A survey of almost 1400 ferret owners carried out by the Ferret Education & Research Trust (FERT) and pet food manufacturers James Wellbeloved has revealed that 40% of the UK's ferret owners never take their animals to a vet, with a further 9% saying they visit the vet only occasionally.
In addition, 76% of ferret owners have not had them microchipped, 64% have not bothered with vaccination against distemper and 74% with vaccination against rabies.
Almost three quarters are registered with a vet for emergency treatment, but 26% are not registered at all.
Ian Kearns from FERT said: "This is quite an alarming picture in terms of ferret welfare; however it offers a clear opportunity for vets to address the issue. Ferrets are growing fast in popularity as pets, and it may be that as their role changes they will visit the vet more - but we believe that vets can seize an opportunity by promoting ferret welfare via the waiting room."
The survey also showed that 65% are fed on mixed biscuits and meat. James Wellbeloved Ferret Complete Food was the clear leader, outselling its' nearest rival by almost five times to one. Over half are kept outdoors, and there is a wide choice of bedding material including commercially made washable fabric, straw and paper.
Peter Lancaster, James Wellbeloved marketing director said: "Ferrets are growing in popularity, but because owners sometimes don't do enough research a worrying number are ending up in rescues. Veterinary practices are of course very well-placed to focus on ferret welfare, and we'd urge any vets and vet nurses who want to know more to get in touch with the team at FERT."
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I think there are two sides to this: whilst it could be argued that ferret owners are, in some cases, not addressing their pets' needs, the majority probably don't visit vets either because of lack of faith in expertise (and having attended CPD with John Chitty yesterday, I'm ashamed of my current level of knowledge), or because of lack of information on routine interventions and procedures.
We have very few ferrets on the books, and the only one we've had in this YEAR is the female rescue currently in the kennels, waiting for rehoming. I was supposed to be spaying her next week, but after listening to John, I think that won't be happening now.
Martin
Why not spay ? If you don't and she doesn't have a vasectomised boyfriend, then she will have bone-marrow suppression. I have quite a lot of ferrets on my books, and I always advise spaying jills-anaesthetic FAR less worrying than a rabbit. I don't routinally castrate hobs, but vasectomise if they are living with unneutered females
Wynne
There is an association with spaying and hyperadrenocorticism but I thought that was mainy in Jills spayed very young, American style. I've seen plenty of unspayed Jills suffering as a result of persistent oestrus so, like Hannah says, why not spay?
Cheers,
Niall
I'm not anything like good with ferrets so i'm leaving the discussion about spayinh alone, I just wanted to comment on two points from the original article
One: what percentage of dog and cat owners "never take their animal to the vet"?
and two: why would anywhere near 26% of ferret owners be vaccinating their against rabies in the UK? Are UK ferrets frequent flyers and regularly nipping over to the Continent for a bit of Parisian jill-action?? I somehow doubt 26% of dog or cat owners have their pets vaccinated against rabies either.