Comments on the Most Common Ferret Questions

By Eric Shefferman

  The last newsletter I wrote generated the MOST responses I think of any of the newsletters we've done so far (and we've done quite a few).

  You can read that newsletter here:

The Most Common Ferret Questions
http://www.ferretnews.com/articles/most-common-ferret-questions-ferret-faq.html

Robin wrote:
Geez, That's kind of harsh for a general newsletter. I know there is no way to know which idiots don't take the ferrets to the vet, but some of us have taken 2nd mortgages for vet bills. I wrote one time to you only as a last ditch effort, I had a team of ferret doctors trying to save my little man, but alas, all the treatment in the world for an unknown ferret illness couldn't save him. So I figured it couldn't hurt to ask knowledgeable ferret owners. Love all of your newsletters and mags!

I respond:

  You know that that newsletter does not apply to you -- you are already doing the right things for your ferrets!

  I can fully understand trying to contact everyone you can for help with saving your ferret from some unknown illness.

  You were doing ALL YOU COULD to try to help your ferret. You contacted veterinarians AND anyone else you could. That is VERY DIFFERENT from many of the e-mails we usually receive.

  I would point out that for medical issues it is far more efficient for veterinarians to contact other veterinarians. They can thus bypass the inaccuracies introduced by us non-professional folks (even unintentional inaccuracies that are the result of not using medical terms precisely, etc.).

  However, once your veterinarian has exhausted all of his or her resources, I'd say it doesn't hurt to ask around in general -- but you shouldn't have high expectations for useful medical information from non-veterinarians.

  The problem that I see isn't so much from people who do what Robin stated above, so much as from people like the one who sent the following email to us:

Michael wrote:
I have had two pairs of ferrets over the years. In both pairs the female has gone bald, yet I am unable to find anything on the subject. Any help would be appreciated by myself and Isabella.

  First of all, as someone who has been professionally writing about ferrets since 1994 and reading about ferrets even before that: ferret hair loss due to adrenal disease has to be one of the MOST commonly discussed ferret medical problems in the world.

  Searching for "ferret hair loss" in nearly any search engine will bring you to several articles that will discuss adrenal disease and its treatment in varying levels of detail. Since Michael was able to find our web site, I would think he ought to be able to find others as well.

  Our own FerretNews site has several articles about adrenal disease. This one is particularly informative:

http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-59.html

However, you can look in our Topical Index
http://www.ferretnews.com/topicalindex.html

and Newsletter Archives
http://www.ferretnews.com/archives.html

and find several more articles on both adrenal disease and seasonal hair loss (so that you can learn the difference).

  However, the biggest problem I have with Michael's email is that there is NO MENTION OF WHAT A VETERINARIAN THINKS ABOUT THE HAIR LOSS.

  Michael states that this has occurred in two pairs of ferrets "over the years" -- so did ANY veterinarian ever look at any of these ferrets over the years?

  As a writer, sight unseen I can GUESS that the ferrets MIGHT have adrenal disease, however a veterinarian doing an in-person exam might discover:

1. The hair loss is due to malnutrition or a food allergy.
2. The hair loss is due to some skin condition (such as mange).
3. The hair loss is due to some kind of stress in the ferret's life or living situation.
4. The hair loss is due to some form of poisoning (maybe the smaller girl ferrets are getting into some cache of poison that the boy ferrets are too large to access -- this could even be some old rat poison left by a previous occupant of the home, who knows?).

  The FIRST thing that should be done for something that doesn't look right (and a bald animal doesn't look right!) is to TAKE THE ANIMAL TO A VETERINARIAN.

And that is the point of my article
The Most Common Ferret Questions
http://www.ferretnews.com/articles/most-common-ferret-questions-ferret-faq.html

  If you find the tone of that article harsh, it is a harshness that comes from years of getting questions just like the one above. Or like this one:

Heathurr wrote:
I have a question about my ferret. He is a black eyed white, and he turned 1 year in October...just recently...a bump started growing on his head...and it keeps getting bigger, and I think it hurts him...but I'm not sure. It looks like a bubble, its a little red around...I'm wondering what this might be? I'm afraid it might be a tumor...

All I can say is, go here and read this:
The Most Common Ferret Questions
http://www.ferretnews.com/articles/most-common-ferret-questions-ferret-faq.html

  There is nothing that will transpire over email that will magically solve this problem -- whether it is a pimple or a tumor.

  The FIRST thing that should be done for something that doesn't look right (and an animal with a possibly painful red bump on his head doesn't look right!) is to TAKE THE ANIMAL TO A VETERINARIAN.

  Don't let your fear that it might be something bad cause you to delay getting treatment. Delaying will only make things WORSE.

Melissa wrote:

Hi.
It sounds like you are exasperated with everyone & having a bad time right now.

In defense though of people with questions it took me four yrs and 3 vets before we finally figured out our ferret Dave was food allergic to brewers yeast & brewers rice and a ferret shelter volunteer was the person who first suggested this. Dave now eats NutroMax kitten food which has the least amount of these items and has normal poops.

  Yes. Exasperated is a nice word for it. There is a HUGE difference between your story of it taking years and multiple consultations with vets and shelter operators to find out what was ailing your ferret and the stories of people who are not taking action.

Debbie wrote:
Unfortunately it is not just ferrets that are suffering because their owners are not responsible.

It seems that lately I have come across too many pet owners that feel that pets are at the "lower end of the food chain" therefore do not deserve to be properly cared for - IT MAKES ME SICK!

I - like you feel that if you choose to take on a pet - then you choose to accept the responsibility that goes with that pet and that includes a good loving home with lots of love and attention - good quality food - and regular trips to the vet!

Sorry - I just had to get up on the soapbox with you - I enjoy your newsletter.

Keep the faith - know that there are others out there like you who love their pets - ferrets especially.

And you are appreciated for your hard work in helping people like me understand ferrets and grow to love them.

  You say it very well.

  As I said here:
The Most Common Ferret Questions
http://www.ferretnews.com/articles/most-common-ferret-questions-ferret-faq.html

  Your ferret didn't ask to become your pet. You chose your ferret. You are responsible for caring for your ferret. That's the way having a pet works.

Robin wrote:
Boy, o' boy! I was reading this letter and when I came to the question part and I was answering them myself, I was thinking "What dummies would be sending questions to someone, even if they do know a lot about ferrets, instead of immediately calling a ferret vet!" I guess it just goes to prove why you find all the warnings on labels of things you buy, because some idiot did it! Maybe you should recommend the book Ferrets for Dummies by Kim Schilling to these ding-o-lings too! Would these same people ask someone questions like these if it were a child? I hope not, that is a very scary concept! These are people who might be well meaning and care about their little fur kids, but they don't have any common sense! I guess the word really needs to get out about caring for a ferret! Keep up the great work!

Sincerely, Robin
A fuzzy caretaker since April of 2004, and now of 4 fur kids!!!!!!!!!!!

  I really don't understand what some of these people are thinking.

  If a person had a huge painful bump on their head, wouldn't they go to a doctor? So why wouldn't they take their animal to a doctor for the same thing?

  As far as your point about taking care of a child is concerned, I think that children have much better protection against abuse and neglect than animals do.

  For ordering information for Ferrets for Dummies or Mary's book The Ferret: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet please see this page:
http://www.ferretnews.com/ferret_calendar_
ferret_book.html

Matthew wrote:
I quite agree with you that all of those questions cannot be answered by anyone because there is only one answer GO TO A VET.

However......
I find the newsletter very rude, as if you are blaming ALL ferret owners to be like this.
I am a responsible ferret owner. :)

  I am not blaming ALL ferret owners or saying that all ferret owners are irresponsible.

  I am trying to point out to the people who would ask questions like this that they are WASTING TIME and possibly RISKING THEIR FERRET'S LIFE by not taking the action of BRINGING THEIR FERRET TO A VET.

  FerretNews now mails out to almost 6,000 readers. Plus all the other people who just read it on the website.

  So I hope I inspired a lot of people to make a veterinary appointment for their ferret and that there are a lot of ferrets who are now receiving proper medical attention who otherwise would be still suffering.

Molly wrote:
I'm involved with a ferret rescue/shelter and I know how frustrating people can be. We try to educate potential owners about the time and money that cute little fuzzball is going take and to let them know that a ferret is not like a gerbil, etc., but that it is a high maintenance pet. A truly wonderful pet, but high maintenance! Sometimes the message gets through to them and sometimes the shelter finds wonderful new homes for them with caring, responsible owners (wish it happened more often).

Many dooks and thanks to you both for the great work you did -- it was truly appreciated.

  I think ALL pets are high maintenance in the sense that you are completely responsible for the well-being of another living creature.

  Ferrets have a combination of factors that makes them prone to be more difficult than other pets:

1. They're so cute and small that people are inclined to own a bunch of them.
2. They have a shorter typical lifespan - which means you are up against life & death problems a lot sooner with a ferret than with a cat or dog.
3. They are smaller than cats & dogs and they have very fast metabolisms - which means that medical problems can become serious quicker.
4. They are less common than cats & dogs and their uniqueness can make medical care for them a lot more expensive than it would be for a cat or dog with a similar condition.

You can read more about my thoughts on this here:
Multiple Ferret Households and Ferret Medical Care Expenses
http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-54.html

Randy wrote:
Dear fussy lovers,
I hope all take your great advice and get their little fussys checked out by a known fussy vet as I have had one that claims they know about ferrets and don't really have a clue. All it takes is a couple of simple questions that you know the answers to and you will know if that vet knows anything about ferrets. Just be aware of your vet's capabilities.

   Some other suggested reading for today:

Could Your Ferret Be Sick?
http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-89.html

Help Your Ferret Recover From Surgery
http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-84.html

Did You Know That... Ferrets Need Medical Attention Fast
http://www.ferretnews.com/issues/ferret-news-62.html

  Help spread the word about FerretNews.com. Please tell your friends about the site and put links to FerretNews.com on your ferret web sites.

  We ask that you do not copy our articles -- but please feel free to put up links to any of the articles that you think would be useful to your web site's visitors.

- Eric