I LOVE ferrets..but should I get one?

Question
I absolutley LOVE ferrets, I would get one tomorrow if I could. I go to the petstore all the time just to play with them. I know they can be a lot of work and they need at least 3 hours of play time everyday. And I am totally willing to put in the time and effort. HOWEVER, I do have some reservations that maybe you could help me with. Is there ANYTHING you can do about the smell? I know most ferrets are descented- but the odor is definitley still there. Are you supposed to get 2 together so they can socialize and have company all the time, will 1 by itself get depressed? I know they need to go to the vet, what shots do they need besides rabies and how often? It sounds like they have a lot of health problems, are all ferrets doomed to have adrenal disease, or intestinal blockages at some point in their life? Which is more friendly, males or females, or which do you recommend? Thanks so much for your help!

Answer
Hi Ashley:

I'm so glad you wrote!  From my experience with ferrets in pet stores, they are *usually* the STINKIEST you will EVER smell a ferret! Because the conditions in a pet store just are not as clean as most owners keep their ferrets cages and play areas at home, I wouldn't even compare the pet store smell to what you will be experiencing at home. Even tho by law pet store ferrets are descented (ASK if you're not sure if it's descented, or you get it somewhere other than a pet store, because an UNdescented ferret DOES have odor problems OTHER THAN DISCUSSED HERE). Ferrets require yearly rabies vaccinations and they also require annual canine distemper vaccinations, but must have a set of 'baby booster shots' the first year. ALL VACCINATIONS SHOULD BE PRECEDED WITH BENADRYL PRE-TREATMENT SHOTS (reallly important).

ABSOLUTELY GETTING RID OF FERRET ODORS & KEEPING THEM GONE: The first thing I'd do with a new ferret from a pet store is bring it home and give it a nice sudsy shampoo with Johnson's & Johnson's Baby (no tears) Shampoo. Be sure to use nice warm water so the ferret doesn't shiver (their normal body temperature is 103 degrees, so make it nice and warm) and be sure to RINSE REALLY WELL. After a bath, dip Q-tips in baby oil and using a twirling motion, gently clean the folds on the outer ear, then GENTLY enter the ear and go immediately DOWN (a ferret's ear is like an upside down "L", so you can safely go straight down and clean out whatever the Q-tip can reach as long as it is pointed DOWN, just twirl it. Keep changing Q-tips and make sure each one is sopping wet with oil. When it finally comes out clean, use a dry Q-tip to wipe the excess oil from the ear (especially the exterior folds). Ferrets hide a LOT of smell in their ears. When their ears smell clean, it makes a HUGE difference.

ALSO, in regards to ears and new ferrets:  If what you bring out of a new ferret's ears looks like coffee grounds, your ferret probably has ear mites and the 'coffee grounds' are actually ear mite 'poop'. Ear mites are very very common in pet stores, so be SURE to get your new little one to the vet for his/her vaccinations and also mention to the vet if the ferret needs to be treated for ear mites - it's an easy thing to treat, but other pets in your home can catch them if you're not careful...get them treated asap for the least amount of inconvenience. Untreated earmites can even cause deafness.  "NORMAL" ear wax from a ferrets ear looks much like our own, light brown in color and not grainy.

Then, the real secrets to keeping a ferret and his cage/play area smelling good are to just keep the area clean.  The things that stink in are bedding that needs laundered and anywhere urine doesn't get removed and cleaned up adequately - that's it.  I've had my ferret cage in the livingroom for years and have had up to three ferrets in it - when company comes sometimes they sit within five feet of the cage, sometimes for an hour before they finally ask "what's in the cage?" and they are always shocked when I tell them 'ferrets, but they are sleeping'.  The answer is always "I always thought ferrets stink!! Why don't I smell anything?"  I scoop the litterbox morning and night, being very careful to REMOVE ALL WET LITTER EVERY TIME. I remove hammocks, blankies and any fabric toys that can be laundered and toss them in the laundry once a week for one ferret - twice a week for 2 or 3 ferrets.  I wipe the floor (linoleum, wire is too hard on their feet anyway and linoleum wipes down best) down with a product like Nature's Miracle once or twice a day, depending on the ferret (young ferrets are messier); and I completely empty all litterboxes in the cage AND play areas about every two weeks, scrub with Pine Sol, rinse well and refill with ALL FRESH LITTER.  If you follow these cleaning guidelines, you will NOT have ferret odors.

About two or three times a year I toss all the ferret toys in the bathtub with a little laundry detergent, stir them around a few times, pull the plug and then rinse them with the handheld shower, dry well before giving them back to the ferrets.  Tents, tunnels, and other fabric toys will tend to hold odors and are almost always easily to wash. Being there all the time, don't trust your own nose to smell building-up odors, just clean them a few times a year for good measure and you won't have to worry about odors.

THE DISTEMPER VACCINATION: Ferrets are not susceptible to feline distemper/panleukopenia.  If you get a kit (baby ferret), the baby will have already had his/her first distemper shot and will need two more BOOSTER shots - they get them at 6-8 weeks (will have already had then when you purchase it), again at 10-12 weeks, then the final "baby booster" at 14-16 weeks; then they must receive a booster YEARLY. Ferrets should receive a shot of benadryl "pre-treatment" shot about 15 minutes before ANY VACCINATION in order to lessen what can be life-threatening reactions to distemper shots and sometimes also to rabies shots.  For this reason, distemper shots and rabies shots MUST NOT BE GIVEN ON THE SAME DAY so that IF there is a reaction you will know which vaccine the ferret is allergic to.  Having had a ferret who did have a reaction to a distemper vaccination, I can tell you that the extra few dollars and few minutes waiting for that benadryl pre-treatment shot to take effect before you can get the distemper shot absolutely made the difference between life and death for my ferret. We almost lost her anyway, but she definitely would have died if she had not had the pre-treatment shot. "Fervac M" was developed by United Vaccines for use with ferrets, but has been found to have a very high incidence of life-threatening reactions, **IMPORTANT: ALWAYS ASK, AND DO NOT LET YOUR VET USE FERVAC ON YOUR FERRET. Galaxy M or Purvax are excellent rabies vaccine choices for ferrets and should be given IM (intramuscularly).

RABIES VACCINATIONS:  Ferrets should receive their rabies vaccination at twelve weeks of age, and then yearly. Again, as with distemper vaccinations, should ALWAYS be "pre-treated" with benadryl shot about 15 minutes before the vaccination.  Make sure your vet uses the ONLY vaccine approved in the U.S. for ferrets, Emrab-3.

I hope if odors were the only things that were keeping you from bringing a ferret home - maybe this will help you make your decision.  I would also recommend a book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling - this is the "Bible" for ferret owners everywhere. You can look up just about any topic anytime. IMHO every ferret should come with one!

Here are some great websites for new ferret owners and folks considering getting ferrets - I hope you'll take a few minutes and make yourself familiar with them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret#See_also
http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutfe...

http://www.ferretcentral.org (scroll down to topic necessary)
http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutfe...

http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ask_angela/index.html

Also, you will want to find a vet in your area that is experienced with ferrets. Most dog and cat vets actually are not good ferret vets - only a very few have had more than just a couple hours schooling unless they specialized in "Exotics" in veterinary college! Their yellow pages ads will often say "specializing in Exotics". You will need to get acquainted with a good ferret vet right away to get vaccinations started. To make it easier for you, here are some lists of vets that other ferret owners have recommended to help you try to find someone in your area:

VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sask_ferrets/

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

VETS  UK & IRELAND:  
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/vetlist.htm

Best of luck!  Be sure to read up on FERRETPROOFING before you bring that little one home. It's always best to have at least one room ferretproofed so your baby can come out to play as soon as you get home with it and at least one room is safe...and, of course, an effective way to blockade the ferret in that room so it can't get into other areas and get into things that could injure or kill it. Here are a few great websites on ferretproofing:

* http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/part2.html#ferretproofing
* http://groups.msn.com/Ferret/yourwebpage10.msnw
* http://groups.msn.com/Ferret/ferretproofing2.msnw

Will be anxious to hear that you have a new little one dancing and dooking at your house!  Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of any help to you in the future.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers