Help! They want the smell or ferrets gone NOW!

[whipple]

I just had a nurse visit and she told me that all she could smell was urine. The litter is changed daily, and this usually means dumped unless it is still fairly clean. But it did smell and I did not have time to change it before she came. The ferrets were here the last two times she came and nothing was said.
They are switching, and right now they have almost liquid poos, and they stink! But this does go away right? Please say yes. How long will it take? The ferts are all basically on a mainly raw diet, and Lars cage does not stink nearly as badly.
Is there anything I can do in the meatime to take away the stench?
I do not like being given this ultimatum, but this nurse talks to Children's Aid. I will not risk my children being taken away due to some ignorant people, but I don't want to give up my ferrets for the same reason. What do I do?

[tsslilsis]

Yes, the poo stink will go away.

Go get just the cheapest activated charcoal you can find at the pet store.. You can buy it to put in fish tank filters and its pretty cheap. Hang a big sack of it on the cage.

Get an Ionizer:
cgi.ebay.com/Ionizer_W0QQitemZ310057964333QQcmdZViewItem

We have this:
www.iherb.com/productdetails.aspx?c=1&pid=-2405968896168384946&utm_source=y&utm_medium=s

It may seem costly but it goes a LONG way. Hit the spray button for a milla-second and its enough for one room. Its also organic and non aerosol so its good for the enviroment.

-~Ketlin

[Forum Administrator]

Another simple trick:

OPEN THE WINDOWS! Do so everyday, even if its hot (just for a little bit) this will bring fresh air into your house. Turn off the AC and open windows so that a draft forms. My house would smell NASTY if I didn't ventilate it every day.

[tsslilsis]

Yeah, we have a whole house fan so we get ventilation everyday as well.

You could put window fans in one end of the house blowing in and window fans in the other end blowing out. Then your bringing new air in and getting the nasty stuff out of there.

If you join freecycle.org you can post for these things that we are suggesting. Everything on there is free... Its also a good way of getting rid of things you don't need anymore but are usable for others ("One mans trash is another mans treasure").

-~Ketlin

[Heather]

The strong smell will eventually go away. You state they're on raw now....what are you feeding? If their poops are very liquid and vile smelling it will probably be in direct corrolation with what you're feeding (or not). Are your guys eating bone yet?...are you putting egg shell in your mix? Only 1 tsp per 8 oz of meat. If they're eating bone or egg shell, try a tsp of pumkin into their mix (plain pumpkin not pie filling). These are all methods of firming up their poops and getting it so they don't smell so badly. If you are doing all of the above you may have to get a probiotic to help them digest their new food.
How many litter boxes have you got for your fellows? Maybe you have too many ferrets to a litter box. I'm grasping at straws here Are your guys stashing meat someplace that you didn't find? That's a different smell I know, but it's a smell....I can't imagine a nurse messing the two up but you never know, she may have just registered a smell and decided that it was the ferrets, people are strange that way.
Keep us in the loop and let us know if you've figured out a solution, you will get more ideas as more of us pop in online.
ciao

[whipple]

I do try for ventelation, but our windows are itty bitty, and only one per room. I can open them up more now that its cooling off a bit.
I will get the charcoal.
They are eating bones, and now that they are I am going to have to start getting percentages better. I was just feeding mainly chicken legs/thighs/backs with ground beef, pork chops and other meats thrown in.
As for the liquid poo, Rascal's got it again, Lars does not. The other two boys do and I expected that. Do you think bringing in more variety will make the poo better? I will try the pumpkin and probiotics if it doesnt get better soon.

[Jaycee]

Try baking soda in the litter boxes, febreeze for the air and couches, and pet fresh carpet powder for the carpet. This is what I use when I want to be sure the house smells fresh. Good luck to you. There are a lot of ignorant people out there. My family and my husbands family is proof to that!

[suds]

I dont know if this will work for litter smells I know it works well for fuel oil oders we use it all the time for leaks or small spills in homes , fill a cup or 2 half full of white viniger set it near the cage I was told it works because viniger absorbs the oders and when it evaporates it neutralises the oder's in the air. I know for a fact it works for fuel oders but not sure about litter but its a cheap thing to try. I only have 2 ferrets and I put a little bakinsoda in the bottom of the litter box to absorb odors.

if you have central air-conditioning you can get a air filter with a charcole liner or a good 3m hemp filter which will also help in getting rid of the odors but theese filter's generaly need to be replaced every 30 days for maximum performance .

The other thing to keep in mind to is if the nurse is sencetive to smells or just dont like animals if thats the case no matter what you do she still could have a complaint .

BTW with small windows the best way to ventelate would be to open 1 window near the cage find a small fan put it in the window pushing the air out and open only 1 other window in the house this will creat cross ventelation as well as a small vacume in the room to suck out the odors if you open too many windows then you will loose the cross ventialation and vacume in the room

[tsslilsis]

We used vinegar next to our mouse cages when I had mice. I do think it helped some, it didn't totally get rid of the stink but I had 13 mice, four were male and they stink worse then ferrets so if it helped with them I think it'd work for ferrets. My dad complained about the male mice stinking (the females don't really smell) but I was used to it and I had to have other people come smell my room to tell me if it was ok or not. This was before I had an Ionizer.. I went to Wal-Mart and got Glade carpet powder and some of those little Glade stick on round air fresheners (powders and round freshners were the same scent) and put those in my room and it smelled SO GOOD!!!!! Dad was amazed, the room didn't stink anymore and it had a light, lovely smell. I also kept baskets of cedar around because of course everyone loves the smell of cedar.

I think you should just try a combination of as many of these ideas as possible.

[wienercat]

my fuzzy poop STINKS too.... and they dont ever eat the bones.... Well, ana has when it's dried, and sarsippy does sometimes... but i'd have to leave the bones in there for DAYS before he eats them. Eggs are expensive, so i'm not going to waste eggs to crush some shells. I only eat eggs 1x/week so i guess i could crush them then and save them for during the week.

Opening windows when you live in humid climate makes the smell WORSE. So that doesnt work. Vinegar has a rancid smell.

What i do is get those 90 day air fresheners that are for pets. I keep one near their cage and its like an odor eater... it's amazing.

If she smells urine, what kind of litter do u use in the cage? how often do you change bedding?

[whipple]

I use Yesterday's News right now. I plan on switching to wood pellets. I change the litter daily. Their poop was runny, and it has now firmed after eating their first mice. It was like a miricle stool hardener.
I did not know I could use baking soda with ferts, I did use it with cats all the time. Is it ok if Rascal is snorkling, she does it even in dirty litter
Next time I get to wal-mart I will pick up some air freshners. But when the nurse comes next week I will be sure to clean the litter, have clean bedding, have the air flowing and febreeze the furniture. I don't notice the smell, but it's humid so the smells just don't go away easily

[Forum Administrator]

Yes the fur on the mice does wonders to keep the poopies firm. Hooray for whole prey poopies

[tsslilsis]

Yes its fine if the ferret gets in the baking soda. Some people use it when they wash white dogs/ferrets to make their fur whiter and also, people use it for brushing their teeth. People also eat baking soda (well obviously it goes in baking). It has no problems. I use it in my ferrets litter (which Weezer sleeps in, only after the litter boxes are bleached). Instead of buying the little boxes I go to the laundry isle and get Arm and Hammer baking soda laundry booster. It is the same thing but it is in crystals instead of powder, and comes in a (I think) 3lb box. You can use either though.

-~Ketlin

[whipple]

Thanks. I will definately be using baking soda.
I am also moving the cage, right now its in a corner and there is nearly zero airflow over there.

[wienercat]

i used Feline Pine for the first time last night and today, i came home from work and NO smell!!!!!