ferrets

by Barb Carlson

Arrow shows 1mL syringe with 0.2mL “drawn up”

• Be sure you understand medication instructions
• Write things down
• Read instructions back to doctor so you are sure you got it right
• Make a schedule of what to give and when
  • When you talk to vet you will have accurate accounting of what was given and when
• ASK QUESTIONS!
  • The vet can’t instruct you if he doesn’t know you have a question
  • Vet would much rather answer questions now than have to tell you later

NOTE: 1 mL = 1 cc

When you are getting instructions about medication, it’s important to take notes and ask questions. Read your notes back to the vet to be sure you really do understand. Often, while you’re reading, you’ll realize you don’t fully understand what the vet meant. Was that 1cc twice a day or 1/2cc once a day or what? Do you need to refrigerate the medication? Should it be shaken first? How long is it good for?

Many, many, many people don’t understand that once an antibiotic is mixed with water, unless the vet tells you otherwise, it’s NO GOOD after 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 24 HOURS left on the counter. Amoxicillin is very commonly prescribed. Once mixed (turned into a liquid from powder or pill), it’s only good for 14 days in the fridge. Other medications are stable without refrigeration … ask the vet.

Make a schedule. Make a grid of each day and how many times a day the ferret should have the medication. Write down the time you gave it. Write down anything you notice … “pawing at mouth” or “foaming and gagging” or “really hated this stuff”, etc. Notice how the ferret is acting … “lethargic,” “very alert,” “whimpered when picked up,” are all important things to tell the vet. It’s better to give them too much information rather than too little.

Ask questions … what is the name of the medication? How much should the ferret have? It has happened more than once that I was given the wrong medication or wrong instructions. I knew ahead of time what it was supposed to be and knew I had the wrong stuff. Another time, I was told to give 2mL when it was supposed to be 0.2mL! That was 10 times the dosage!

Before you leave the office, make sure you understand how to measure the medication. Once you get the idea of how to use the syringe, it’s easy, but the first few times can be confusing. Vets and vet techs sometimes forget how confusing it is at first. Make them show you HOW to give medication. (You scruff the ferret and put it into the mouth near the back of the mouth … squirting between the teeth slowly)

by Barb Carlson

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•  Post-surgery: Food
  • They need nourishment to heal
  • Unless the ferret is vomiting or the vet says otherwise, try to feed a small amount as soon as you get home
  • Very liquid is best
  • If nauseated, wait an hour and try again
  • Do not try to feed an unconscious ferret
  • Offer small amounts frequently (1 tablespoon)
    • If they don’t throw up after 2 hours, then let them eat more than a tablespoon at a time

Ferrets have a fast metabolism and will heal quickly, but they need nourishment to heal. Most post-op ferrets can be fed thin duck soup (see post on duck soup) as soon as they get home. Start with 1 tablespoon. Wait 20 minutes. If they don’t throw up, give them another tablespoon. Wait 20 minutes. Continue this for a few hours. Don’t force the ferret to eat, and if they gag when you show them the food, don’t push it.

Make sure they have a dish of water handy. It’s easier for them to drink out of a bowl than a water bottle. After food, always see if they want a drink of water. Make sure they aren’t so sleepy that their head droops into the water and they drown themselves.

If, after 3 hours of limited duck soup they haven’t thrown up, offer them the thin duck soup and let them eat what they want. Then offer it every 2-3 hours, depending on how much they ate. If they ate a huge amount, they aren’t going to be hungry for a while. If they only ate a little, offer it again sooner.

Lots of fluid and high-quality nutrition are the keys to fast recovery.

Depending on the surgery done, some ferrets are ready to eat kibble as soon as they wake up. They won’t eat if they’re nauseated, so if they’re crunching kibble, they should be okay. Obviously if they vomit, take the kibble away, wait for 30 minutes, and then try a little duck soup to see if that sits better.

Ferrets who are young often act like nothing has happened even after abdominal surgery. Don’t give in! NO CLIMBING until the stitches or staples have been removed. If they want to play, let them out where they can’t climb for a little while. Usually they don’t play long before going to sleep. If they are calm, and they have calm friends, you can put them with their buddies once they’re fully awake. However, if they are young and want to wrestle, you need to separate them to keep them still.

Abdominal stitches are the ones you need to watch closely. Watch them closely for signs of scratching or chewing. That is a BIG problem. You do not want a ferret with its guts hanging out, trust me!

Stitches that do not open the abdomen (neuters, tumor removal) usually do not have the same problems as abdominal stitches. I will do an article on issues with stitches soon.

This is a quick divergence from the “nursing sick and post-op ferrets” topic. Someone searched for information on why their 8 year old ferret was walking sideways.

Okay, the first thing that comes to mind is … take it to a vet. NOW! But truthfully, ferrets never do these things during normal business hours, and going to an emergency vet could easily end up costing $500 to $1,000 (or more) and the ferret could end up dying anyway. For a young ferret, I’d do it, but for an 8 year old ferret at the end of its life … that’s not so clear.

If your ferret is walking sideways, staggering, drooling (chin is wet), very lethargic and doesn’t move much, the first thing I’d think of was low blood sugar. Rub something sweet (honey, pancake syrup, corn syrup, jelly, Ferretvite, etc) on their gums if they’re not responsive. If they are able to swallow, give them something  sweet to drink. Super-sweet iced tea is good since many ferrets like tea. Regular Coke, Pepsi, fruit juice, etc. also work if the ferret likes them. NOT diet soda, obviously, since diet has no sugar.

Let them drink/eat as much of the sweet stuff as they want. Give them a drink of water. If, in 10-20 minutes, they’re acting much more normal, then it was most certainly low blood sugar.

Low blood sugar is most commonly caused by insulinoma. It can also be from diarrhea, liver disease, or anything that makes them nauseous. If they don’t eat, obviously they don’t have any “fuel” and could have low blood sugar. In a young, healthy ferret, not eating doesn’t usually cause low blood sugar. The liver causes glucose to be released into the blood stream from reserves in the liver. In an old or sick ferret, the ferret’s body may not be able to do this.

If your ferret has an attack like this, it definitely needs to be seen by the vet asap. If you can manage to keep it comfortable by feeding it something sweet (always followed by a high-protein meal like chicken or turkey baby food to prevent another sugar-crash), you can get it there the next morning. I wouldn’t wait more than 24 hours to get it to the vet’s office.

If giving the ferret something sweet doesn’t help, you have a much more serious problem. If it’s a young ferret, you need to take it to the emergency vet. If it’s an old ferret at the end of its life, consider having it euthanized if it’s uncomfortable. A “water shot” (subcutaneous fluids) often helps a lot … I think all ferret owners should have the skill and equipment to do this. Some vets disagree. If you have an old ferret, you really should be able to do this. If not, you’re going to either spend a lot of money at the vet’s office or your ferret isn’t going to last as long as it might.

If the ferret does have insulinoma, the normal treatment is a water shot, something sweet to boost the blood sugar level, a high-protein meal to balance it out, and a prescription of prednisone (if it’s an old ferret, prednisolone is better because it bypasses the liver).

I hope the person found some helpful information somewhere online. My ferrets like to do things like this at 2 o’clock in the morning on a holiday weekend. It’s helpful to know what you can do yourself and what needs a vet asap.

Definitions:

High-protein meal. Chicken or turkey babyfood … the kind that just has meat, no noodles or vegetables. I warm it and add a little water or Pedialyte (unflavored) to make it like a thick broth. The sicker the ferret is, the thinner they like it. Save unused Pedialyte by freezing in ice cube tray and storing in plastic bag in freezer until you need it.

Blood glucose = blood sugar level. That’s how much glucose is in the blood stream available for the ferret to use. Low blood glucose, often abbreviated as BG, means it doesn’t have enough energy to think, move, keep warm or run its organs. Severe low BG can result in seizures (often accompanied by screaming), coma and death. If a ferret can’t swallow, rub something sweet on the gums. It’s absorbed right through the mucuous membranes of the mouth. A water shot with glucose in it works even better.

Water shot = subcutaneous fluids = sub-q fluids. This is sterile IV fluids injected under the skin to form something like a “camel hump” of fluid. Fluids can be saline with other additives like glucose, electrolytes, etc. DO NOT try to give a water shot using sterile saline solution that they sell for people with contacts. It has to be the correct balance or you’ll make matters worse. Injecting something under the skin that isn’t sterile will only give the ferret an infection in addition to the problems it already has.

I’m planning on doing another article soon on dehydration, which often comes with low BG.

• They won’t move around much due to medications and pain
• If they get too hot or cold, they often don’t move
• To keep them warm safely, use an animal-safe device like a Snuggle-Safe Disc
  • No electricity or wires to chew
• Make a “warm” and a “cool” area in the cage so they can move (or you can move them) if they get too hot or too cold
• Check the ferret frequently and turn them if they have been in the same position for over an hour

Anesthesia can take as long as 24 hours to wear off completely, which means the ferret will be sleepy. The ferret should be awake enough to drink water and eat a little liquid food.

The Snuggle-Safe Disc can be warmed in the microwave and stays warm up to 12 hours. Suggested heating times range from 8 minutes for a 600 watt microwave to 2-1/2 minutes for for a 1300 watt microwave. As of 01/16/09, Amazon.com has them for about $25. I’ve used mine for years. As long as you don’t over-heat it, it will last a very long time. It should be put under the bedding and animal should not be placed directly on it.

Other types of heating pads can be used, but be careful with the temperature. Other types of pads can be filled with corn, wheat, rice, etc. They don’t hold the temperature as long. Don’t use anything electric due to shock hazard. Don’t use hot water bottle due to the ferret’s love of putting holes in rubbery things.

My favorite recipe for “duck soup” for sick ferrets (or as a treat) is as follows:

Cook 10lb chicken legs and thigh until bones are soft (1 hr or so at 15 lbs pressure in pressure cooker, or 24 hours covered with water in crock pot)

Fish out solids and set aside juice (save!). Cool solids (that’s everything including bones, fat, skin, meat, gristle, etc.) and run through grinder, food processor or blender. Do it in batches and put into a large bowl.

Cook some beef liver in a pan with a little olive oil. About 1 lb is plenty.

Grind up cooked beef liver in food processor. It works best if it crumbles up and is dry. If it’s too moist you end up with goop and it’s harder to handle.

Okay, now you’re ready to make the duck soup.

Take three cups of ground chicken, 1/3 cup of ground cooked beef liver, about 1/3 cup fat from the top of the broth and enough broth to blend until very smooth. The smoother, the better.

Portion out into small containers and freeze until needed.

This stuff is great. With the bones it it, it has enough calcium, phosphorus and other minerals to sustain a ferret for quite a while. I’ve had ferrets who ate nothing but my version of duck soup for over a year and did quite well.

The only caution is that if your ferret will be eating duck soup for a long time (like over a month) you REALLY must brush their teeth. That’s very, very, very important if you don’t want to spend lots of money at the vet’s office having teeth cleaned or pulled.

The answer to that question is, “It depends.”

Factors include:

1. Age when ferret was neutered
2. From mass-producer of ferrets (Marshall Farms/Path Valley/FFF) or privately bred
3. Current age of ferrets

If you’re talking about a ferret from a big breeder like Marshall Farms, etc., those ferrets were neutered and descented at 4 weeks of age. They’re basically sexless, except for a difference in size. Ferrets do have personalities, and obviously you have to take that into consideration, but in general any pairing will work if they’re young.

If you’re talking about a late-altered ferret (one that was neutered at 6 months or older) then in general a male/female combo works best.

Taken as a whole, a male/female combination is most likely to work, whatever the age. However, if the ferrets are under 6 months of age, they’re usually open to any age or sex.

What you need to watch out for are the females over 2 years of age. For whatever reason, females tend to get less and less willing to accept a friend as they get older. You’re most likely to succeed introducing a large male to a female over 2, but that’s not a certainty. They seem to get more territorial as they get older.

Of course, not ALL females are like that. If a ferret has been raised alone, you’re more likely to have problems. If it’s been raised in a large group, you’re less likely to have problems.

Once a ferret is 6-8 months of age, it’s basically an adult and has formed a strong personality. This is when you start to run into problems with one ferret not necessarily liking another.

The best way to find a friend for your ferret is to try it out with the new ferret. Obviously this isn’t always possible at a pet store, which is why I strongly suggest going to a shelter. That way you can try them out and you’ll know ahead of time if they will get along. You don’t want to get home and have World War III breaking out in your living room!

This is a question that I’ve been asked from time to time. The answer in a word: no.

Bonded ferrets can and do miss each other, get depressed, stop eating, get sick more easily, are under stress, start up old bad habits (biting, illegal poopage, digging, eating cloth, chewing on things) and generally are not happy campers.

If there is any choice at all, don’t separate bonded pairs.

If for some reason you just plain have to separate them (like when one dies), there are things you can do to make it a little easier.

1. Keep a blanket or bedding item with the smell of the other ferret. Obviously don’t wash it. Sometimes that helps with the transition.

2. Spend a lot of quality time with the ferret. Give it lots of treats, make sure it gets out to play WITH YOU a lot, give it lots of interesting and fun things to do, bring home boxes and bags with novel scents on them.

3. Consider trying out your ferret with another friend. If you can’t have another ferret, try a young cat or older kitten. Dogs sometimes work out well as long as the dog isn’t too rambunctious (no stepping on or mouthing of ferret).

4. Give it Rescue Remedy. This Bach Flower essence is designed to help ease stress in humans and animals. It works pretty well.

5. Talk to your ferret and explain why the other ferret is no longer there. You might feel like an idiot, but whether or not you believe the ferret understands you, if nothing else the ferret might get the emotional drift of what you’re saying. I happen to believe they understand a heck of a lot of what we’re saying.

6. Pay attention to how the ferret is acting. If it is acting sick, don’t assume it’s just depressed … take it to the vet and make sure it’s okay.

7. Make sure the ferret is eating. 12 hours without food is a very long time and not at all good. You might have to force feed the ferret for a time (look up “duck soup” and “force feeding ferret”). Make sure it is not dehydrated (pinch the fur on the back…if it does not fall right back down, the ferret is dehydrated).

8. Take the ferret places. If weather permits (not too hot!) take it for walks. Carry it in a pouch, in your coat or shirt, whatever works. Expose the ferret to new sights, sounds and smells. Give it a reason to live.

I hope you never have to be in the position of separating bonded pairs, but sometimes things happen. I hope these suggestions help.

Howie is in the hammock and Snowflake is asleep in the sack.

Howie and Snowflake are a set of buddies who had been purchased at Petco, returned for biting, and purchased again. They lived with that owner for about 4 years, but then the people had to move and couldn’t take the ferrets. It’s unfortunate, since they’re both nippy little things but their owner loved them.

Snowflake

Snowflake has awful teeth and sneezing fits. The vet has pulled a number of them, and this last one does seem to have helped cut down on the sneezing fits. We’re hoping that once we solve her health problems, she’ll stop biting people. She’s actually gotten a lot better than she used to be, so some of her nipping might have been due to pain.

Howie

Howie is nippy, too, but he’s never bitten quite as hard as Snowflake. He has bad teeth, too, and had some teeth pulled as well. He’s playful and happy, but tends to get nippy when he’s really excited or frightened. We’ve noticed that he hasn’t been very nippy lately, so I think he’s feeling pretty comfortable here.

Howie

I can’t stress too much how important it is to keep your ferret’s teeth clean. They will be healthier all-around and might even live longer. Just like in people, when the teeth become infected, bacteria gets into the bloodstream and can cause serious heart, kidney, liver and intestinal issues. All you need to do is brush their teeth daily. It only takes about 30 seconds and that’s sufficient to keep the tartar from building up.

Snowflake

My vet has said he thinks some of the IBD issues we’ve been having might have started with bad teeth.We’re hoping to get Snowflake healthy, as Howie seems to be in good condition, but it’s hard to find someone who would be interested in taking older, nippy ferrets. Poor things. Once again, they’re most likely going to live their entire lives here in the shelter, sharing attention with all the other ferrets and getting out to play when possible. It’s not such a bad life for the ferrets who end up adopted, since it’s just temporary, but for the ones who stay here forever, it’s rather sad. 

This is Cooper. He was found cowering in a maintenance shed on the California University campus in Washington, PA. We’re pretty sure someone let him loose on purpose, since when he first came, he bit like a little chocolate barracuda.

He was brought to us on 5/23/08. We guessed his birthday as 10/26/06. When he came here, he was about 1-1/2 years old.

Cooper played for hours, and did well in his lessons on how to play nicely with other ferrets. If his previous owners had spent more time with him and taught him not to bite hard when he was a baby, Cooper wouldn’t have needed these lessons. He seems to really like other ferrets, but sometimes comes on too strong.

Cooper also did well in his lessons on how to play nicely with humans. After a month or so, he no longer automatically bit when he was picked up. A large part of his rehabilitation was discovering that Ferretone is yummy. Finally, he progressed to where he would poke your ankle with his nose (and not his teeth) to get your attention.

After another month of two of shelter life, Cooper developed into a lively, handsome young ferret who was showing signs he could learn to be a good boy.

Finally, after another couple months, Cooper mellowed into a very nice young ferret. He hadn’t bitten anyone in a long time, and rather than beating up other ferrets, now it seemed he was the one being beaten up.  

In late May of 2008, he was adopted by a young man living in apartment in
Oakland. The young guy had a job, was going for an advanced degree, and was living in apartments where pets were allowed. He’d lived there for a while, and things seemed stable. 

Cooper’s new dad asked the shelter if we could babysit over the Christmas break. He didn’t want to leave his ferret, but his family couldn’t find reasonable passage on a flight to Texas. Cooper was happy enough to come to visit. We were happy to see how fat and fluffy he was. He’d become much more relaxed, and his new daddy spent lots of time playing with him. I spoke to the mother of the young man, and she told me how he was always telling her stories of funny things that Cooper did. She said Cooper was very much loved. 

Only a few days before the young man was due to come back from his break, the mother received an email from the landlord saying that pets were no longer allowed in the apartment complex. Apparently a few students with dogs had been irresponsible and now they’d ruined it for everyone. 

Cooper’s dad is heartbroken. The mom called me today and even she was in tears at the unfairness of it. She told me her son was sobbing. So now Cooper is homeless again. A young man’s heart is broken and rather than being the center of attention and getting out to play for hours every day, Cooper will once again have to share the attention with 35 other ferrets and only get out to play as the schedule permits.  

We try hard to get them out every day, but between my having a full time job and there being so many ferrets here, it’s not always possible. We play with the ferrets, they have lots of toys, but it’s just not the same as having your very own mommy or daddy.  

I hope Cooper knows he was not given up for doing anything wrong or that he wasn’t loved.

Meet Buddha. Buddha was severely neglected during the early part of his life. He is deaf, and deaf ferrets are easily frightened and quick to bite. The people who originally owned him physically abused him for biting, fed him inferior food and only when they felt like it, locked him in a cage and put him in the basement.  

A neighbor heard about his plight from some children, and went to see him. She said the cage had months’ worth of feces buildup, the ferret was severely malnourished, covered in fleas, filth and open sores. The children of the family would taunt him, poking at him with sticks through the bars of the cage. He never got out to play like a ferret should. 

As a result, he is very, very small. He’s the size of an infant female ferret. When the neighbor took him, he was completely impossible to touch or handle. He bit viciously. He was frightened out of his mind. She took him in and worked with him, fed him well, cleaned him up, and gave him room to play. Things were fine until a visiting relative’s child disobeyed and poked their finger into the cage at the ferret. As a result, Buddha attacked and bit the child severely. 

He was either going to be put to sleep, or “disappeared” to some safe place. She chose to bring him to my shelter. 

When he arrived, he was still showing the signs of his severe neglect. He was thin and had dry, brittle fur (a common sign of malnutrition). The woman had only had him a couple months, but had gotten him to the point where she could handle him (carefully), but he still bit frequently. If one reached into his cage, you were guaranteed a set of 20 “machine-gun” bites that would leave you well-punctured and bleeding profusely.  

When he was let out to play, everyone had to be very, very careful, or he’d attack and bite repeatedly, then run and hide, shivering with fear, in the nearest hidey-hole. He didn’t play with toys. He watched any humans carefully for quick moves. He was ever-diligent and always tense and frightened. 

We worked with him, fed him well, gave him treats (he really likes Ferretone!) and most of all, let him out to play every day. He would spend every moment that he was in his cage trying to get out. At first it was funny, until we realized he was expending more energy biting and shaking the bars of his cage than he was taking in. Finally, one of the volunteers discovered that completely covering his cage made him calm down. I suppose he felt more secure. 

Day by day, Buddha relaxed just a tiny little bit. The day I touched him while he was sleeping and he DIDN’T puncture my hand, we celebrated. The day he actually looked at the toy in front of him, we celebrated. He didn’t play with toys; he just walked around the room. He’d walk through the tubes, but wasn’t playing per se, just looking. It was almost like the toys were invisible to him. And always, always, he watched the people. He kept out of our way. 

The day Buddha played with a toy, we called the volunteers and we all got misty-eyed.  

The day we realized Buddha was following us around begging for treats, we celebrated, too.  

But the day Buddha actually gave kisses, well, that was truly a day to celebrate! We’d been kissing him every time we took him out of the cage before putting him down to play. He came to accept it, and would even extend his little nose. But just a couple weeks ago, he kissed us back! 

The little champagne blaze barracuda had become a loving little ferret! Now he plays with several toys, and seems to add a new one every week or so. He follows us around and will stand up, putting his foot on our leg, begging for some Ferretone or an N-Bone or a Dooker Delight. When we walk into the room, he comes to greet us, not running and hiding like he used to. 

He’s a happy boy, who “talks” almost constantly (dooking) as he explores his world. He’s terrified of other ferrets and viciously attacks, but we tell him it’s okay, and that he doesn’t have to like other ferrets. 

Buddha is finally ready for a real home of his own where he will be hugged and kissed and loved and played with. It’s best that it be a home with no children and adults experienced with ferrets, but he’s been “stranger-tested” and he did just fine. We took him to our club picnic and he was handled and walked by a number of people. He loved the grass! He rolled and dooked and danced in it. He stared wide-eyed at all the people and the sunlight and all the sights to be seen. Most of all, he never once bit.  

Buddha is still a tad neurotic…if his cage isn’t covered, he will bite at the bars of his cage. He plays for hours and hours and hours. We think he’s making up for that year or so he was stuck in a small cage in a dark, boring basement. He will occasionally nip an ankle if you don’t pay attention to him, and he’s been known to nip fingers if you dangle them in front of his face. But Buddha is ready to finish flowering into a wonderful companion for someone ready to handle him gently and with love. Buddha is definitely our biggest success.