Special Needs Ferrets, are
we seeing more? In today's times, it is very easy to think that disease is more common than in the past. We seem to "see" it more now than we ever have. But does that mean it's really there and is it truly due to an increased rate of occurrence? I have to wonder if our paranoia has been fueled by the information age which simply increases our awareness of it. I was lucky to find even just one book about ferrets as a little girl. And the one I found was written in 1945 and filled with misinformation. Ferrets certainly weren't on TV back then. There was no Animal Planet and the Internet had yet to be born. We were really probing in the dark for any information we could grasp. Today, most pet owners are very knowledgeable about the common problems associated with ferrets. Ah, how different the our world is. Certainly we are indeed seeing some health issues more not because of what we are doing wrong, but rather what are doing right. Public awareness of our pets' health issues help us identify problems early and advanced medicine has enabled us to save unthinkable numbers of lives since I was a wee thing. When I was a little girl, I remember being told that an aunt had died very young in her thirties. I asked why. I was simply told that she got sick. I asked with what. I was told again with annoyance that she just got sick. "One of those things," they said. My grandfather died of old age. He didn't have anything wrong with him. He just simply died from being "old". In reality, he was seventy years young. Today, my eighty year old mother happily toddles along with inhalers and intense medical support. We often see this progress reflected with our animals. "Oh I had a ferret once" but it died after a couple of years. I guess the pet died from dying. Today, I have a friend with a nine year old dancing little fur ball who is afflicted with insulinoma and needs a strict diet and medication. Today we see an infatuation with health and it has outlived being a mere fad. We see this extended into our pet care as well. Today we have vets who are not just willing to treat our ferrets, but who are familiar with the various afflictions that plague them. Today we know that ferrets get more than just simply fleas and infection. We are quick to spot problems. We are quick to take them to the vets or to self treat them. Vets, likewise, have a keen awareness of various problems nowadays. And vets are skillfully taught with new technology. A web of connections to hospitals, medical articles, personal journals, and experts of all kinds can be reached with a few taps on a keyboard. Help is at hand while precious minutes tic away during an emergency. So what is the result of all of these changes regarding ferret ownership? Well, they sure don't die of dying anymore. That's for sure.
What we are experiencing increased rates of a whole spectrum of illnesses
such as cancer, insulinoma and perhaps even adrenal because of increased longevity. Heck, given enough time, enough years, you will have
seen it all as compared to the past ferret lifespans of just a few years. And we are "seeing" more of it due to the information age. ![]()
Neurologically Impaired Ferrets: One of those problems that I'm seeing emerging more and more each day are neurological problems in our ferrets. We are left to deal with these challenges due to the following factors:
All of these factors are leaving us with more ferrets, older ferrets, and hence more cases of handicapped ferrets. We now have survivors of dreaded diseases such as meningitis. We are even seeing more survivors of severe trauma. We don't see all of these things because of modern perils in the world, but because of modern advances. It amazes me that this society (me included) once had the perception that an animal had to be in pain just because it limped, couldn't see, or was deaf. We looked at them with so much emotion that we humanized them ten fold. We injected unhappiness into them that was not there. What's more, we were absent of knowledgeable sources to tell us any different and of the help needed for our supportive care of such animals. No more. Just like a quadriplegic in a wheel chair goes on, so do our pets.
Just like a deaf person adapts to communicating in other ways, so do our pets. And so on. In the presence of confirmed
pain in our pets, people look in the mirror and ask themselves the question, "would I want to put up with a little pain and live, or would I want
to face euthanasia over a gimpy leg?" How much pain and handicap is too much. How much reduces the quality of life?
How much is inhumane to now intervene. We are the soul wards of these little lovable fuzzies of ours that have no voice. So
we must take care to not project our feelings onto them too much and "listen" to THEM while answering such questions. We also must
use our humanity in making very difficult and brave decisions in their behalf. Let's look at the causes of neurological impairment:
- Cerebal Palsy - Illness - Trauma - external factors (such as poisoning, or medication usage) Sukie Crandall lists various specific causes as:
What care should be given to an impaired ferret, if at all? And what tips would make lives of the ferret owner as well as the ferret itself easier? I have very limited exposure to such animals, but I do have enough to suggest a few tips for you. Let's look at a few things to consider and some do's and don't's:
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This is dedicated to that happiest little guys I ever met. Rocky Bobbles, forever a baby, and survivor
of meningitis. And Oscar, brave ferret that he was, who never knew that he was "different".
- Thanks to Renee Downs for pointing out this growing issue in the ferret world and that we need to start addressing it.- |
Thank you to Kat Parsons for her love and support in giving me a voice.
I so appreciate her creative contributions to this site.
For information and purchase of ferret wheel chairs click "here".
Wolfy...wolfysluv@AOL.COM
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