I do not know much about service animals, but do know a bit about ferrets. I will do some research and let you know if I learn of anything relating ferrets as service animals. If anyone has information about ferrets as service animals, please let me know. This is a great topic worth exploring. However, I find it is not a practical venture for a ferret.
The first thing to know about a ferret is that it is not a cat and it is not a rat.
Ferrets can NOT be left out to roam freely like a house cat. To own a ferret, room(s) that you allow your ferret to play in must be ferret proof. There are many things to consider when ferret proofing including no holes — not even small ones. This makes kitchens and bathrooms off limits. People who have ferrets too often over look small openings such as those up and under the fridge or stove. Also, many cabinets (kitchen and bath) may look sealed at the floor, but there are usually a little opening at the baseboard. Once in there, there are the openings around most pipes, then into the wall and goodbye ferret. In addition, sitting on a ferret under a couch cushion never ends well. And forget about having a reclining chair or rocker... ouch! Most people who have ferrets actually have a ferret room, but even in there it is a supervised play time. Someone put it best when they said, "a free roaming ferret never lives long". I would think that the ferrets ability to assist someone would be very limited... if you could get the ferret to focus on the required task at all.
On the other hand, a ferret is NOT a rat. Ferrets can not be caged up all day and night. They require a lot of exercise and that means supervised out of cage time every day.
Finally, ferrets sleep 18 hours a day. I would find it difficult to rely on an animal that is catching some shut eye most the day.
In conclusion, a ferret is a fun pet, but requires a lot of attention — when they are not asleep.
Could a ferret be a service animal?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
i’m not a cat or a rat, but could i be a service animal?
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Thanks for the information. Although I know a lot about service animals, I am on the other spectrim skill when it comes to ferrets. lol. Been trying to research more about ferrets being service animals but haven't come up with much on them yet, except for what I read in the papers which are not much.
Don't get me wrong service animals do have lots of time to play and just be an animal however they do need to also be on call 24/7 depending on ones need. Therefore they would need to have every aspect of the home open to them when needed, including the kitchen and bathroom. From your information, I gather that this would be a huge danger for the ferrets being that it wouldn't be ferret proof. Then we must also look at their sleep behaviour, being they sleep 18 hours a day this habit would not correspond with the individuals needs (medical respond/alerting; hearing).
However they maybe great as Emotional Support Animal which are not Service Animals! Though they may have a keen nose to be able to alert to various medical disorders (eg seizures, low blood pressure, sugar, etc.). But would or could they be reliable?
Lots of unknown as I would think ferrets are just starting to be used as service animals. Although I know of several people that uses cats and birds for medical alert animals and have trained them to respond which is needed in any service animal.
More on service animals: http://www.animalsspeak.org/general-info-service-animals-f54.html
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