This is Susie Lee with The Ferret & Dove Sanctuary, Inc.

I don't think your ferret's food digging is necessarily because she's
deaf as because she's young and energetic and it's just something to
do because she can.

Put her kibbled food in the kind of dish that's really hard to dig and
play around in and give her something else to dig around in.

For the youthful food-diggers we keep bird-feeder bowls that are almost
kidney-shaped "hard" plastic that a hamster or guinea pig cannot bite
into, and can be fastened onto the cage with its own plastic bolt and
screwing-on nut.

For something else to dig around in, in the cage let her have extra
newspaper that she'll happily shred up into her very own ferrety nest
(some of the older ferrets around here still do that) and replace it
every day so it will be like a recurring game they can play with
harmlessly. Those who are kibble-diggers will usually also dig at and
completely throw out any clay or clay-like litter for their corner
pans, so if you don't want the corner-pan litter everywhere, just push
some more newspaper into the corner pans. We've gotten to the point
where about half the ferrets' "litter" pans are now all papered with
the newspaper. Sure is easier and less expensive to replace, daily.

[Posted in FML 5972]