Modern Ferret Mailing List (Modern Ferret News) Archive 

March 24, 2002 - April 12, 2002 - May 21, 2002 - May 27, 2002 - June 11, 2002 - June 19, 2002

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NEWSLETTER #14

From: Mary R Shefferman Date: Thur Dec 27, 2001  Subject: Hi ! - Ferrety things for 2002 and belated gifts

Hello Again  Here's our second newsletter from our new software. We're trying a different send method to see how it works. If you got this one, but not the previous one (dated Nov 28) then hopefully we're getting the bugs worked out. Archives are always available at http://modernferrets.com/newsletterarchive.html =============================== In this Issue: - Oops! Late sending a ferret gift? We can help! - Coming up in 2002 - Tips for new ferret owners! - Have a happy new year! =============================== All of us here hope you had a very enjoyable holiday season and that the new year will be a better year for both people and ferrets. =============================== Late sending a ferret gift? We can help! =============================== At FerretDesigns.com - your place for ferret shirts, we're running a special to help all those forgetful, procrastinating gift-givers. Until January 5, 2002, late gifts will include an "I'm sorry I'm late!" plush toy. This plus toy and sorry note is free with any purchase. You'll find T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and more (even some boxer shorts!) with great ferret photos on them! Great gifts! Don't let your ferret friend stew over not getting a gift -- order today! Just go to: http://www.ferretdesigns.com/index122701.html =============================== Coming up in 2002! Tips for new ferret owners. =============================== Did you get a new ferret this holiday season? Do you know someone who did? To start 2002 off right, each of our newsletters will contain some helpful tips for new ferret owners. If you know anyone that this would help out, please be sure to tell them to sign up now (instructions at the bottom of this email). =============================== Have a happy new year! =============================== For now, it's time for us to wind-down, wrap-up, and prepare for the new year. Talk to you again in 2002! May you and your ferrets have a happy, safe, and healthy new year! --Mary & Eric & the Fuzzies   Mary R. Shefferman, Editor etc. Modern Ferret Magazine www.ModernFerret.com - www.ModernFerretStore.com New! Online journal - www.modernferretblog.com/mary Mary and the fuzzies: Trixie, Balthazar, Cauliflower, Koosh, and Gabrielle -------------------------------------------- >>Unsubscribe info: To unsubscribe from this newsletter, use the web-based form at: http://www.modernferrets.com >>Subscribe info: If you're reading someone else's copy of this newsletter, you can subscribe by using the web-based form at: http://www.modernferrets.com Archives of this newsletter are available at: http://modernferrets.com/newsletterarchive.html Copyright 2001 Modern Ferret magazine. All rights reserved.

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NEWSLETTER #15

From: Mary R Shefferman Date: Sun Mar 24, 2002  Subject: Modern Ferret News #15 - Status Update

Modern Ferret News Mailing List Issue #15 March 24, 2002 ====================================================== See the bottom of this newsletter for a special code for our newsletter subscribers to save $10 on the purchase of a Take 25 Pack. ====================================================== Note: Although this newsletter is meant to bring you ferret care tips and other ferret information, in this issue we'd like to let you know what has been going on with Modern Ferret magazine and with us (Mary and Eric -- the people who create Modern Ferret magazine). Please bear with us as we know that many of you are wondering what happened to us and to the magazine and we felt that the distribution of this newsletter would be the best way to tell as many people as possible what has been going on. Over the past six months, we've found that many of our fans literally love us to death. We know you want your Modern Ferret magazine and we know you want it NOW -- unfortunately, we've had tough times in the past and some very difficult problems in the present. We will now give you an overview of what has been going on here and what we will be doing in the coming weeks. ====================================================== In this issue: - What's Been Going On At Modern Ferret - Some words from Mary - Some words form Eric - What We're Doing Now & The Future of Modern Ferret - How *YOU* Can Help Us Subscribe/Unsubscribe instructions at the end of this message. ====================================================== "What's Been Going On At Modern Ferret?" Some words from Mary: On September 10, 2001, things were looking very good for Modern Ferret. We were working on or close to schedule; best-selling author Tama Janowitz was excited to plug the magazine everywhere she went; we had sent out piles of publicity letters to all sorts of venues, hyping fashion designer Todd Oldham's photos of Ms. Janowitz on our cover and centerfold. We had just created an excellent new product (the Security Cube) that ferrets love and that may actually help to reduce stress. We were feeling good. Hopeful. Then came September 11. It was a bad day all around. The events of September 11 made a mess of things for us in several ways: 1. 9-11 was emotionally upsetting and psychologically destabilizing (as it was for so many of us). 2. 9-11 changed the face of the economy, and, more specifically, the magazine industry. Big name magazines like Talk have folded in the wake of 9-11. This has changed the way every aspect of the magazine industry functions. Even little old Modern Ferret. Our printer called our credit line and refused to do any further work for us without being paid all back bills. Their reasoning: "The economy is bad." We had no contingency plan for such an event, and we were selling virtually nothing as a result of 9-11. We have had to regroup and come up with a new plan. 3. All the publicity we had planned -- and that Tama Janowitz had gladly agreed to do for us -- came to nothing. As a news reporter had pointed out a few days after 9-11, "there aren't going to be any soft interviews for a long time." Issue #31 came out a little later than scheduled (as a result of delays created by our printer) and, thus, landed out in the world only a very short time (days? a week or so?) before the terrorists attacked. This issue that we had so hoped would help us gain new subscribers (and revenue) was swamped by the terrible events of 9-11. 4. We had to delay sending out our renewal mailing, which would have been mailed on or about September 13. We waited two weeks, but still got a very poor response -- people were sending money to the victims of the WTC attacks. A lot of people had more important things on their minds than magazine subscriptions. 5. Both Eric and I were ill during the last few months. Although the problems predate 9-11, the terrorist attacks certainly made things worse. Eric had an abscess that resulted from his Crohn's disease. He spent 10 days in the hospital and had to have a drain in place for a couple of weeks to be sure to remove all the infection. He had spent a couple of months not realizing that he had an abscess, as the symptoms were attributed to the Crohn's disease. When he reached a point where medications were not helping and he was having terrible fevers, he was admitted to the hospital for tests. He is recovering well, but the infection took a powerful toll on his health and on his morale. He still has a lot of resting up to do before he's 100% again. I had been feeling a little low earlier this year (maybe it was my birthday in August). Despite the very promising future of Issue #31 and the excitement of having developed a friendship with Tama Janowitz, I didn't feel quite as good as I ought to have felt. After 9-11, I began a steep decline that was made worse by the situation with our printer as well as some tragedies suffered by friends and family (a friend's daughter died and my aunt and uncle were seriously injured in a house fire). In December I was diagnosed with major depression, after several months of being virtually unable to work. Since then, I have been taking medication, which is helping me to get back to my old self. What all this adds up to is that Issue #32 of Modern Ferret is very late. We had nearly finished Issue #32 when the world fell apart. Since then, We have located a new printer and will be going ahead with Issue #32 soon. We are also finally finishing up the Litter Box Training Manual. Basically, we are re-launching Modern Ferret. It is difficult, but we've done it before. Eric and I are totally committed to continuing with the magazine. As we've overcome obstacles in the past, so shall we continue to do so. There are some changes that may come about in the coming few months. I'm planning to get a job outside of Modern Ferret to give the magazine the opportunity to regain some financial health. This could mean that issues in the near future are a little late or that they are done completely by Eric by himself. We see these changes as necessary so that we can continue to publish Modern Ferret and bring you, our readers, the best, and most accurate ferret information available. ====================================================== "What's Been Going On At Modern Ferret?" Some words from Eric: Throughout the year 2000 I was so ill that I was unable to do any work on the magazine and we only put out one issue that year before I was hospitalized in August due to a prolonged and uncontrollable flare-up of my Crohn's disease. By the time I was hospitalized I had been through 2 months of physical therapy to try to make me able to walk again and I had been on several medications to try to control my Crohn's -- including one that had me vomiting constantly all day long for two weeks, and I had been living with constant high temperature fevers. I had been taking all kinds of pain killers like percocet for months with no reduction in the pain, but with a severe impairment of my ability to think. The magazine not coming out for most of the year understandably disturbed many of our subscribers. At the same time, our competition, Fancy Publications, took over all distribution into pet stores from the company that had been distributing us. This made it impossible for us to get copies of Modern Ferret into pet stores (where the ferret owners are). When I got out of the hospital and started working I knew we had a long uphill struggle ahead of us. All of the above problems contributed to us being physically, emotionally, and financially wiped out. Despite the difficulty of our situation, we resolved to work as hard as we could to rebuild the magazine so that we would have strong sales during the holiday season of 2001 and be able to make up for the financial disaster that was the year 2000. Throughout 2001 I started having more and more pain in my stomach area on the right side. It was thought to be Crohn's disease related, but no amount of prednisone seemed to alleviate the symptoms. My doctor wanted me to get a CAT scan so that he could see what was going on -- but our health insurance had been cancelled because we couldn't afford it and there was no way we could afford to pay for a CAT scan. As time went on, I started to no longer be able to lift my right leg due to the pain in my abdomen and I could no longer drive or even walk upstairs (where the computer that I do the magazine on is located). Despite the pain I was in, we managed to get the magazine production back on schedule and we managed to design one of the best ferret products ever - the Security Cube. Things were starting to look up, and we were very hopeful that with the December holiday sales, Modern Ferret would be back to being a magazine that could support us. We had just put out a very publicity-oriented issue of Modern Ferret (#31) featuring Tama Janowitz and with photography by Todd Oldham. Several magazines had expressed interest in writing about it and the NY Post had devoted a full page to it. We had hoped to capitalize on Tama Janowitz's reputation as a New York City oriented writer to point out that ferrets should be legalized in New York City. We even had an excellent article by Bob Church with photos of the importance of ferrets in the history of New York City. Tama Janowitz was going to hit all the major talk shows and point out both how wonderful ferrets are as well as their documented past as rat hunters in New York City that made the city a safer and healthier place to live. We had nearly finished issue #32 -- our long awaited holiday 2001 issue with which we hoped we would finally bring in enough money between magazine sales, book sales, T-shirt sales, and sales of our brand new Security Cube that we could get ourselves out of debt and get our lives back on track. We had great features already lined up for issues #33 and 34 -- the issues that should have come out in the beginning of 2002. Everything was starting to look up for us again. Then came September 11. Because of the high dose of prednisone I was on, I was hardly sleeping and was busy working on the computer when my mother instant messaged me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. This sounded so unreal and unbelievable that I turned on the TV to confirm it for myself -- just in time to see a second plane crash into the other tower. Mary and I watched in fear as the world suddenly turned into a very scary place. It seemed that every minute there was some new frightening development such that we didn't know what to do but keep watching. There was no way to tell what bad thing would happen next -- and in the scheme of things, we don't live very far from New York City. The bridges to Long Island were all shut down in response to the threat of more terrorist attacks, and despite the fact that Long Island is a very big island -- it is still an island and we were now cut off from the rest of the world. Thus Mary and I found ourselves going out to do some emergency supply shopping -- picking up gallons of water (in case the water supply was poisoned), canned foods, etc. Returning home from one of the shopping trips we listened to a message from our printer that they wanted us to pay them in full right away. They seemed concerned that if we were killed in the next terrorist attack that there'd be no Modern Ferret left to pay them. That seemed pretty callous to me, considering that we had seen footage of people jumping from the roof of the World Trade Center, that we kept seeing ambulance convoys bringing wounded out to hospitals near us, and that for all we knew our lives still were in immediate danger. With all that going on right around us, the message from our printer seemed like their way of playing an evil, anti-American practical joke. Somewhere in the middle of all this, both Mary and I broke -- each in our own way. I had an immediate flare-up of my Crohn's disease (my body's natural reaction to stress). I rapidly got weaker and sicker. Despite the fact that we were nearly done with issue #32, neither of us had the spirit or energy to complete it. We had no humor left with which to complete the cutesy ferret jokes that seemed so irrelevant now that one man far away had demonstrated his need and ability to kill Americans on American soil while they were going about their ordinary lives. We tried a few times to complete the issue with some editorial replaced to make it less silly and more relevant -- but we just failed to finish it and we both became more and more depressed while I also got sicker and sicker. I started to have (on top of the pain) constant fevers. My doctor still urged me to get a CAT scan, but having not made any money in December that was now impossible. Eventually in February, I was such a total wreck that I had to go to the emergency room and I was admitted to Huntington Hospital. At the hospital they immediately did a CAT scan and determined that I had an abscess caused by the Crohn's disease. They attached a draining mechanism to me and removed *one liter* (think about the size of a soda bottle) of pus and yucky stuff from the abscess. I then spent another ten days in the hospital while they monitored me to make sure that they were getting the infection under control. I'm told that I'm lucky that I hadn't waited longer -- if the abscess had burst or spread I would have been in even worse condition. When I was released from the hospital, I still had the drainage tube attached to my back and I really still didn't feel well. I wound up keeping the drainage tube in for about a month. It is now the end of March and I'm still weak, still have difficulty climbing stairs, and have a big bruise all around where the drainage tube was attached to me. I must say that it still boggles my mind how close we were to recovering from all the problems caused by my illness in 2000. Now we are in the same situation all over again. There is just no way to plan for your body failing to function. We had done so many great things in 2001 and had so many more great things set up for the future. Now we will be starting up the magazine from nothing all over again. It seems that Modern Ferret has been a long series of apologies from us as we always attempt to do so much that it would be impossible to do it all. We haven't made any money doing it and yet we still keep pushing ourselves -- because it seems like the right thing to do. We kept taking on more and more projects in the hope that something would click and we would actually earn a living from producing a resource that people seem to enjoy. It does fascinate me from the calls, emails, faxes, etc. that we get how desperate Modern Ferret readers are to get their magazine. Many people literally "love us to death" calling constantly demanding that we send them their next issue -- well beyond our ability to deal with. If we were well enough to put out the issue and get it to people, I assure you we would. I don't know how we've achieved this kind of fanatical devotion without also building up a sufficient number of subscribers that we could pay our bills and earn a living. At this point, we're obviously going to have to back off a bit from anything overly ambitious. Not being able to afford medical care is not the way for someone with Crohn's disease to live. Though I believe in working very hard for Modern Ferret, I really don't want to die for it. Both Mary and I really believe in Modern Ferret and the importance of Modern Ferret for ferrets. We set out in 1994 to make some real changes, and though we haven't accomplished everything we wanted to, that is mostly because there are so many things we want to do and we keep adding to the list. We are both committed to keeping Modern Ferret going -- but it is going to be very different for a while. I'm not sure how we'll do this, but we need to achieve doing some things that involve taking care of ourselves: being healthy, earning money, living somewhere that we want to live, getting a house, having kids, etc. These are all things that we've set aside for too long in the name of trying to make the magazine better. But it is hard to see how my being hospitalized more than once because I continued working despite being in pain really makes the magazine any better or improves things for ferrets. Why haven't we just given up on Modern Ferret at this point? Because we know that what we're doing goes way beyond the ordinary pet magazine. When I see some of the bad information and advice that is published elsewhere, I know that what we do is worth doing -- that we do really help ferrets. Because when I look at our ferrets I know that they are the source of all the concern that we put into making Modern Ferret better -- we're not just another stack of paper with a staple put together by some company trying to make money selling ads and we're not some sloppy looking newsletter thrown together with a complete lack of editing. Because without us, no one was going to create anything special for ferrets. In the few years we have been publishing Modern Ferret we have seen two other much older, more established, and better financed magazines published by actual pet owners fail - Cats Magazine and Reptile & Amphibian. Cats magazine had been around for over 50 years and I think Reptile & Amphibian had been around for at least 15 years. With Fancy Publications being able to crush magazines like those two, it's amazing that we've gotten this far. I think it must just be our ferret-like stubbornness. So what do we do now? We don't really have any plan yet. Everything we had done in 2001 relied on having really strong sales during the holiday season and thus finally have some money around. Much of what is done for issue #32 is holiday- oriented or just plain too silly and funny for a world being terrorized by one hidden man in a far away country. Personally, I am too messed up by my Crohn's disease to be able to do anything other than Modern Ferret. Although I do have some good days or parts of days, I'm not well enough to leave the house on a daily basis (which unfortunately means I'm not well enough to even work on Modern Ferret on a daily basis). So whatever happens I will probably continue doing the magazine, although Mary may need to find work elsewhere in order to support us. With me working alone on the magazine and doing it when I'm able to work, it probably won't come out nearly as often as anyone would like it to -- but there aren't any other options presenting themselves at this point. So you can all consider me highly committed to the cause -- unfortunately, I'm not the most capable worker anymore. As I write this, it is Sunday night. I had my drain removed this past Monday and by Thursday I started having fevers. I started taking more antibiotics, but they haven't helped and I've run a fever constantly since Friday. So by tomorrow morning, I may be in the Emergency Room again -- in which case I will again be unable to do any work on Modern Ferret. Believe me, this is as frustrating to me as it is to any of our subscribers who want their magazine -- and it is a lot more painful for me. ====================================================== What we're doing now & the future of Modern Ferret: In light of our problems with our previous printer, we have located a new printer. We are hammering out the details of the specifications for printing the magazine. We are also working on finishing Issue #32. Although there is not much left to do on the issue, some of it needs to be reworked again to make it more appropriate. We had tried to finish it in November and made some changes from the original version, but probably even more changes need to be made now. At this point, finishing the issue is mostly a matter of Eric being well enough to sit at a computer for a week and put everything together. Unfortunately, that is extremely dependent on getting Eric well. We are finishing the last bit of work on the extremely delayed Litter Box Training Manual. When we started work on this book, we had a clear vision of the time and work it would require. However, we have hit many snags along the way. We know it is very late, and have made the completion of the book one of our highest priorities after getting out the next issue of the magazine. This book is just another example of us being overworked and yet taking on more work in the hope that somehow things will get better. From the very start, we have come up against great odds in publishing Modern Ferret. We have not come this far to throw it away. Instead, our resolve is that much stronger, knowing that we had done much good so far and knowing how much more good we can do for ferrets and their owners over the coming years. So for now, we intend to get out issue #32 of Modern Ferret as soon as we can, and then get to work on finishing the Litter Box Training Manual. Things are not going to happen quickly. We really can't help that -- bills have to be paid (which Modern Ferret has yet to really achieve) and our personal health issues have to be taken care of (which the stress from all of this doesn't help). We do need to find a more reasonable living situation and workload, and we need to figure out a way to earn a living and afford medical care (which Modern Ferret doesn't do). Many of the other things we had planned to do for ferrets will have to be set aside for now so that we can work on taking care of ourselves. Since the magazine does not actually earn a living for us, that is one of our top priorities. When we can take care of ourselves better, we'll do a lot better at taking care of others. We hope that many of you will be as patient with us as you can be. We certainly never expected to have anything worse happen to us than what we went through in 2000, and yet somehow worse did happen. There is no way to plan your life or your business around being dramatically ill or around insane terrorist attacks. There isn't enough time or enthusiasm here to try to return all the phone calls, faxes, emails, etc. But we will address customer service problems such as missing issues etc. over the next couple of weeks. We are going to try to get Modern Ferret going again as best as we can -- because that's the right thing to do for the sake of ferrets everywhere. ====================================================== How *you* can help us: Relaunching Modern Ferret is going to take a lot of money and effort. We are very committed to keeping Modern Ferret going because over the years we have realized that not only is there no other resource for ferrets that is like Modern Ferret -- there is no resource for *any* animal at all that is like Modern Ferret. Our dedication to ferrets and our love for them is what makes us work so hard. Right now we have been stagnant for way too long and we need to start bringing in some money so that we can both make the magazine well and so that we can take better care of our personal health to make ourselves well. We want to make sure that we can always maintain health insurance for ourselves as well as be able to move ourselves away from New York and towards a more relaxed, rural setting in perhaps Virginia or Maryland. Rather than begging you for money, all we ask is that you check out the following products that we are offering. Your purchase of any of these products will help us a lot -- and these are all products that we have in stock and can ship to you right away. The following products are available at our Ferret Trading Post online store - where you can learn more about them and then place your order on our safe, secure server hosted by Yahoo. http://www.ferrettradingpost.com Ferret Trading Post *note: The Ferret Trading Post can only deliver to street addresses located in the continental US. -- The Modern Ferret Take 25 Pack -- Take 25 Pack This is a lot of great information and fun -- all packed into one box that weighs about ten pounds! Not only do you get a lot of great ferret reading, but each one of these we sell means ten pounds less we have to bring with us when we move! *** See the special savings coupon code at the end of this newsletter -- we really don't want to have to carry all these magazines with us when we move! *** You get 25 back issues of Modern Ferret magazine -- and you'll see why we were chosen as one of the best magazines in the magazine industry. Every issue is filled with great photos, care tips, training tips, funny stories, medical information (with explanations written so you can understand them), and so much more -- all done from a ferret owner's viewpoint (because we're ferret owners too!). For more information or to place your order, go to: Take 25 Pack -- The Security Cube -- INVALID LINK REMOVED We designed the Security Cube with the needs of both the ferret and the owner in mind. Our ferrets all love their Security Cube! For more information or to place your order, go to: INVALID LINK REMOVED -- The Wit and Wisdom of the Modern Ferrets: A Ferret's Perspective on Ferret Care book-- Ferret care as explained by the ferrets of Modern Ferret magazine: Sabrina, Marshmallow, Knuks, Trixie, and Gabrielle. The book is a collection of the various columns written by the ferrets over the last five years. For more information or to place your order, go to: Wit and Wisdom Book * We also have: * Ferret T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and more! Including the all-time favorite "#1 Ferret Mom" and the patriotic "I Stand For Freedom" and "Don't Tread On Me" images. All available at: http://www.ferretdesigns.com FerretDesigns.com "#1 Ferret Mom" * * * Mother's Day is May 12 * * * We have some great stuff for the #1 Ferret Mom in your life! To see the picture or to place your order, go to: #1 Ferret Mom "Ask Me About My Grandferrets" Do your parents like to brag about your furkids? If so, then they need the official "Ask Me About My Grandferrets" T-shirt or Long-Sleeve T-shirt. Available with red or blue text. To see the picture or to place your order, go to: Ask Me About My Grandferrets - Red Ask Me About My Grandferrets - Blue "I Stand For Freedom" Our original patriotic image - our ferret Gabrielle standing up in front of a red, white, and blue map of the U.S.A. Be sure to get yours in time for Memorial Day (May 27). To see the picture or to place your order, go to: I Stand For Freedom "Don't Tread On Me" Based on the revolutionary US flag design, this ferret shirt features a ferret with a bit of attitude. To see the picture or to place your order, go to: Don't Tread On Me ====================================================== - Special Coupon Code - - Save $10 on a Take 25 Pack - This is a special $10 coupon for you - the readers of our Modern Ferret News e-mail newsletter. We need to sell as many of our Take 25 Packs as possible to help us relaunch Modern Ferret and make it better than ever. Every Take 25 Pack you buy will help us! Remember - Take 25 Packs make great gifts for both new and experienced ferret owners! Hurry! This coupon is good until April 15, 2002. Order a Take 25 Pack from our website: Take 25 Pack When you go to the checkout page use the coupon code ferretnews2 to get $10 off your order for a Take 25 Pack. You'll see the $10 savings coupon on your order when you press "continue" to go to the next page. That's just $50 for 25 fun and informative back issues of Modern Ferret magazine delivered right to your door in one big box! Only $2 per issue for a wealth of care tips, toys you can make at home, great photos, health and medical developments, funny stories, ferret crafts, cartoons, training tips, and much much more! You can't afford to be without this much ferret reference material! More than 1,000 pages! Wow! Place your order today and we'll ship your Take 25 Pack to you right away! We have them stacked in our living room - ready to go! Hurry! This coupon is good until April 15, 2002. Your ferrets will thank you and we'll thank you too. Take 25 Pack - Save $10 on a Take 25 Pack - - Special Coupon Code - ====================================================== Thank you for reading this update from us. We hope to get this newsletter going again soon with more ferret care tips and other useful information. - Mary and Eric and their ferrets: Trixie, Balthazar, Cauliflower, Koosh, and Gabrielle ====================================================== You can subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time by using the web-based form at: http://www.modernferrets.com Archives of this newsletter are available at: http://modernferrets.com/newsletterarchive.html Copyright 2002 Modern Ferret magazine. All rights reserved. http://www.modernferret.com

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NEWSLETTER #16

From: Mary R Shefferman Date: April 12, 2002  Subject: Modern Ferret News #16 - Fleas!

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`° Modern Ferret News Mailing List Issue #16 April 12, 2002 by Mary R. Shefferman and Eric Shefferman contact: INVALID LINK REMOVED ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`° --------------------------------------------------- See the bottom of this newsletter for a special code for our newsletter subscribers to save $10 on the purchase of a Take 25 Pack. --------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== Hi In this issue: - Spring is here, and so are fleas! - Mother's Day is coming! Download a free note card! - Update on Modern Ferret things - Coupon - Save $10 on a Take 25 Pack Subscribe/Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this message. This ezine is by subscription only. You are receiving this ezine because you requested a subscription (or someone signed you up without your knowledge). This process is completely automated. ====================================================== ====================================================== ==> Spring is here, and so are fleas! Ferrets are naturally itchy creatures - but that doesn't mean they have fleas. Read this article by Mary to learn more about fleas. Anyone who has had a problem with fleas knows that they can be a nightmare. But for ferrets it isn't just a matter of being uncomfortable (although fleas certainly do make them uncomfortable). Because they are small, ferrets can become severely anemic if they suffer from multiple fleabites. Therefore, it is essential that you address flea problems immediately. Ferrets most often affected by fleas are those that live in a home with a dog or a cat. But if you take your ferret out for walks, your ferret is also at risk. Any animal that visits your home can bring fleas, as well. Fleas seek heat. Because of their high body temperature, ferrets attract fleas more readily than dogs or cats do. Our friend Shirley Hertzog of WarmFuzzy Ferret Rescue in Fleetwood, PA, says she has seen fleas literally jump from a cat to a ferret standing nearby. This means that if you have a dog or cat you need to check your ferrets for fleas even if the ferret never goes outside and even if the dog or cat doesn't have fleas. If you haven't done so yet, talk with your veterinarian about flea prevention for all the furry friends in your home. Check with your veterinarian before using any of the newer non-prescription flea prevention products on the market that are labeled for dogs and cats. Prescription products such as Advantage, Frontline, or Program are not labeled for ferrets, but many ferret owners have used these products with no problem. Talk with your veterinarian about your specific situation. If you don't have a dog or cat and you don't take your ferret out for walks, it is still a good idea to check your ferret occasionally for signs of fleas. You may not need to take preventive steps, but you will need to know what to do if your ferret gets fleas. There are now flea products (shampoos and sprays) on the market specifically designed for ferrets. If you are unable to find a ferret-specific product, you can use one that is safe for kittens. Products with rotenone or pyrethrin are all right, but keep in mind that ferrets may lick sprays or powders when they groom themselves or each other so use caution with these products. Do not use flea dips or flea collars on your ferret, regardless of whether they are safe for kittens. Do not use products that contain organo-phosphates on your ferret. Because multiple fleabites can cause anemia in ferrets, observe your ferret closely if he has fleas or has had fleas. If he doesn't seem to be feeling quite right, bring him to your veterinarian. Signs of anemia include weakness, tiredness, and lack of appetite. If your ferret is anemic, your veterinarian can prescribe treatment. -- This article originally appeared in Modern Ferret Magazine issue #23. To learn a lot about ferrets, order a Take 25 Pack of 25 Modern Ferret back- issues. It's over 1,000 pages of great information. See the coupon at the end of this newsletter to save $10 on the purchase of a Take 25 Pack. http://ferrettradingpost.com/take25pack.html ====================================================== --------------------------------------------------- Be prepared to fight fleas! The Flea Combat Package available from the Ferret Trading Post has the tools you need: o Ferret Flea/Tick Shampoo o Ferret Flea/Tick Spray o Flea Comb INVALID LINK REMOVED --------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== ==> Mother's Day is May 12 Download and print out a FREE "#1 Ferret Mom" note card from FerretDesigns.com (matching T-shirts and mugs are available!) Get a FREE "#1 Ferret Mom" note card from the Free Stuff section at www.FerretDesigns.com. Just download the Adobe Acrobat* format card and print it out on your color or black and white printer. *You can download the free Acrobat reader from www.adobe.com if you don't already have it. Download your FREE note card at: http://www.ferretdesigns.com/free-stuff/index.html Don't miss the new "#1 Ferret Mom" design available on shirts and mugs (it matches the card!): http://www.ferretdesigns.com/numberoneferretmom-rose/ ====================================================== --------------------------------------------------- Does YOUR mom consider your ferrets to be her grandferrets? Get her an "Ask Me About My Grandferrets!" shirt or tote bag for Mother's Day! http://www.ferretdesigns.com/askmeabout-red/ The perfect gift! --------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== ==> Update on Modern Ferret things - from Eric Our last newsletter went out on the March 24. By March 25, I was in really bad shape and wound up back in the Emergency Room due to constant fevers. I wound up being in the hospital from March 25 to March 30 - my second hospitalization this year. A new drain was attached to me and I was sent home on IV antibiotics. Every eight hours Mary has to play nurse and hook me up to my IV. The plan is to get me well enough and have my guts heal enough so that I can undergo surgery to have the leak in my intestines repaired and to surgically remove the infection in my abdomen. The short version of that is: 1. I'm a lot sicker than anyone originally thought. 2. Mary has been doing all she can to take care of me. I now get less done per day than I had ever imagined possible. I'm weak and tired a lot of the time. Although we have many things in place to move ahead with the magazine and our lives - they all require me to be healthy enough to do them. Hopefully I will be well enough for the surgery soon and hopefully the surgery will finally fix me so that I stop having fevers and pain all the time. In the meantime, we are making some progress on the next issue of Modern Ferret as well as some other projects. Unfortunately, nearly everything we attempt to do has to make some presumptions about my being healthy enough to actually get things done. I've spent 16 days in the hospital since the beginning of February - that is just beyond anything that can be planned for or predicted (and I still have at least one surgery coming up). Thanks for listening. More information and updates will be coming in our next newsletter. ====================================================== ====================================================== ==> Save $10 on a "Take 25 Pack" of Modern Ferret back issues Available at our Ferret Trading Post online store - where you can place your order on our safe, secure server hosted by Yahoo. You get 25 back issues of Modern Ferret magazine -- and you'll see why we were chosen as one of the best magazines in the magazine industry. Every issue is filled with great photos, care tips, training tips, funny stories, medical information (with explanations written so you can understand them), and so much more -- all done from a ferret owner's viewpoint (because we're ferret owners too!). This is a lot of great information and fun -- all packed into one box that weighs about ten pounds! Hurry! This coupon is good until April 15, 2002. Order a Take 25 Pack from our website: http://ferrettradingpost.com/take25pack.html When you go to the checkout page use the coupon code ferretnews2 to get $10 off your order for a Take 25 Pack. You'll see the $10 savings coupon on your order when you press "continue" to go to the next page. That's just $50 for 25 fun and informative back issues of Modern Ferret magazine delivered right to your door in one big box! Only $2 per issue for a wealth of care tips, toys you can make at home, great photos, health and medical developments, funny stories, ferret crafts, cartoons, training tips, and much much more! You can't afford to be without this much ferret reference material! More than 1,000 pages! Wow! ====================================================== This newsletter is by subscription only. You can subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time by using the web-based form at: http://www.modernferrets.com Archives of this newsletter are available at: http://modernferrets.com/newsletterarchive.html Copyright 2002 Modern Ferret magazine. All rights reserved. http://www.modernferret.com

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NEWSLETTER #17

From: Mary R Shefferman Date: May 21, 2002  Subject: Hi - Ferrets need Spring Cleaning too!

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`° Modern Ferret News Mailing List Issue #17 May 21, 2002 by Mary R. Shefferman and Eric Shefferman contact: INVALID LINK REMOVED ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`° ====================================================== Hi In this issue: - It's Spring Cleaning time! Some of the things you can do to keep your ferrets happier and healthier and keep your home smelling better. - Update on Modern Ferret things: - Status update - Cauliflower has passed on - Please encourage us! Subscribe/Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this message. This e-zine is by subscription only. You are receiving this e-zine because you requested a subscription (or someone signed you up without your knowledge). This process is completely automated. ====================================================== --------------------------------------------------- Need a patriotic ferret T-shirt to wear July 4? Check out these FerretDesigns.com designs! - I Stand For Freedom http://www.ferretdesigns.com/standforfreedom - Don't Tread On Me http://www.ferretdesigns.com/donttreadonme --------------------------------------------------- ====================================================== ==> It's Spring Cleaning Time! Some of the things you can do to keep your ferrets happier and healthier and keep your home smelling better. By Eric Shefferman Now that it's starting to get warm out, it's time to start thinking about "Spring Cleaning," not just for yourself and your home, but for your ferrets too. This is a great opportunity to take all your litter boxes and give them a good scrubbing! We like to take ours outside and clean them with antibacterial dishwashing liquid and a scrubbing brush. You can even take your whole cage outside on a warm day and give it a good scrubbing as well. If you use linoleum or vinyl flooring you should clean it or replace it as needed. You should also give all your water bottles a good scrubbing. We like to use plenty of hot water, dishwashing liquid, and a good bottle brush. Be sure to rinse the bottles thoroughly. Washing all the hammocks and blankets will help your whole house smell better. The fabric in these items absorbs the ferrety smell and can often smell stronger than the ferrets themselves! If your hammocks and blankets are seeming a bit worn and frayed, you should replace them. Watch for signs that a ferret has been chewing on the fabric and watch for holes or loose threads that a ferret might get themselves caught on. We usually wash our hammocks with All "Free & Clear" (no dyes or perfumes) detergent and a little bit of bleach. We then run the washing machine a second time with just water to make sure that all the detergent and bleach is completely rinsed out of the fabric. Note: When you wash any of your ferret hammocks or blankets, always check to make sure there aren't any sleeping ferrets hiding in them. You should also check all your other ferret toys for signs of wear in ways that could be dangerous to your ferrets. Now's a good time to find all those corners around the house where your ferrets have been pooping and clean them. Ferrets are very scent oriented and once they have marked a spot as a place to go, you have to remove that smell or they will be inclined to keep going there. We like Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor Remover for safely and effectively removing those smells. And of course, you can clean and groom your ferrets too! A nice bath with ferret shampoo followed by ear cleaning, tooth cleaning, and nail clipping will have your ferrets looking and smelling great for when people come to visit. As you can see, Spring Cleaning isn't just for people anymore! Cleaning your ferret's things will make your home smell better and keep your ferrets happier and healthier. Useful links: Need replacement litter boxes? INVALID LINK REMOVED Need a replacement litter box scoop? INVALID LINK REMOVED Need replacement water bottles? INVALID LINK REMOVED Need a bottle brush? INVALID LINK REMOVED Need a replacement hammock or bed? INVALID LINK REMOVED Need some Nature's Miracle Stain and Odor Remover? INVALID LINK REMOVED ****************************************************** If you need a whole bunch of these items, check out our Super Deal Spring Cleaning Packages ****************************************************** ****************************************************** **** Super Deal Item - Spring Cleaning Set #1 You get: Nature's Miracle 32oz Stain & Odor Remover, Lixit Bottle Brush, Litter Scoop, 4 Oasis 16oz Clear Ferret Water Bottles, plus a bonus for your ferrets: a package of Totally Ferret Treats. All for $35 INVALID LINK REMOVED ****************************************************** ****************************************************** **** Super Deal Item - Spring Cleaning Set #2 You get: Nature's Miracle 32oz Stain & Odor Remover, Lixit Bottle Brush, Litter Scoop, 4 Oasis 16oz Clear Ferret Water Bottles, 4 Pet Mate Medium Litter Boxes, Ferret Shampoo - No Tears Aloe Vera Formula, plus TWO bonuses for your ferrets: a package of Totally Ferret Treats and a 4oz package of 8in1 Chicken Ferretbites. All for $50 INVALID LINK REMOVED ****************************************************** ****************************************************** **** Super Deal Item - Spring Cleaning Set #3 You get: Nature's Miracle 32oz Stain & Odor Remover, Lixit Bottle Brush, Litter Scoop, 4 Oasis 16oz Clear Ferret Water Bottles, 4 Pet Mate Medium Litter Boxes, Ferret Shampoo - No Tears Aloe Vera Formula, a Ferret Planet Security Cube, plus THREE bonuses for your ferrets: a package of Totally Ferret Treats, a 4oz package of 8in1 Chicken Ferretbites, and a Cheweasel Sampler 4 Pack. All for $70 INVALID LINK REMOVED ****************************************************** Need some ferret grooming supplies? See our favorite shampoos, ear cleaner, dental gel, etc. INVALID LINK REMOVED ====================================================== --------------------------------------------------- Be prepared to fight