We have a total of 7 fuzzies: 5 are our own and 2 recent adoptees.  The
adoptees are MF ferrets as well as our oldest.  The other pairs came from a
farm in Ohio-two of whom are deaf.  Apparently, white animals (of all breeds
and not including albinos) have a tendency to be born deaf.  Also, ferrets
who have a blaze on their forehead and white knees tend to also be born
deaf-a genetic disorder called Waddenberg Syndrome (sp?).  We happened to
have picked out one of each!  Alaska, a dark-eyed white, and Haley, a
"badger shetland"-the blaze (named for Haley's Comet).  Both are females and
are one year apart in age...Alaska being the older.  She is also exhibiting
signs of being the alpha female and tries with extreme vigor to kill Haley
and the 2 new adoptees.  We obviously have an attitude problem here, but
Alaska is amazingly sweet with people!  Needless to say, we have Alaska away
from these other fuzzies.  Whenever we were trying to get Alaska and Haley
together, and they would fight, they would both scream as loud as possible
at each other mostly because they couldn't hear themselves!
 
There were several different things that clued us into figuring out if they
were deaf.  The first being that whenever we walked into a room with
sleeping ferrets, all the hearing ones would wake up...the deaf ones
didn't...they just kept on snoozing!  Our next clue was that a
normal-hearing ferret would hear us coming and either run for their favorite
cover or come to greet us...but Alaska would often get frightened.  Since we
appeared out of the blue, she'd let out a deafening scream and scamper away
with a bottle-brush tail!  Before she was descented, she'd let out a stink
too...yech!  Next was the vacuum cleaner.  Hearing ferrets would run and
hide from it and the deaf ones went right up to it wondering what was making
all that cool vibration!  I then took one of Alaska's favorite toys, a cat
toy that had a bell on the end of it.  It was a favorite because she could
sink her teeth into it...not because of the bell.  Every time I held it
above her head, without her seeing it, I'd jingle the bell...not response.
Then I'd put it in front of her face and she'd lunge at it and drag it under
the bed.  Big Clue To The Humans!  We then got a little bolder and clapped
our hands near her head and she didn't even notice.  Same basic diagnosis
with Haley.
 
As for how to deal with the deafness...Don't stop talking to them!  They do
seem to recognize vibrations if they are near your throat.  They rely on
their other senses of sight, small and touch.  When all the other ferrets
are up and out for playtime, we often have to physically wake these two up.
Both of ours love to be held (more so than the other squirmers who seem to
think that we're just ladders to get onto counters)...I think this brings a
sense of security to them.  Or to get their attention when they are playing,
just wave your hands around at about their level-they really like chasing
after anything moving.  If they are on a bed or couch, you can depress the
mattress and that lets them know you're around.  You can also blow on their
fur to get their attention.  They sleep more soundly than the others, but
can easily be frightened if they aren't expecting to see you coming.  One
idea is to place their food&water dishes in a location where they can see
you coming when they are eating.  It's harder to scold a deaf ferret if they
do something wrong (pooping in the middle of the kitchen floor is one
instance!)--Still haven't figured out how to do this one!  Any suggestions
out there?  But they still love getting their faces and ears rubbed, and
don't forget about that awful ear cleaning!
 
We've had Alaska for 2 years now and looking back, it's almost a blessing
having deaf ferrets!  They don't hear you sneak in and out of rooms.  Most
importantly, don't treat them any differently than you would the others.
It's best if you have a regular schedule that everyone can get on to...that
way, they tend to wake up with the other ferrets easier and can then have
the same amount of playtime!  It's been really rewarding working with these
two.  But as always, you live with them, learn from them, and most
importantly, love them!
 
Audrey & Carl,
Gambit, Alaska, DaVinci, Haley, Duncan, Nicole and Little Guy (our two new
additions)
And we can't forget fur-angels Skeeter, Calvin and Kaytee!
[Posted in FML issue 2379]