Medicating your ferret

So, bad news: your ferret is sick and you have to give them some medication. Now what? How on earth do you get these stubborn, wiggly, little animals to take their medicine? Turns out, there are tricks to help you get the meds down their throats, and help them get better!

Tips for liquid medication

• The easiest method is to scruff the ferret and squirt the medication down their throats when they yawn.

• If your ferret is particularly stubborn, he or she may refuse to yawn. If this happens, then scruff you ferret and gently separate their lips with the syringe near their back teeth. You will notice that there are a few small gaps between the top and bottom teeth in this area. Slowly begin squishing the liquid into the gap. The ferret will inevitably gag (eww- its tastes gross) and this will give you your in - you now have an open mouth and can get more medication down their throat.

• Be prepared - often ferrets do not like the taste of their medicine and will do their best to spit it out all over you. You would be amazed at the range that they can get. To prevent some spit up, I often hold the syringe in the mouth for a few seconds after giving the ferret the last of the medication. This can prevent your ferret from spitting all the medication that you have just given them back out.

• Some ferrets will take liquid medicine on their own without a fight. This is not common, however, such behaviour can be encouraged by mixing the medication (depending on the animal's problem and the type of medication) with a small amount of berry flavoured gatorade or juice. Be sure to consult with your vet before attempting to use this approach.

Tips for pills - yes it is possible to give your ferret pills!!!

• once the pills are cut to the appropriate size (dosage), wet a spoon. Crush the pill with the back of another spoon (the crushed pill powder will stick to the wet spoon) and add ferretone to the pill powder. Mix the ferretone and powder and give to your ferret. If he or she loves ferretone, he or she will most likely think that you are giving them a treat and not notice the medication. If your ferret does not like ferretone, the crushed pill technique can also be applied to duck soup, cream, and any other liquid treat that your ferret loves. Be sure that the animal eats every last drop of their 'treat' if you use this method.

• Some medications are only available in pill form and are too bitter to mask using ferretone or similar treats. These pills should be crushed into a fine powder, mixed with a bit of water (or juice to sweeten - again, consult your vet before mixing medication with anything) and given in the same manner that one would give liquid medication.

More ferret toy ideas

A while ago, we blogged about inexpensive ways to create entertaining toys for your ferrets (to view the blog, click here). We have since come up with a few more ideas on how to create 'new' toys for your pet.

1) Long, low kitty litters (or similar) filled with water. Many ferrets LOVE to play with water! To make this toy more entertaining, add some of their favourite toys and watch them bob for their toys! This is also a superb summer toy for those hot days.

2) take a torn up dryer tube (this often happens once the tubes have been well played in by the ferrets), using wire cutters and duct tape, cut the tube into large pieces, tape off any sharp edges and reassemble the tube into new shapes


3) Wrap a dryer tube or 20 ft clear ferret play tunnel around an old cat tree, coffee table legs, chair or similar item to create a fun, inexpensive 'turbo tunnel' for the ferrets to run through.

4) Hollow plastic Easter eggs filled with beans, rice, dry noodles, bells or other noise-making items and taped shut, or simply left empty. Many ferrets love pushing these around with their noses, dragging them under their tummies and stashing them around the house.

5) Golf balls. They make a lot of noise when rolled across a hard floor, and this will make most ferrets do a happy dance. Many ferrets will happily roll these balls around and make a racket!

6) A cup or bowl filled with noise-making jingle cat toys or filled Easter eggs. Ferrets will go crazy when they up end the bowl and knock its contents all over the floor (and you know that they will!)

Know your ferret - basic personality types

Adapted from Ferrets USA magazine v15, 2010 (Annual) description of ferret personality types.

This is for owners to determine what type of ferret they own, and what type of ferret personality would be compatible with their existing ferret(s).

Ferrets USA divided ferret personalities into 4 basic types. I have added my two cents to this, but overall, it is very much a summary of their descriptions.

1) THE BULLY. Most ferret groups have one, or even two of these. This ferret is your dominant ferret or ferrets (some groups have both a male and female bully). Bullies are generally very stubborn and clever. If the bully figures something out - how to get into a plant, room, couch etc. it will NEVER forget. When a bully makes a mess, it knows that what it did was wrong, but did it anyways. Bully ferrets are not always immediately obvious - you may not be aware that your ferret is a bully until it is introduced to other ferrets. Sometimes a bully will accept all existing pets in your home at the time that they are introduced and begin bullying any pets that you try to introduce at a later date. Bullies will do the bulk of the scruffing and determine whether or not any new ferrets can join the business, and, if they decide that a certain ferret should not be a part of their group, they will continue to harass the other ferret. Bullies are best matched with wired weasels and happy go lucky ferrets. Love bugs can get along with bullies so long as the bully is introduced after the love bug and is not too intent on beating him or her up.2) WIRED WEASEL. This is the extremely hyper ferret - the super ADHD ferret. Bouncing off of walls and getting into everything. Wired weasels will continuously show you how poorly your house is ferret proofed. If a wired weasel makes a mess, you can bet that they have no idea that what they've done is in any way wrong, or even how that cup ended up on the floor in pieces. When wired weasels are caged too much, they become bored, frustrated and destructive. Wired weasels are not good matches for love bugs or for families with older ferrets. These ferrets can be overwhelming for first time owners.Though most babies start out, to some degree, as wired weasels, not all stay this way. Wired weasels are just as hyper and trouble-causing when they are kits as when they are adults.









3) HAPPY GO LUCKY FERRETS. The happiest ferrets. These guys love everybody and don't seem to mind or notice if they are being picked on by a bully or a wired weasel. Not easily overwhelmed, these ferrets take everything in stride, are cheerful and playful, and are fine for first time owners. This personality type is described by some as the 'perfect ferret'; they even get along well with love bugs!

4) LOVE BUGS. These are the people pleasers. Love bugs LOVE to snooze on laps and cuddle. They are fine for single ferret homes and first time owners, but can be a bit demanding for your time. Love bugs can be easily overwhelmed by wired weasels and bullies.
These personality types can overlap - some ferrets are both wired and bullies, some are love bugs and happy go lucky. Personality types can even change a little over time, however, if you notice a dramatic personality shift such as your wired weasel morphing into a cuddle bug overnight, a trip to the vet to ensure that your ferret is not sick is a must.

** if your notice that your bully, when he or she becomes old, starts getting picked on, resist the urge to say "serves you right". Rescue the poor old guy or girl. Just because they are not as fast or strong as they once were, it does not mean that they deserve to be picked on in their old age.

Enjoy 'categorizing' your existing ferrets =)

Meet the Ferrets event - how things went

April 17th from 10am to 2:30pm, our volunteers were at Pawsitively Gifted in Prince George with their pets to answer any and all questions regarding ferrets and to meet other ferret owners, both current and future. The event saw a decent turn out, and we got to meet some great new ferret owners. All in all it was quite fun and hopefully, informative. We hope to hold similar events in the future to full fill our mandate as an information society and ideally to decrease the number of ferrets surrendered because their owners did not have enough information to realize that ferrets were not the pets for them.

Thank you to our volunteers for donating their time and to Pawsitively Gifted (1234 4th Avenue) for allowing us to use their store to hold our event.

Keeping it Fuzzy: Brushing your ferret

Another entry in our series about keeping your ferret looking its best!

Brushing is something that many ferret owners never thing of doing. Brushing your ferret can not only help remove dead skin and fur during shedding season, it can also be used as a bonding experience between you and your fuzzy friend and reduce the risk of your pet developing potentially deadly hairballs.

What to use: a soft bristled cat, baby or ferret brush. You don't want to use a comb or a brush with hard teeth as this will not remove dead skin and fur as effectively and will most likely scratch your pet's skin.

How to brush: Gently hold your ferret with one hand and run the brush along the coat. Do not brush the ferret's coat backwards or 'against the grain'. Though treat incentives can be used to get your pet to hold still, it is generally best to wait until your ferret is tired out after a play before attempting to brush him or her.

How often? That's up to you. Some owners brush their ferrets daily, others weekly. Some only brush them during shedding season or after their pets have played outside in the grass and dirt.

Whether you brush your pet or not, it is important to give them a small dab of laxative every few days during shedding season to reduce risk of an intestinal obstruction being cause by a hairball.