In this issue:
The Importance of home safety
Home safety is a topic often discussed in regards to ourselves and our children. Very rarely do you hear home safety discussed with our pets in mind. Now most veteran ferret owners are going to roll their eyes at this point. (Oh not safety AGAIN) YES!! I firmly beleive that safety can not be discussed to often.
The first and most important step when introducing your fuzzie to a new living area is ferret proofing. Now this is similiar to baby proofing except that your ferret can go more places than a baby can. Many ferret owners either give their pets a separate room or limit play to one area of the house, not all of us can afford to ferret proof our entire home.
It is best to choose a room with a minimum amount of furniture. Recliners, rockers and sofa beds often result in tradgedy, they have many hinges and spaces that a ferret can be caught in and crushed. Ferrets love to climb and dig into furniture and can get stuck, retreiving them can be difficult. Also if your pet gets into the furniture there is the possibility they could be sat upon and injured, or even killed. All power cords, ornaments and plants must be out of reach. Ferrets love to climb so out of reach means WAY out of reach.
Another area you need to worry about is the kitchen. Appliances have plenty of small spaces and some have vents to the outdoors. (We lost a hedgehog through a hole under our dishwasher) If you can, keep your ferret out of the kitchen altogether. If this is not possible, we recommend using 1/2 inch drywall mesh attached with wire around the bottom of All of your appliances and any other ferret sized holes. Again if it is possible try designating a ferret room to avoid all this worry.
Your thoughts and comments on all aspects of our newsletter are welcome, look for your letters in our " Letters To The Editor " section (not all letters will be published)
services AVAILABLE
for CLUB MEMBERS from The North Island Ferret Club
Ferret registry
FREE for club members
The North Island Ferret Club is proud to offer free club registry for your ferrets. When you are accepted for membership you will be sent a form asking for information on each of your ferrets, simply fill out what answers you know and submit. You will receive conformation of registration and a registry and tattoo # for each of your ferrets. The tattoo is strictly optional. The tattoo's purpose is to make it easier , should your fuzzie escape, for his rescuers to return him to you. A registration certificate for your ferret is available upon request for a $ 10.00 fee, $5.00 for a replacement certificate.
Monthly news letter " The Carpet Shark"
Once a month you will receive our newsletter, very similar to this but please watch for changes in the future. The newsletter will be willing to review any letters, information, stories (both fact and fiction) poetry and art you may wish to submit, please keep everything to one topic, FERRETS !! Unfortunately we will not be able to publish everything we are sent but we will do our best to accommodate everyone . A free classified add section will also be available to club members, please keep all topics ferret oriented.
Emergency Help Line
Club members will be Given a contact number and e-mail address to reach in case of an emergency. An emergency is anything that is threatening the health and well being of any ferret. Members may ask the e-mail address any question they wish at any time, responses will be given in order of urgency. Any questions that can not be answered by me will be immediately forwarded to someone with an answer.
THE RUMOR MILL
Recent studies show that early spaying and neutering could be connected to Ferret Adrenal Disease. Please keep watching " THE CARPET SHARK" 's RUMOUR MILL for more details. Have you got some little known information you feel other ferret owners should know about ? Write us and maybe we'll publish your letter in THE RUMOUR MILL.
WE hope you have enjoyed this issue of "THE CARPET SHARK"

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