Ferret News
Pet Ferret Care Tips
and Information
By Mary R. Shefferman & Eric Shefferman - along with Gabby, the ferret
www.ferretnews.com

Ferret News #52: Living With a Blind Ferret
February 9, 2004

by Mary R. Shefferman and Eric Shefferman
along with Gabrielle (the lone ferret)

contact: marymodernferret.com

Hello Ferret Friends,

  Welcome to a new Ferret News newsletter. We touch on some important (some sad) topics in this first newsletter of February 2004.

In This Newsletter:
> Goodbye to a Dear Friend
> Living With a Blind Ferret
> Back-Issue Blow-Out
 

Goodbye Sweet Trixie

  As you may notice on the masthead at the top of this newsletter, we are down to having only one ferret: Gabby. Last Wednesday, we decided to help our 7+-year-old Trixie to cross the Rainbow Bridge. She had only one kidney and it was failing fairly quickly. She was irritated by nearly everything (eating, drinking, walking, getting to the litterbox). We decided that her quality of life was just not enough. So Tuesday we spent the day holding her and telling her how much we love her. We didn't force her to eat any more than she wanted to eat. We gave her fluids (because they helped keep her more comfortable). In short, we made her last day a day of calm and love.

  At the vet's we stayed with Trixie until she was gone, gently stroking her little head. She went very peacefully. Sometimes the most wonderful gift you can give a wonderful companion is the gift of release from pain and suffering.

  We miss our little cinnamon girl, but we know she's back in full health and playing with all of her friends who went before her. She's once again Trixie - Queen of the Tubes.

Rest in peace, little Trix.

--Mary & Eric & Gabby, the lone ferret

Living With a Blind Ferret
By Mary R. Shefferman

  Ferrets do not have the best eyesight. Even when their eyes are perfectly healthy, they don’t see very far. But ferrets don’t rely on their eyesight the way we humans do. They gather most of the information about their environment through their sense of smell. Think about it: Ferrets have long pointy heads, with ample space allocated to the olfactory sense.

  This reliance of the sense of smell makes blindness in ferrets much less of a problem than it is in humans or in other companion animals. A blind ferret can make his way around your home fairly well. He can find the litter box (some of our top litter-box-hitters were blind!), his food, and just about anything he’s seeking.

  We’ve had a few ferrets go blind as they got older. Our first ferret, Sabrina, became blind at about 5 or 6 years old. Aside from the occasional bonk into a piece of furniture and her eventual failure to recognize the sight of a Ferretone bottle, Sabrina behaved much like any of our other ferrets. Trixie also  went blind about a year or so ago, but she got around all right. She found whatever she  was looking for -- be it food, water, sleep spot, or litter box. We did notice her sniffing at things more intently, but not much else was different from when she had her sight.

  Gabby has never seen well, and she has lost more and more visual acuity as she has gotten older. Because Gabby is also partially deaf, losing more of what little sight she had seems to leave her at a bit more of a disadvantage than her sightless but hearing friends. Still, she manages to come for treats and locate everything she needs.

  Aside from the “walking into things” sign of blindness, you may notice your ferret seems to have a difficult time pinpointing the source of sounds. All of our blind ferrets have sniffed at the air and turned in several different directions, sometimes never figuring out where the person calling her was. However, the ferrets all knew where we usually dole out treats, so they would go to that spot when they heard us calling their names or saying, “Treat! Treat!”

  To minimize any danger to a blind ferret, you should keep an eye on her when she’s out playing. Gabby can get up on the bed, but hopping down can be dangerous. We put a big throw pillow on the floor as a “landing pad” for her to jump onto when getting off the bed. It may take a blind ferret a few tries before she learns exactly where the landing pad is, so supervision is very important. You can place landing pads next to various pieces of furniture your ferrets get onto -- chairs, couches, or beds. You should also be extra careful watching out for a blind ferret, since he can’t watch out for you.

  Once a blind ferret learns “the lay of the land” he usually gets around just fine -- even if you move around his toys and tubes or the furniture. Of course, if you notice your ferret having difficulty seeing, you should bring it to the attention of your veterinarian. But after an adjustment period, there’s no reason a blind ferret cannot have a good quality of life.

Questions or Comments About Blind Ferrets? Send an e-mail!
marymodernferret.com

  Stay tuned for more. You can always get updates by reading my blog (a blog is an online journal). I keep it sporadically and it usually runs to the more personal stuff. But you might like it. It's at

http://www.modernferretblog.com/mary

  Watch this space for new Newsletters. Watch your e-mail for notices telling you when the new Newsletter is available here at FerretNews.com!

  Happy Ferreting!

--Mary, Eric, and Gabby

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