Hello Ferret Friends, We hope your Valentine's Day was a happy one. We snuggled up with our little Gabby and watched TV. To help celebrate President's Day, there's a $2-off drinkware coupon at FerretDesigns.com. See the FerretDesigns.com ad below for the code. This Ferret News newsletter will help you get to know us a little better. We had planned to have a newsletter all about recovery from surgery after Trixie and Koosh had their surgeries just before Christmas. But there were sad complications, and losing both of them created a very subdued tone in the newsletter. Well, now we're ready to start exploring life with an only ferret (our very vivacious Gabrielle!). So look for some ideas on how to train, enjoy, and keep happy a solo ferret in future newsletters. The first article is in this newsletter! --Mary & Eric & Gabby, the lone ferret
In This Newsletter:
► For Those Just Joining Us ...
► Grooming Tip
► Back-Issue Blow-Out! And Free Shipping!
► Observations on Living With a Single Ferret
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(We've gotten more than 500 new Ferret News Newsletter subscribers since December, many of whom may not know the story of Modern Ferret. So...) For Those Just Joining Us...
By Mary R. Shefferman It's been a tough road for Eric and me. In 1992 when we brought home our first ferret, Sabrina, we never could have imagined how immersed in ferrets we would become. In 1994 we started Modern Ferret magazine with about $3,000.00, three ferrets, and a will to succeed. It wasn't about the money; it was about reaching ferret owners and helping them take better care of their furry companions. Modern Ferret was the first ferret magazine and the only one run by ferret owners (and just two people, at that!). We made a color, glossy magazine when all that was available were black-and-white newsletters. We learned so much about ferrets that we were tapped for writing a book in 1995 (The Ferret: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet, published by Howell Book House). This was us in 1999. All but one of the ferrets in this photo are gone now. The two boys standing are Balthazar (mitts) and Bosco da Gama. Eric is holding Knuks; Mary is holding Trixie. Koosh is that big furry guy lapping out of the dish all the way on the right. Gabby, our only remaining ferret, is looking at what opportunities may lie off the edge of the coffee table. Sabrina was under the table (out of view). | 
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Publishing a bimonthly magazine has taken a toll on our health and morale. For the first couple of years it was fun, and we had a lot of energy. We got Modern Ferret into a lot of stores, including PetCo, BordersBooks, and Tower Records. We also got a lot of recognition in the magazine industry, being chosen as one of the 50 most notable launches of 1995, and as one of the 10 best magazines in the magazine industry in 1999. But the magazine industry is cut-throat -- even when it comes to something as personal as a magazine about our beloved animal companions. Our distributor into pet stores was forced out of business, leaving us with no exposure in our primary market. We had an option: we could sign on with the distribution company owned by the publisher of a rival ferret magazine. That didn't sound like a good idea to us, so we tried to push our bookstore distribution. Unfortunately, most pet owners don't look for pet magazines at bookstores; they look for them at pet stores. So slowly, but certainly, our distribution dwindled. With it, our health, morale, and money dwindled. That's when we decided to start this newsletter. It's very inexpensive to publish compared with a magazine. But more important, it lets us continue to help ferrets and their humans. If you've never seen Modern Ferret magazine, you can get the whole lot of them (some issues are sold out) -- that's 28 issues in the Super Monster Pack. There's a heap of ferret information, training tips, cute photos, stories ... and the type of personal touch you can get only from other ferret owners. At this point, it looks like we won't be able to put out another issue of Modern Ferret... unless our financial situation changes dramatically. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the accurate info, on-the-mark training tips, and ferrety fun that made Modern Ferret an award-winning magazine. It's a lot of reading and (if I say so myself) it's worth the $55.00. --Mary
GROOMING TIP: It's getting to be that time of year again -- shedding time! Make sure you give your ferret a ferret hairball remedy (like Marshall Ferret Lax Remedy for Ferrets)  several times a week when she is shedding. If you have several ferrets, give them all hairball remedy even if only one is shedding. Ferrets tend to groom each other, so when one sheds, they're all in need of hairball prevention.
Back Issue Package Blow-Out! We need space, and that means YOU get a great deal on the NEW Super Monster Pack
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Observations on Living With a Single Ferret
By Mary R. Shefferman I never thought we'd become a one-ferret home. But that's where we are right now. With vet bills in the thousands, we plan to keep to one ferret for a while. Life's very different with one ferret, as we are discovering. We have always caged our ferrets when we're not around to supervise them. But after Trixie left us, it became clear that Gabby wasn't going to be happy living in the cage alone. Every time we put her in there, she'd pace back and forth like ... a caged animal! She'd bite on the bars of the cage (not good for her teeth or our nerves). Basically, she was miserable and frantic from the moment she went into the cage to the moment we took her out again. Our bedroom is very ferret-proofed. The only trouble any ferret has ever gotten into in our bedroom is when Gabby found her way into the box spring. That has since been corrected, and she hasn't gotten back in there in over a year. Eric and I took a big long breath and decided to try leaving Gabby our in our bedroom all night. So far, so good. Gabby seems to have the "personal space" of a much larger animal; she doesn't like being in our bed when both Eric and I are in it. She prefers her little ferret bed. This is good, because one of our biggest concerns is rolling over onto Gabby in our sleep. In fact, if Gabby is sleeping on the bed with one of us and the other one of us gets in, Gabby's human radar kicks in and she's up and out of bed in no time. Since we started letting Gabby stay in the bedroom almost constantly (we do cage her if we leave the house), she has become much less stressed. She doesn't get frantic about anything except treats. I don't think we would have been at all comfortable having more than one ferret out all night. Each of our ferrets has had a unique personality; many of them would have loved to snuggle up next to us in bed (which can result in a crushing injury if you roll on top of them). But Gabby is amazingly safe. It turns out that even when you have only one ferret, knowing that particular ferret and his or her unique characteristics is still the driving force behind finding the best and safest possible environment for everyone. Next Time: How Do You Keep a Single Ferret From Getting Bored out of Her Little Pointy Head? What we're learning about playing with a vision and hearing challenged ferret.
Stay tuned for more. You can always get updates by reading my blog (a blog is an online journal). I keep it sporadically and it usually runs to the more personal stuff. But you might like it. It's at http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary Watch this space for new Newsletters. Watch your e-mail for notices telling you when the new Newsletter is available here at FerretNews.com! Happy Ferreting! --Mary, Eric, and Gabby
Ferret NewsPlease tell your ferret friends about this newsletter and encourage them to join. http://www.ferretnews.com Shopping at these web sites helps support this newsletter so we can continue to send it for free to all who want it: http://www.ferretdesigns.com http://www.ferrettradingpost.com You can provide feedback about this issue at: http://ferretnews.com/feedback.html or by sending email to:
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The shortened version of the disclaimer is: If your ferret is ill or you think your ferret is ill, bring your ferret to a ferret knowledgeable veterinarian. Copyright 2004 Modern Ferret magazine.
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