It's a Ferret Life

Owning ferrets can be like having 'permanent kittens'

By DENISE FLAIM
Newsday
Wed, Jan. 23, 2008

MELVILLE, N.Y. -- Veterinarian Karen Purcell of Londonderry, N.H., fell for ferrets in vet school.

"I love the fact that they never grow up," she says, recalling how the slinky clowns ran around her house as she relaxed after a tough day in the classroom. "It's like having permanent kittens."

But ferret owners seeking qualified medical care may not find themselves so jovial. It can be difficult to find a veterinarian who specializes in exotics - or who has a great deal of experience with these carnivorous mammals.

One problematic area is vaccines. There are only two vaccines that have been tested and approved for ferrets - Merial's Purevax ferret distemper vaccine and the Imrad 3 rabies vaccine.

Other, non-recombinant distemper vaccines for dogs and cats can shed the disease, creating the possibility for a ferret to develop it. Many distemper vaccines are also polyvalent, or combined with multiple vaccines - another no-no. And any rabies vaccine other than the ferret-specific one is not recognized by law.

Unlike dogs and cats, there is no three-year rabies vaccine for ferrets - immunity trials simply have not been conducted beyond one year because of lack of financial incentive. So the ferret rabies vaccine must be readministered every year - a big concern, considering the ferret's hypersensitive immune system.

"On average, ferrets have a 10 percent reaction rate to vaccines," says Purcell. She strongly recommends pretreating with oral Benadryl 15 to 30 minutes before vaccination, and she always gives the vaccines two weeks apart, never together.

The distemper vaccine is not mandated by law, but Purcell considers it a necessity. While there have only been a handful of cases of rabid ferrets in the United States, "I have seen distemper in ferrets that were exposed to it at a pet store. You can bring it home on your clothes."

That said, Purcell prefers a three-year protocol for distemper, noting that, like dogs and cats, ferrets probably acquire immunity to the disease and likely do not need annual boosters.

All bets are off, however, with cancer.

More than half of all ferrets will contract cancer, usually of the adrenal glands or pancreas (insulinoma). In those cases - or when a ferret has had a severe vaccine reaction - "I write the owner a letter, saying this animal has a possibility of dying from vaccination and in my medical opinion should not be vaccinated," she says.

(The states where Purcell practices - Massachusetts and New Hampshire - have a "no kill" rule, meaning domestic animals that are not up to date on rabies are quarantined rather than killed. But this is not the case in every state.)

Deborah Cottrell of West End Animal Hospital in Newberry, Fla., another "ferret intensive" veterinarian, says she has had luck staving off adrenal cancer with low-dose injections of the hormone-inhibiting drug Lupron and melatonin implants.

"We know ferrets develop adrenal disease as a direct result of spay and neuter, regardless of age," she explains. "As soon as the ovaries and testicles are gone, the adrenal gland steps in and says, `I'm making the hormones now.'"

The Lupron and melatonin keep those hormone levels in check and discourage overactivity of the adrenal glands. Cottrell says she is in her third year of doing this with patients, "and it is definitely pushing back the onset of adrenal disease."

Another approach is surgical removal of adrenal tumors. Purcell stresses this must be done by an experienced vet, "because the right adrenal grows right on the vena cava" - an important vein if ever there was one.

With ferrets, appropriate diet is a must. The ferret is a true obligate carnivore, "and we need to really start thinking in terms of high fat, high protein, no carbohydrates and no fiber," Cottrell says. "Anything less than 6 percent carbs is good, while most dry foods are in the 30 percent category."

For those willing to homecook, consult Bob Church's Chicken Gravy recipe (available at trifl.org/gravy.shtml and umpteen other ferret sites). Those with strong stomachs might consider "whole prey," a euphemism for live mice and rats. "Start with pinkies," Purcell advises, referring to juveniles, not fingers, "and work your way up."

Here, too, sourcing is important, as pet-store rodents can carry a high parasite load. As a result, some owners breed their own for ferret feeding, but not Purcell - she has some mice and rat patients, after all.

GEAR

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