AboutJacquie Rodgers Expertise Being a ferret owner for over 14 years, I can answer questions about general care, cage ideas and requirements, healthy foods and snacks, things to beware of as far as safety issues with ferrets, common causes of intestinal blockages, appropriate housing, litterbox training, making bathtime fun, toys, games galore, outdoor excursions, "Do`s and Don`ts", how to ferretproof your home, traveling with ferrets by car and airlines, proper temperatures for ferret environment, how to set up a hospital cage, IBS (irritable bowel) in ferrets, helicobacter (ulcers), adrenal disease symptoms, how to help your ferret recover quickly, happily and safely from surgeries; common problems with ferret ownership, illnesses; and taking care of a sick ferrets, hospice and palliative care, ferret death and choices that must be made when a ferret dies, memorializing your ferret online and in your daily life.
WHAT I CAN`T DO: I can`t take the place of your ferret vet; if your ferret appears sick,PLEASE have your ferret examined by a ferret vet IMMEDIATELY. Proper and EARLY vet care is PRIORITY #1 for sick ferrets. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE FOR A SICK FERRET - PLEASE, IF IN DOUBT, GET THEM TO A VET!
Experience I ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS WITHIN 12 HRS OF RECEIPT but I cannot control when the system delivers your question to me.
F.Y.I.GENERAL FERRET CARE/INFORMATION:
http://www.cypresskeep.com/ferretarticles.htm
*/*FIRST AID FOR FERRETS: http://miamiferret.org/fhc/ffaid.htm
*/*FIND A VET HERE: http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
I have nursed ferrets through many illnesses and a variety of diseases over the years.Ferrets are so very delicate, yet incredibly strong-willed; a well-loved ferret will fight courageously to live if given proper medical care, monitoring, and especially lots of TLC. A ferret can entertain for hours on end when they know they are the center of attention; and they can make even the grumpiest person laugh through life's difficulties. They do require a LOT of time, love and daily care, but the love you give a ferret always comes back to you tenfold! I dedicate the time I spend helping others here to my precious little ones who have gone to the Rainbow Bridge. They taught me how to laugh, to love unconditionally....and how to live each & every day to its fullest, and I am forever grateful.
Organizations Yuma County Humane Society
Publications Yuma Daily Sun recognition for being an outstanding ferret mom.
Education/Credentials I read everything I can get my hands on regarding ferrets.
Awards and Honors Just the love in my little guys' eyes :-) when I kiss them goodnight.
Past/Present Clients I'm just a ferret mom - no clients.
Question My ferret Shady was about 3yrs old. About a month ago I received a ferret thru craigslist, named Prada. Constantly over the month prada would nip at shady and shady would make a crying noise, not excited, crying noise. Her tail would puff up and she often run back to her cage to hide.
Shady was in good health from what I knew, drank and ate regularly, played, very energetic. Just this morning I was wondering why she was not coming out of her cage, sure enough she was dead in her hammock.
I did take a quick look and found no cuts or anything on her. Please let me know the next step to take in possibly finding out what happened.
Answer Hi Chris:
WOW, that's a difficult one to take. I'm so very sorry for you. Age 3 is very very young to die. I can only imagine how frustrated you are right now.
Wrap Shady's body well plastic wrap, then in a little blanket and place her in the refrigerator until you can get her the your vet first thing on Monday morning and request a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
This is a very difficult thing to do, I understand that. If you want to find out what happened to her, it's what you must do, however. This preserves the body the best way so that the vet can do a thorough exam on Monday.
After you have done that, please go to one of these websites and meet up with some very compassionate and wonderful folks who have lost loving pets also. They have wonderful ideas for paying tribute to our loved little ones and they are a wonderful 'soft place to fall'.
People come and go on all those websites all thru the day and night.
Last of all, please don't blame yourself or Prada - she may well be as shocked as you are and need your extra hugs right now. It's very possible that Shady was already ill, which would explain her cries instead of being happy when she got a new little sister. If she was eating, drinking and playing, there was NO way you could have known anything was wrong - those are the things we watch for to know if our babies are well - so PLEASE, you can't blame yourself for this. Things happen.......maybe something was going on inside her and it was just her time to go.
God bless. I will keep you and your babies in my thoughts and prayers. Please don't hesitate to write again if you need to. There is no worse pain than losing one of our babies unexpectedly. Be gentle with yourself; this is just going to be very very difficult for a while. Perhaps after you get the results of the necropsy you can at least have some closure and lay her to rest (or have her cremated)...you do need to be thinking about what you ultimately want done with her little body, so you know what to tell the vet on Monday.
