Q: "What do you think are the top problems in ferrets?  Can you tell them
without writing a book?"
 
A: How about I write a book about the Top Ten Problems with Ferret
Owners?  You can be chapter 1 (HA!  Gotcha!) ;-p
 
This is my list.  Your list may be different in any number of ways.  The
numbers mean nothing; these are randomly listed because I think all ten
are problems of about equal nature.
 
01. Poor Cage Design: Current American-style cages have a fairly direct
ancestry to the laboratory cage.  This means they are relatively easy to
clean and disinfect, good for observing the occupant, and durable.  This
does not mean it is well designed for the ferret.  Most cages not have a
nest box (which should be a requirement for ALL ferret cages), they are
open on all sides, they do not allow for strenuous exercise (running,
digging, climbing), they do not allow significant vertical movement
(climbing), cage flooring is hard on ferret feet, and in some instances
the floors are spaced too far apart.
 
02. Lack of Strenuous Exercise: Caging and lack of outdoor activities
(running, climbing, jumping, digging) makes ferret muscles weak and ill
toned.  Sexual neutering exacerbates this problem, which ultimately makes
the muscles smaller and weaker.
 
03. Lack of Privacy (Visual Security): Ferrets are polecats, and
polecats evolved in an environment containing aerial and terrestrial
predators.  Both polecats and ferrets have an instinct to hide
themselves, but in American-style cages, they are open to view from all
directions.  While it appears ferrets can adapt to such conditions, it
is part of a suit of problems that increase chronic cage stress.
 
04. Lack of Enrichment: A cage should not be defined by its size, but by
the environment that it provides to the ferret.  Health problems, lack of
privacy, overcrowding, lack of nest boxes, sterile environments, lack of
exercise, and confinement ALL contribute to cage stress.  Initiating an
enrichment program can go a long way to reducing or eliminating this
problem.
 
05. Overcrowding: There are two types of overcrowding: too many ferrets
in a given space, and too many ferret cages in a given space.  Ferrets
are domesticated polecats, and domestication did not create a new
behavior; rather a combination of juvenilization and sexual neutering
helps ferrets extend their juvenile litter behaviors into adulthood.
This is a serious problem that needs serious research.
 
06. Lack of Nest Boxes: Hammocks are cute, but ferrets really, really,
really, really want to sleep in a dark, warm, enclosed and secluded
area.  It is ok if you want them to sleep inside your chest of drawers,
mattress, chair, and sofa, under your hutch and shelves, or other places
that approximate a nesting box, OR you can give them the nest box they
crave and make everyone happy.
 
07. Early Neutering: We have all learned of the links between early
neutering and adrenal disease.  What I am learning about early neutering
and skeletal changes will knock you socks off once I get down to writing
my preliminary report.  It is pretty nasty.
 
08. Periodontal Disease: I've measured and studied more than 800 ferret,
black-footed ferret, and polecat skeletons and teeth, and have done
necropsies on more than 400 of them.  I've been driving all over the
country showing the photos, and they will knock you on your butt.
Periodontal disease is rampant in ferrets, and regardless of verbal
statements by some veterinary professionals that it isn't a worry, it
really is, as can anyone who has seen the evidence can testify.  This
HAS to be addressed in the ferret community.
 
09. Kibble too Abrasive on Teeth: The same as above, except the problem
is that kibble is so hard that ferret teeth grind down 3-5 times faster
than seen in animals (wild or domestic) consuming a wild diet.  This,
combined with No.  8, drives an astounding rate of tooth loss and dental
abscesses.  Come to one of my talks and I'll prove it to you!
 
10. Unhealthy Carbohydrate Load: There is far more here than just the
link between insulinoma and the consumption of highly processed, cooked
carbohydrates.  The presence of carbohydrates makes it hard for ferrets
to utilize proteins, changes the ecology of the bowel along with the
bacterial flora, can contribute to kidney and bladder stones in some
cases, and probably helps promote periodontal disease.  And I am just
getting started; if this was a post on carbohydrates, I could write a
dozen of them why carbs are a really bad thing to feed a ferret.
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
 
"Ballads, Ballads!  fine new ballads: Heare for your loue, and buy for
your money.  A delicate ballad of the Ferret and the Coney.  A
preseruative again' the Punques euill.  Another of Goose-greene-starch,
and the Godly garters.  The Fairing of good councell, of an ell and three
quarters.  What is it you buy?  The Wind-mill blowne downe by the witches
fart!  Or Saint George, that O!  did breake the Dragons heart!
~Ben Johson 1614 Bartholomew Fair
[Posted in FML issue 4908]