ferret Baby away. If I had thought it over properly I wouldn't have given her away. That's what I think now anyway.

Not counting Baby, I have been owned by ferrets since May 1995. My first ferret (not counting the first Baby) was an unwanted jill I rescued- I named her Jilly. I bred her and kept 2 of her 9 babies that she gave birth to in June '95: Angel & Jack. That was it for a while until ferret math struck me in May '97. At the end of May, an unwanted ferret called "Mr Puss" joined the family- he was renamed Igor. And in June 1997, 2 RSPCA rescues followed: Bella & Tom. Since then I was struck by ferret math a few more times and I also rescued many ferrets. By the way, all my ferrets have been neutered, something a responsible ferret owner should do.

For all who are unfamiliar with the concept of ferret math, it's easy to explain. You get one ferret and think "Oh, another won't hurt." So you get a second and see how much fun it is to watch the 2 ferrets play with each other. So you think a third ferret will add even more fun. And soon the little rascals will have stolen your heart and you will go on thinking that maybe you should add another one! And it's true, the bigger the group the more fun you and the little fuzzies will have. And there is one important formula regarding ferret math: once you had n ferrets, any number of ferrets < n doesn't seem enough.

Tip: when you hold your cursor over the pictures, you'll see who is on it.

Raw Feeding

Since October 2000 I have been feeding the ferrets raw meat and bones, I mince and chunk whole chickens and feed them to the ferrets. Of course they also get other meats but chicken is their staple diet. The ferrets have been healthier since and I have not had any more insulinoma which I attribute to feeding dry foods. Read more about it here.

West Wales Ferret Welfare

I used to do a bit of rescue work and help people with ferrets and called myself West Wales Ferret Welfare because that is where I am situated. To read more about WWFW, scroll down to the 2 links below and click on the right one.

Important West Wales Ferret Welfare update

Please don't ask me to help with re-homing ferrets because I can't take in any more rescues. At the moment I have 5 groups of ferrets which need to come out morning and night for exercise and I am constantly busy, I barely have any time for myself. Some people can easily cope with lots of groups but I can't and am near breaking point (and have been since summer 2005). My ferrets are getting stressed and aggressive because there are too many groups. I want to have quality time with my ferrets but this is getting impossible. So I will not be taking in any more ferrets unless it is an emergency, a stray, biter etc. If you have ferrets and decide to give them up, then please find them a *good* home yourself. You decided to have ferrets, they're your responsibility, and in an ideal world you would look after them until they die. I am getting really sad when I think of all the ferrets that are discarded like an old unwanted toy. My health is not good and I just cannot cope with more ferrets and also the veterinary costs so unless it is an emergency I will not be taking in any more ferrets. To look for a new home, put "ferret rescues" into Google and have a look, or get on touch with the "National Ferret Welfare Society" or a big rescue like "Mercia Ferret Welfare" as those 2 have a lot of contacts all over the UK and can help better than I can...

Links to my other pages

You will find links to all my other pages below. The left link takes you to pages about my ferrets and to health related pages that I have done and also health related links to other web pages. You will also find the rawfeeding pages and links there as I think feeding raw has a positive effect on health and can help prevent certain cancers.

The ferrets have also suffered so much ill health that I have written about every health problem that I have encountered. Every ferret that dies has an autopsy and since the end of 2001, I have taken pictures during the autopsies and operations. In the hope that it will help other ferret owners. I also want to collect autopsy reports from other people's ferrets with a possible write up about the progression of their ferret's illness, symptoms, etc. The more information we have about ferret illnesses, the better. I know there are ferret veterinary books (I have pretty much all of them) but real life cases, written in plain English, will really help other people.

The right link will take you to other general ferret information, information about West Wales Ferret Welfare, info for ferret people and people who are thinking about getting ferrets, and there's also pages about our dogs Poppy and Millie, cats Squeaky and Stripey, and skunks Tyler, Peppy and Blossom (and information about myself). Last not least 2 pages with pictures of our garden, the first page shows how Pete ferret proofed it and the second page shows ferrets and the other animals in the garden.

Last update 15/09/2007 Last update 15/09/2007

Latest updates:

(15/09/07)

Pretty much all pages (with lots of new photos, too) including:

Autopsy/ Operation and x-ray pictures
Rose
Willow
Gremlin
Spike
Skunks
Dogs and cats
Ferretproofing garden
Ferrets and other animals in garden

E-mail me :-)

Please sign my guestbook

The guestbook is a form you can fill in which will be sent to me via e-mail. I will then put the answers I get on the guestbook entries page. :-) If you have trouble signing the guestbook (I think Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL might not let you use the form...), you can always e-mail me a little guestbook entry which I can then put on the guestbook entries page.
:-)

Guestbook entries part 1
Guestbook entries part 2

Have a look here for guestbook entries I've had. :-)

Last update 14/08/08