Rupert the ferret!

by Jacob Alexander
(La Grand, Oregon, United States of America)

Well I’m 15 and for the 15th birthday I figured I wanted a ferret, Don’t get me wrong I love the little guy to death, but… He is a pain in my rear, nonetheless the joy of my day. =)

When I thought of what it was going to be like when I obtained my new pet, I figured it would be an easy responsibility that I would only have to commit an hour to or so a day. Boy was I wrong! Between: Cleaning up poop, playing, bathing, more play, brushing teeth, training, and keeping him happy from a day to day basis, I was up to 5-7 hours each day.

And than he got sick.. Let me tell you how this happened, Well my house is a very “Pet friendly” house, We have (had at the time) 4 dogs, 2 cats, 2 reptiles: an Armadillo lizard and a Camillion. Well Rupert loved Crickets as much as the lizards did! Until our local pet store got a very bad batch of crickets, I would usually not let Rupert eat crickets anyways but sometimes while getting them out to let the lizards feed, one would escape and Rupert would snatch him up. This batch of crickets had Salmonella. Both our lizards died and Rupert got violently ill. I called the vet’s and they told me to monitor him overnight and if he continued to throw up to bring him in.

He stopped after a few hours of projectile vomiting and he was fine the next day, but I noticed he was much lighter and smaller in size! I brought him into the exotic vet, and he said he shrunk while sick and lost some weight.

He gave me a reference for some food and sent me on my way. He got sick when he was about 7 months old and he is about a year and a half now, and half the size of a regular ferret. I recently brought him into the vet and they said he is a Midget ferret probably due to the fact of how sick he was! Now he is as cute as a bug with his Dwarfism.

But I also have had so much trouble potty training him to go in the litter box – he just won’t do it. I have tried every tip anyone has been giving me – they just won’t work!

In the future I will for sure own more. I personally think I will prefer them to kids! I love them so much, but they are SOOO much more work than you think they are when you think of getting one.