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:

• Self education of owners and better care enable us to accept such animals, and further to deal with them and support them. Less early euthanization.
• Increased awareness allows pet owners to identify problems and seek help so that the little one survive.
• Skilled hands of veterinarians and animal experts find their way into our little ones lives. Animals are surviving what they never used to survive before.
• Because of this new found longevity, disease now has enough time to find our little ones. So we are indeed seeing increased rates of afflictions.
• Add into the formula that our pets are now also exposed to new environmental hazards as well.

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:

- Genetic defect
- Cerebal Palsy
- Illness
- Trauma
- external factors (such as poisoning, or medication usage)

Sukie Crandall lists various specific causes as:

• Some medications
• thromboses
• ADV (Aleutians Disease)
• toxoplasmosis
• extreme fever temps
• meningitis, some other infections, etc.
• There have even been some cases of ear mites with secondary fungal infection that ate through the auditory bulla and infected the brain. Remember mutations.

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:

• Linoleum floors are hard enough for a ferret to grip. For a brain damaged ferret, it can be a great strain on them to try to navigate themselves on bare flooring or nearly be impossible actually. If the ferret already has spinal damage, or is in a situation where swelling can occur from injury or a degenerative disease, it can even damage them further.
• Liter pans with high sides are not only difficult for the animal to use, but it can deter them from hitting the target all together. Very low lipped litter pans, or even no liter pans (use of pads or papers), are suggested.
• Because of unsteady feet, liter might want to be foregone and newspaper or pee pads used. Many ferrets don't like the unsteadiness of moving liter, and for some reason, there are cases where it seems as if they don't like the tactile sensation of it either.
• Keep everyday household dangers in consideration. Staircases can be deadly to a compromised ferret.
• Water that might be found in unsupervised bath tubs, sinks, ponds, baby pools and open toilets are also an invitation to a sad outcome.
• Cages and such that give a ferret access to short shelves where they can fall on a floor down below should be avoided.
• And, for those with severe compromises, wheelchairs and scooter boards are useful.
• Hammocks and beds with “lips†so an unsteady ferret can sleep without falling out can make a ferret feel more secure.

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.-