Ferrets' blog

A blog with news about my ferrets: Tata, Izzie and Liira. There will also be reminiscense about Tenchi, Adric, Ker Avon, Ryo-Ohki, Nyssa, Lady Ayeka, Romana, Pertwee, Podo, Kodo, Ella, Zephyr and Chin Soon, all of whom are gone now.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Pressure Cooker On The Stove For Bob Church's Chicken Gravy

Next week will be five and a half years since Ella's first vet visit after Celia Wright rescued her. At that time the vet guesstimated her age to be one year old. Yep, she's definitely a senior ferret now.

Let's assume that guess on her age was spot on. Ella was an adult ferret at the time so she couldn't be much younger. She's also a Marshall Farms ferret. I've had ferrets live to be up to 10 years old but I've never had a Marshall's see their seventh birthday. Whether that's just plain bad luck or something about the way the country's largest ferret breeder raises their kits is an open question.

I'm also certainly more knowledgeable about ferret health and nutrition than I once was. I'd like to believe I can keep my current ferrets, all of whom were bred by Marshall Farms, healthy and happy a bit longer simply by doing preventative things and giving them the best possible food.

I've mentioned Bob Church's Chicken Gravy before as something I give ailing and recovering ferrets. I've also mentioned Pam Sessoms' Pressure Cooker Method as the easiest way to make it. A number of ferret owners in the area, including Pam, do give gravy in limited quantities to their healthy ferrets each day. Pam did this for both Ella and Zephyr in the time she took care of them after Celia Wright became ill and before I adopted them. Since they already had the gravy habit I kept it going.

Here we are, nearly four years later, and all three ferrets have been happy and healthy pretty much the whole time. Ella has had no recurrence of adrenal disease in nearly four years and neither Zephyr nor Chin Soon has had any serious health problems as of yet. Does feeding them a little gravy every day in addition to kibble help? A lot of ferret owners and some vets seem to think so. It's certainly worth the extra bit of work every month or two to make it for them.

I know one thing for certain: I'd like to see these three Marshall Farms bred ferrets all have seventh birthdays. I'd like them to be happy and healthy at eight and nine too.

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4 Comments:

At 4:00 PM, Blogger Mrs. Earnest said...

I'm glad people take their time for the fuzzies!! I have 3 ferrets, Chango, Jenna, and the baby we just got 3 days ago Susie. I make sure I always have some broth for them to mix their food.

 
At 6:34 AM, Blogger Ben said...

I'm glad your back in the blogging business. From the sound of it the Chicken Gravy is a great for sick ferrets. I found the recipe in one of the books and it looks pretty simple. Do you ever have a problem if you maybe you take your ferrets to a friend who has dogs or cats?
cheers
Ben

 
At 1:53 PM, Blogger Caitlyn Martin said...

@ben' I've had some friends' cats decide to avoid the overly playful ferrets but never anything worse than that. Dogs seem to vary by breed and temperament. Some of my first ferrets got along great with some dogs. A former coworker's German Shepard was terrified of the ferrets, though. Some friends deliberately keep the dog away from the ferrets (as in not in the same room) in fear of what might happen.

 
At 7:44 AM, Blogger Ben said...

YAHOOOO!!! I just got two ferrets and its so much fun!
Check out my blog at:

http://sugarmountainlife.blogspot.com/

 

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