The Ten Most Recent Members of the 3000 Club - Thank you! | ||
 Three new members this week. Thank you! | 839. abbykins, Oceanside CA 838. ThisIsKerry , Palm springs CA 837. MrBug708, Temple City CA 836. K8, Seattle WA 835. cmarx, Auburn CA | 834. dersh, Culver City CA 833. Debbie, Long Beach CA 832. wverynspirit, Santee CA 831. Jacob Penner, Auburn CA 830. Michael Morledge, Loma Linda CA |
Reader's Column  Ferrets As Service Animals I live in Alabama and suffer from anxiety and depression. I do have a letter from my counselor, however, people seem to not understand. - Then I have been told that a ferret cannot be one (a service animal). I have heard of a law that they were trying to pass where a service animal could only be a dog. Again, my ferret makes a perfect and easily portable service pet. Of course, I am not supposed to use the word "service". Ferrets in Costumes I always see cute pictures of ferrets in their holiday outfits, which leaves me to wonder how do you get the ferrets to wear them?! My baby is a crazy, energetic 1-year-old, and my boyfriend and I have been trying to get her to wear a sweater since the beginning. She just rips it off and plays with it. Any suggestions as to how to get my ferret dolled up this Christmas? Thanks, Aubree Pat's Comment - could be your ferret is trying to tell you something. -He's a nudist! Ferrets & the Flu My vet sent me this info. Maybe a blurb in the newsletter about good hand washing before handling animals, especially when having been 'out' or in contact with other people; especially the little disease vectors (human kids). Anyone with the flu or flu-like symptoms should stay away from pets as much as possible. At our house during flu season, we try to keep 'the kids' from licking our mouths or noses; and we have that alcohol hand cleaner on hand to use before handling them, don't let them lick off our spoon/fork, that kind of stuff; just to be safe. I'm pretty sure they could catch the flu from us if we've been in contact with the flu and become infectious even if we don't get sick from it ourselves. Anywho, here you go :) In late October 2009, a client presented to a veterinarian in the Roseburg area with 3 of 9 ferrets who had become ill with an influenza like illness. The family had human patients with influenza like illness about a week prior to the illness onset on the ferrets. Two of the 3 ferrets presented with fevers (temp >103F), sneezing , coughing and had nasal discharge. Not all ferrets became ill at the same time, but 2-3 days after the initial 2 cases. Nasal discharge samples were collected on Oct 27th and were later reported as positive for Influenza A. Further testing confirmed the isolates as pandemic influenza H1N1. All 9 ferrets have recovered well. - Lori "Fun ferret fact... if you type grrrrr into the iPhone, it auto corrects it into "ferret"" - William V. Ferret Available for Adoption in the San Diego area 3 years old, sable color, healthy, good weight. Very active.
Comes with a multi-level cage + accessories.
I actually want someone that already has Ferrets to adopt her because I want to make sure the person that takes her *really* wants to take on the responsibility of a ferret in regards to proper care, love, and handling. I'm actually wondering if I should be asking for a re-homing fee as an additional source of proof that they are willing to spend the money to take care of her because at least that way - I know they are serious.       Above, Jamie K gives a wax version of Arnold Schwarzenegger a piece of her mind. Arnold doesn't look like that anymore.  We still have a supply of these vintage posters, they are on our merchandise page. | No New Help In Funding the EIR It's been over two weeks since letters, calendars and reports went out to people who are involved in the ferret business asking their support to help finance the Environmental Impact Report for ferret legalization in California. The first response was an "unsubscribe" from Eric Akaba of Natura Pet Products Inc. (the makers of EVO ferret food). If you notice on the bottom of this email, sent through a great company called EmailBrain is the "unsubscribe" button. We are not allowed to send this newsletter to people who don't want it. About 5 people unsubscribe every week on average. But Eric hurt my feelings. Here they are making ferret food in California - and they unsubscribed from CliffNotes! But then again, I get about 300 emails a day from all sorts of people I'd like to be able to zap! So maybe... he just didn't realize...we're ferret people! If you feed your ferret EVO and would liketo send a polite letter to Eric here is the info:
PetSmart Sends Second Answer  PetSmart didn't even read the letter. Read their response here. At least they didn't address it Ms Pat Wright - I would have hated that! (I'm a guy, if you didn't know...) Companies that should have answered our letter but haven't done so yet:
A little caveat here. And yes, I've been one of the worst offenders. - Please be polite. These companies don't owe us anything, and they may have their own reasons for not participating. Most people reading CLIFFNotes would prefer to spend their money with companies who are backing the long overdue issue of ferret legalization. Best wishes to the makers of EVO, but you won't find their products in my house any longer, or until they support our effort. - And a huge thank you to Marshall Pets and Ferret Depot for their donations. In a couple of months, Ferret Depot will have recouped their investment with us in what I spend there alone. It really helps, so please keep supporting Marshall Ferrets and Ferret Depot! FA Potluck - San Gabriel Valley  December 19th, 2009 The Save the Date - OCFerrets Holiday Party
Where: Santa Margarita Beach Club / Fiesta Room When: from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Address: Rancho
Ferret Shelters & Making A Difference I read a comment about how it is hard to think you can make a difference by saving just one ferret, or one ferret at a time. Consider this story:
As a ferret shelter, you wish you COULD save each and every one. But if you can help one, you ARE making a difference, just as the man in the story. I can tell you so many stories of every ferret that has entered through my shelter door. I feel so very fortunate to have had the pleasure of knowing those ferrets. Most of them were lucky enough to have been matched with perfect, forever homes. Others remained to be taken care of due to illness or old age. Some ferrets were single and met other ferrets, and bonded for life. Sometimes I feel like I am running a Ferret Match dot com....I think every ferret should have another ferret friend. We have taken in ferrets that were stray ferrets that wandered into garages, ferrets walking around apartment complexes or neighborhoods, ferrets who were turned over because they were old or had cancer and the owners did not want to care for them anymore, products of divorce, moving, etc. We had aggressive biters (one that took a year to rehabilitate), and even a ferret that was found in a dumpster. We made a difference in each and every one of those ferrets lives. In turn, they made a difference in MY life. I am proud to say that I had them in my care, they made me laugh, they made me cry, they touched my heart. To that I will always be thankful. I didn't choose ferrets, they chose me. I will always have ferrets in my life, no matter what the capacity. I will be here if and when they need me. I will always "do it for the little guy", because they have done so much for me. Donna Angel Ferret Shelter Services Henderson, Nevada FA at the West Coast Pet Expo
This weekend, members of Ferrets Anonymous in Southern California manned an information table at the West Coast Pet Expo in Pomona, CA. The purpose to hosting a table at any pet event or expo, is to reach out to the public - especially the pet-loving public. This segment is the closest thing we as ferret folk have to comrades-in-arms. We work to help educate people about domestic ferrets, and try to erase some of the negative press that the State has propagated over the years. Even at pet-friendly expos, its truly amazing how many people are misinformed and undereducated about domestic ferrets mainly due to the lies that the state of California has promoted. With a whole lot of work and diligence, FA members are slowly tearing these "truths" apart and giving good information to the public regarding our favorite pets. While the West Coast Pet Expo wasn't nearly the busy event that we'd hoped that it would be - any opportunity to educate is a good one, and one that should never be missed. If you have an upcoming event that you feel FA should be involved with, please let us know by emailing any of the contacts on the FA Board of Directors. Email addresses can be found at: http://www.ferretsanonymous.org/contactinformation.html Don't Forget Pat's Birthday!  December 27th, & I'm having a party!
What do I want for my birthday? Nothing, except my soul back. I had to sell it in order to get permission to get another ferret. But we do want to help Linda Soule's ferret shelter. Feel free to bring ferret food, tubes, Ferrevite, or anything a ferret owner could use. Linda said she really likes Costco gift cards!
Feel free to come with only your best wishes and we'll have Philipino Food and Red Velvet cake. The party is scheduled to go from3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in La Mesa. Email for directions. - More details to follow. Note - I have made special arrangements to have a baby ferret waiting for me. Don't drive out of state on Christmas expecting to find a baby ferret. Supply goes way down during the holidays. (And sadly, many ferrets are dumped soon thereafter by those who didn't know what they were getting into. -Good thing I've been around the block a few times!) One quarter of the preliminary work is done and paid for for the Environmental Impact Report. there are three more parts to go. That means three more payments of $1,600 that need to be raised (each payment is being matched by Marshall Ferrets). People reading CLIFFNotes have been very generous, but it is a little anxiety producing. I am going to send out a postcard to everyone in our database where we don't have an email address. The goal is to sell combined memberships in the 3000 Club and a calendar. We used to send out paper newsletters monthly, but the Internet age has made things much cheaper and doable. I still have about 2000 calendars in my garage waiting for new homes. Buy one for yourself and one for a Christmas present for the one you love. Pat Wright |
Many starfish washed up on shore. A young boy started picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean. Someone saw what he was doing and told him that it was pointless, that there were too many to save, that it wouldn't make a difference. Throwing another starfish into the sea, the little boy responded, "It makes a difference to this one."
