Emily Huff: What are your tips for keeping a pet ferret as healthy as possible?
I am to be getting a pet ferret soon and I understand that they are prone to illness and unfortunately terminal disease. So I was wondering some things you can do to keep a ferret as healthy as possible, and anything that may prevent sickness. Also, do you recommend buying from a pet store or home breeder? Do home breeders usually spay/neuter, and get the shots for the ferret babies?
Be as detailed as possible! I know they are a difficult pet to take care of and I want to be prepared.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Brianna!
Id recommend getting from a breeder.
They have better blood lines and you can actually tract their history down to know what diseases they may carry.
But its way easier to get from a pet store and its cheaper.
Usually breeders ferrets aren’t descended,neutered,or have their shots so you have to pay for all of that.
Most pet stores carry marshall ferrets which are healthy ferrets also.
(i have one ferret from a breeder and 2 marshall ferrets)
I would HIGHLY recommend switching them to a raw/whole prey diet.
Its way healthier than store bought kibble no matter how good people tell you the kibble is-it wont compare to raw feeding. Raw feeding prevents MANY diseases,keeps teeth cleaner,makes their coat all shiny, and builds muscle instead of fat. If you are interested in feeding your ferret raw you can e-mail me and i can give you TONS of info about it and help you switch your ferret to it.([email protected]).
Raw/whole foods diet is the way to go :]
Theres so much rubbish in commercial pet foods and can be really bad for ferrets.
Look on the internet or talk to Brianna!! for details on transitioning your ferret because it can prove very hard. Ferrets imprint on their food but if its a baby there should be no problem. Just feed it as much of a variety of foods as possible to stop them being picky and make sure the raw diet is balanced!
My ferret won’t eat raw food to save her life, she’s really picky, I’m still going to try though, it will improve her health significantly.
Raw foods diet can also be quite expensive :/
I say buy from a breeder. I’ve found all small animal breeders charge less unless they are show quality pets, i guess the equivalent is working ferrets. It’s because they can only keep them for a short amount of time due to space and money so sell them cheaper.
My mouse breeder originally said 2 for £10 when we got there she practically gave us the whole lot for free.
Well, yes, the major players are:
Adrenal Disease – this is not really “terminal” unless you don’t get surgery. If you get surgery for your ferret, he can live to a ripe old age. You cannot do much to prevent it as in some ferrets it’s environmental, some probably are predisposed – make sure your ferret has at least 10 hours a day in total darkness. That means cover up any electric lights (the green, red, or orange electronic lights, or alarm clock lights). The 10 hours will help their hormone levels think it’s winter.
Insulinoma – this disease is terminal. You may have surgery, but it is a temporary fix. Only feed meat based treats. Make sure you have a blood glucose check at the vet every 6 months, and if you have the money, every three months. This will see if you have a problem with your ferret becoming insulinomic. If so, you can start on medicines to control the symptoms. If you don’t catch it in time, your ferret could crash, and go into a coma. There are three medicines you can give a ferret to deal with this disease, and they are prednisilone, prednisone, and if those wear off, you can use diazoxide.
The third, unpreventable disease is lymphoma. Just hold your ferret every day and feel around for lumps and bumps. Under the armpits, too! If you catch lymphoma in time, you can get the lump removed before it has a huge blood supply growing into it. You may also try chemotherapy with your vet if the ferret is a good candidate for it, called Tuft’s protocol.
There are other diseases, of course, like ADV, Aleutians Disease. This is a contagious disease. Keep your ferrets indoors, limit contact with any other animals, as it can be spread by skunks, and other animals. There is no cure or vaccine for ADV yet.
Rabies – the same treatment as ADV, except get a yearly rabies vaccine. We stop vaccinating after age 3 for rabies due to the vaccine reactions ferrets can have.
Distemper – the same treatment, no outside play and no contact with other ferrets, dogs, or cats. Yearly or bi-annual distemper shots.
To keep your ferrets from getting any outdoors diseases, take off your shoes while in the house, and don’t allow ferrets to play in or with your shoes or anything that has been outside. Some of the diseases can be carried indoors on your shoes, like ADV, but some like rabies are spread through bites and saliva.
Buying from a petstore or a breeder just depends on who really bred the ferret. All ferret breeders nowawdays are breeding pretty well mannered yet somewhat hyper kits, but they mellow out after about 8 months old. If you do buy from a breeder, make sure the breeder has a list of customers you can contact and get references from, and ask them if they are happy with their ferrets. If they only give you a few, or just don’t give you any numbers to call, beware. Sometimes breeders breed bad ferrets who have heart problems or other issues.
Home breeders generally spay and neuter at 6 months to a year old. So you will probably have to do it yourself at your vet if you get one from a breeder. You will have to, because a male ferret can become testy, and a female ferret can become very ill if not spayed.
Even if you never get the distemper or rabies shots again for your ferret, the first year IS very critical. You must get these shots or your ferret will probably get distemper at some point in its life. The ferret will need four shots in its first year – one rabies at 6 months, and three distemper shots.
After the distemper shots, your ferret will be around 90% to 99% covered for distemper. Remember, vaccines only raise resistance to a disease, and each animal has a different level. The only way to check if they are covered is by taking some blood, called a titer, and checking it at a lab. Most of us just give the shots and hope they’re covered.
Ferrets are not really difficult, but they are “different” and require a lot of time and energy to take care of. The main problem is that they are not usually always 100% reliable when it comes to the litterbox, and they can get into everything.
Another main health problem will be keeping them away from small rubber, foam, or well, anything! they can fit in their mouths. Destroying ferret safe toys can lead to a blockage inside their stomach or intestines. Keep toys that cannot be chewed apart, no plastic noses or eyes, no cloth or tails on the toys. Put all toys away at the end of the playtime and don’t allow anything but the red Kong toys in the cage. When ferrets are in their cage they can destroy (and eat) a lot of different toys that they normally wouldn’t bother with because they’re bored.
Leave a Reply