How to Care for an Abandoned Ferret

Series Summary

The ferret is a member of the Mustelid family, which also includes weasels, stoats, and martens. Ferrets have been domesticated pets for thousands of years, possibly as far back as 1500 BCE. The long and lean stature of the ferret gives it the ability to get down holes and chase out burrowing creatures, such as rabbits and rodents. This skill has made them a very popular hunting companion, and ferrets were often employed to help protect grain in the U.S. as recently as World War II. By the 1970s ferrets became popular household pets in America. And because our pets are much more to us than just animals, knowing how to give them the proper care is essential. We have domesticated these animals from the wild and taught them to expect to have their needs met by humans. In order for the pet-human relationship to work, we have to do our part.

In these free video clips, you'll learn emergency care for your pet ferret. Animal lover and expert veterinarian Fran Freedman offers tips on how to care for an abandoned ferret, explains what diseases and illnesses most commonly affect ferrets, and gives advice on selecting a veterinarian to give your pet vaccinations and check-ups. She continues with tips for handling a ferret after surgery, and offers a recipe for duck soup your ferret will love. The tips and advice in these video clips will help ensure your ferret lives a long and healthy life.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Fran Friedman from Morning Star Animal Sanctuary and I want to talk to you about emergency care and health issues on behalf of expertvillage.com. Some people find ferrets roaming around and its either they've gotten out or people have let them loose and they don't know what to do with the ferret when they get it. A lot of times the ferrets are emaciated, their usually hungry and they usually have stress ulcers from being out in the wild where they don't survive very well. So some of the things you can do when you find a ferret like that is if you are able to get to a store to get some proper ferret food you can offer the ferret some good quality food either an 8 in 1 Ultra Blend, some Missouri; they are usually sold at Olson's Grain, Pet Smart or Petco. Make sure that it is a good quality ferret food. Do not go to Walmart for your ferret food. They do sell it but it is not recommended. Make sure that they are drinking. If they are not drinking and if you can pinch the ferret, come here ferret, around the neck area , if you hold this and its tense which means it keeps its shape for more than a few seconds they are probably dehydrated and they would need some fluids which most likely would be given by a vet. So I would get them to the vet as soon as possible. Make sure that it is a vet that knows about ferrets and is able to treat them. Not all vets are ferrets savoy and some of them may not want to treat your ferret so make sure that they know its a ferret is coming in for dehydration and that it's been found and you don't know the history. "