i’m not a cat or a rat, but could i be a service animal?

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?

taking teeth grinding seriously

Teeth grinding means one thing — something more serious is wrong with your ferret that if left untreated can be life threatening. The problem is stomach pain, but the cause for that pain could be one of several things including stomach ulcers or an intestinal blockage.

Ferrets can develop stomach ulcers due to stress. This can progress to dark tarry stools which contain blood. (If this occurs, regardless of good heath or not, you should take action.) With ulcers, the loss of blood may cause anemia — also life threatening.

Ferrets can easily have an intestinal blockage from a foreign object or hairball. Rule number one to avoid an intestinal blockage — ferret proof your home. To a ferret, the buttons on the remote control and telephone are all to tempting a treat. Styrofoam packaging crumbles and can be hazardous. Also, never feed them nuts, and give them only small bits of raw fruits and vegetables. Rule number two — brush your ferret often and offer him small amounts of a laxative such as Marshall’s FerretLax on a regular basis as a preventative measure. An intestinal blockage can often mean surgery — so take that extra effort to prevent such a scenario.

With stomach pain, the sick ferret may reduce food intake or stop eating all together. Not eating predisposes him to additional problems.

None of these problems will fix themselves on their own and will only get worse. Visit your Vet immediately for an evaluation to determine the cause of the grinding (and stomach pain). They can recommend an appropriate course of action.

A note on packing peanuts: They say that the newer, starch packing peanuts probably won't cause a blockage. They are even marketed as safe for ferrets. I still avoid them in our home. Even if they do not cause blockage, they are inappropriate for them to ingest.

Despite all Buddy’s many health problems, he has been feeling much better. So I was somewhat surprised that he started grinding his teeth. The sound was like nails on a chalk board. He only did it while eating. After a phone call to Dr. Wagner, who is farmiliar with Buddy’s health history, he was able to diagnose the problem as stomach ulcers. Because of the ulcers, eating caused him pain as his stomach muscles stretched. He is already on an antibiotic, so the plan was to treat him symptematicly. He was prescribed Sucralfate — 2ml orally twice a day ideally 15 minutes before he eats. (Since he eats when he wants throughout the day... this is a guess for me.) The purpose of the Sucralfate is to coat the stomach. He was also prescribed 1.5ml orally of a narcotic (a mix of 3 Torbugesic tablets in a Butorphanol syrup) to be administer twice a day (or as needed) for pain.