The flame-colored ferret has evident white stripes on its eyes and forehead, and its body is gray, black, or has a silver reflection. The white stripes on its head enhance its agility. The eye colors of the flame-colored ferret are black, brown, and the pupils can be green, blue, or ruby, which is relatively rare.
The Angora pet ferret was introduced from Denmark and is a common pet in China. The most distinctive characteristic of the Angora pet ferret is its curiosity and cheerfulness, as it enjoys playing with humans. Due to its endless curiosity and adventurous spirit, it is always on the move, often crawling into furniture or exploring new things. It collects anything it likes and hides them in secret places. It also establishes its own territory and is affectionate, playful, and intelligent. It is easy to get along with and often wants to play with its owners. It particularly enjoys going in and out with people, so it can be leashed like a dog or taken out for a walk in an outdoor cage.
The Angora pet ferret is clean like a cat, curling up its body to sleep, and is clever and lively. At the same time, it is affectionate like a dog and likes to follow its owner around. Especially curious about everything, it is not timid or boring, but full of a spirit of exploration, bringing endless joy to its owner's life. Ferrets, like cats and dogs, can accompany their owners for more than a decade. Generally, the lifespan of a ferret is between 8 and 12 years. Young ferrets are playful and active. After the age of 5, they start to become calm. However, even when they are calm, they still enjoy playing with their owners and seek more affection from them. They may climb onto your lap while you watch TV, allowing you to stroke their bellies as they fall asleep.
The domestication of pet ferrets began over 200 years ago, but as early as 3000 BC, domesticated ferrets appeared in Egypt. They were reared together with European Persian cats. Later, during the Crusades in the 11th century, ferrets were introduced to Europe as a practical species. In the 16th century, ferrets were shipped from Europe to America to control the growth of rodents. People released them from cages to chase and catch hidden field mice.
Today, they have become the third most popular pet after dogs and cats. Especially in the United States, Europe, and Japan, keeping ferrets has become a fashionable trend. Currently, there are over 8 million pet ferrets in the United States, and ferrets not only have their own clubs but also regularly hold "Olympic Games" for pet ferrets.
1. Diarrhea
Diarrhea is a symptom that can be caused by many reasons. Common causes include physical irritation, bacterial infections, and viral infections.
Eating nuts or swallowing indigestible foreign objects can cause diarrhea. The stools are often similar to nasal mucus, sometimes mixed with blood or undigested foreign objects. Easily changing the diet or adding other feed can also lead to diarrhea.
Diarrhea caused by bacterial infections is often due to eating spoiled ferret food or dirty ferret drinking water. The stools are often watery and loose, the sick ferrets are depressed, and their food intake decreases.
Stress reactions can also easily lead to diarrhea, especially when pet ferrets arrive at stores after long-distance transportation. In this case, no treatment is needed as they will recover on their own.
2. Coughing and Sneezing
Generally, it is a temporary cough that does not require treatment and can be observed. If persistent coughing occurs, it is necessary to determine whether it is caused by foreign objects getting stuck in the throat. Coughing may also occur during the shedding period. If multiple ferrets are put in the same space during the shedding period, the hair stimulation from each other may cause coughing or sneezing when the ferrets are received by customers. Generally, no treatment is needed as they can self-heal.
Coughing can also occur during a cold and requires appropriate treatment.
Feasible treatment: Injection of gentamicin at a dose of 0.3ml/kg intramuscularly twice a day. The remaining injection can be stored in a clean penicillin bottle. The commonly used cephalosporin antibiotics in pet hospitals can also be used. For severe diarrhea, feeding glucose saline solution can be done using a syringe from the corner of the mouth to the inside of the mouth. For severely weak animals, dexamethasone can be injected subcutaneously at a dose of 0.3ml/kg. Nutritional paste is helpful for later recovery and recuperation.
Diarrhea caused by viral infections is more severe and will be explained separately.
Try not to change the composition of the feed arbitrarily, use designated food.
3. Eye Diseases
Main symptoms of eye diseases include cloudy eyeballs, excessive discharge adhering to the eyelids, swollen eyelids, and abscesses on the upper and lower eyelids.
Cloudy eyeballs occur in older ferrets and become cloudy due to aging. Eye trauma can also cause cloudy eyeballs. If trauma causes symptoms in ferrets, eye drops can be used for treatment, generally leading to a cure.
Excessive discharge adhering to the eyelids and swollen eyelids are generally caused by bacterial infections, and treatment with hydrocortisone drops can easily cure them.
Abscesses on the eyelids are often caused by trauma. Treatment method: make a small incision on the abscess, squeeze out the pus, sprinkle with anti-inflammatory powder, and administer antibiotic injection treatment for 3-5 days to achieve a cure.
Fever and canine distemper can also cause the secretion of purulent eye discharge and require targeted treatment.
Entropion is a rare abnormal growth condition where the eyelids of ferrets relax, the edges of the eyelids turn towards the eyeball, causing continuous irritation of the eyeball with eyelashes, resulting in constant tears and mucus flow and adhesion of the eyelids. If this condition occurs before shipment, it can be resolved on-site and generally does not affect customers.
Cataracts can also occur in older ferrets. The eyeballs become white, which is evident in appearance.
Feasible treatment: For simple cloudy eyeballs, watery eyes, and excessive eye discharge, use a de-fat cotton swab dipped in physiological saline solution to wipe the eyes and surrounding areas, then apply 2-3 drops of eye drops, 2-3 times a day.
4. Ear Diseases
Mainly ear mites
Infection with ear mites results in brown-black exudate scabs in the ear canal, and the sick ferret occasionally scratches or rubs its ear against the cage wall. Treatment involves first cleaning the external ear canal, then spraying pet-specific acaricides.
Treatment: After cleaning the ear canal, wipe it with a 2% boric acid solution or Bayer's Seba’an ear cleaner.
5. Skin Diseases
There are two common ferret diseases, one is skin trauma, which can be caused by ferrets biting or being stabbed by sharp instruments. If the wound is not large, simple wound cleaning, disinfection, and iodine application can be done. The other common disease is skin parasite infection, such as mites and fleas. Symptoms of mite infection include red skin, partial hair loss (not shedding hair), redness, scabs, and scales at the hair loss site. Sick ferrets often scratch the roots of their ears, sides of the abdomen, or bite the skin of the abdomen. Treatment can be done by spraying pet-specific Frontline onto the affected area or administering injections of ivermectin. A 2% boric acid solution can also be used for scabs and wounds caused by external parasite infections. After cleaning the wound site, wipe it with boric acid, and treatment with deworming drugs such as ivermectin can be administered at the same time. Fleas mostly occur when the ferret's nest is excessively humid or can be transmitted by other animals. They reproduce quickly in high humidity environments. If a ferret is constantly scratching its abdomen with its hind legs, check the abdomen hair to see if live fleas are visible and small millet-sized scabs on the skin.
Feasible treatment: If it is sarcoptic mange, clean the wound with a blunt blade, then apply iodine once a day, or use Bayer's Seba’an produced lotion to wipe the lesion. Pfizer’s Advocate for dogs can also be used to prevent and treat sarcoptic mange. If it is fleas, apply Bayer's pronto or Frontline to the back of the neck (the part that is grabbed) in a dose of 2 drops below 1kg, 3 drops in 1-2kg, and 3-4 drops in more than 2kg, once a week, and continue for 3 doses. If it is simply skin itching, (hydro) cortisone ointment can be applied.
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