In Trouble Over Smelly Ferret Poop

A new battle has commenced at my house over smelly ferret poop. And the Marshall ferret food is at the center of the issue.

I feed my ferrets Marshall Pet Foods. It was recommended by our vet, Dr. Jenkins at the Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital.

About a year ago I switched from Totally Ferret. To be honest I stopped using Totally Ferret when they stopped answering our requests for sponsors for the annual Ferret Legalization meetings.

My ferrets are healthy and doing well on Marshalls.

But my partner who believes in beauty over function says the Marshall food causes the ferret poop to stink more. I can't smell the difference.

Ferret nutrition is a little controversial. A few purisits tell me ferrets were meant to eat mice. That ain't gonna happen, but I do want the best possible diet.

What do you think?

Pat Wright
http://www.ferretsanon.com/
http://www.legalizeferrets.org/

Nevada or Not?

Enthusiasm for ferret legalization is picking up after a very successful booth at the Orange County Pet Expo. About 250 signed up and we are getting emails from people who saw the booth but didn't sign up.

It's been a hectic time with the Ferret Round Up but it is time to think ahead.

Every September LegalizeFerrets.org holds a "Legalize Ferrets Revival." This Septembers could be especially meaningful because we should be knee deep in our EIR.

I'd love to have a Revival where we could work with actual ferrets. Nevada comes to mind. So here is a poll - whaddya think?

Thank You, Mary & Ed

The Orange County Pet Expo started yesterday, April 11th and LegalizeFerrets.org has a booth. This is our second year at the Pet Expo and it is a little difficult to get organized because it comes so shortly after the Ferret Round Up. I didn't want to burden Lance with all the details as he was preparing to run for the President of Ferrets Anonymous.

But the booth is up, it looks great, and my thanks to Ed and Mary for helping me.

I relied on my Tom Tom to get me there Friday evening after work. The damn thing took me to the back streets of Irvine (I thought Irvine was all freeway). Luckily somone at a Union 76 station gave me directions. So arriving late and 3 hours on the road, I appreciate Mary and Ed's help and support. (Mary, I was only kidding about having the cocktail waiting.)

Last year over 300 people signed up for CLIFFNotes - hopefully we'll do even better this year.

My Strange Dream About Lance and Arnold

I was glad to hear about Lance winning the Presidency of Ferrets Anonymous. Last night I had a strange dream.

I dreamed that on his first day of president of Ferrets Anonymous Lance secured a meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger. I was in the background cleaning trash dumpsters (I wonder what Freud would say about that). He had one hour to make the case for Arnold to legalize ferrets.

After the hour was up Lance came out of the meeting to say Governor Schwarzenegger wouldn't repeal the ban.


Kind of reminded me of one my favorite late night movies:

Will Lance curse California with a plague of locusts? Will the Sacramento river turn red? Hopefully not - but I am expecting great things from our new President of Ferrets Anonymous.

Congratulatins Lance!

When Ferrets Smell Like Grandma

Friday is house cleaning day for me. Every other week or so the ferrets get a bath.

Do ferrets smell? If you keep their cage clean, launder the bedding frequently, I don't smell them.

I once did rescue an unneutered male ferret. The person called me and a pick up was arranged. He lived in a condo complex and that day all the house numbers were removed because they were re-stuccoing the building. I didn't need house numbers, it was easy to smell my way to his unit. That ferret went right to the vets for an emergency neutering.

But I love the Marshall Pet Products shampoo, conditioner and spritzer. I think they stole the formula for Channel #5.

That was my grandmother's favorite perfume - or at least I think so. Smells have powerful emotional impacts on people. Every other Friday or so I feel like my grandmother is back with us.

Thanks Marshall Pet Products. I also use your food. One suggestion though. I've bought the big bottles of your shampoo and I always find it a week after the first use, tipped over and contents all over the drawer. I think you need to redesign the bottle.

Afraid or Not?

I get an occasional email from California ferret owners afraid of being discovered. Do you let your neighbors know you have ferrets? The advantage is if one gets out the neighbors will know where to return it. The disadvantage is if you have bad neighbors.

The tragedy here is part of the fun is sharing ferrets. Ferrets, unlike cats, love new things. Like dogs they love to go places, meet new people, explore...

Back in 2000 I had nine armed agents break down my door to confiscate my ferrets (three San Diego police, three Fish and Game wardens and three Animal Control Officers) so I am very careful now. If I had ferrets, and I am not saying I do, they would be something like these guys:

From left to right are:

Augie - five years old. Bought him in a pet store while in Las Vegas for a wedding. He is a calm soul who when exiting his ferret nation cage likes to chew on the carpet.

Fausto - wandered into the Lemon Grove Rehabilitation Center. Largest ferret I've ever had, eats everything. Loves the dogs and prefers to be with them. He has some very odd dog behavior such as lying in the middle of the floor while the other ferrets go into the cabinets.

Quito - He was found by a co-worker's brother and they kept him for 18 months. Finally they decided ferrets weren't for them and since they said this on my birthday, and it was a terrible birthday (including getting laid off the next day) I kept him. He reminds me so much of a past ferret Raleigh, (the one I went to jail for) it is kind of spooky. Do they get reincarnated?

But of course these are just pretend ferrets.

My First Ferret Blog

The Internet has given us a lot of tools and advantages in our efforts to legalize ferrets in California. Since 2005 we've been publishing an ezine called CLIFFNotes - California Legalization Initiative For Ferrets (though no longer a ballot initiative, still a legalization initiative). If you aren't receiving it - sign up here.

Now it is time to try Blogging - something brand new to me.

The difference between a Blog and an ezine is that the Blog is meant to be more interactive, the ezine is meant to inform. Why can't we have both?

So wish me luck in trying to create a sucessful Blog just as we have created a sucessful ezine in CLIFFNotes.