Sorry for skipping Ferret Friday last week, WordPress kept crashing when I tried to upload photos straight from the camera. I had to resize them before it stopped panicking.
Ferret Fact: If female ferrets aren’t spayed or bred, they can get sick and die from a condition called aplastic anemia.
It doesn’t take much to make me worry, so this week all of my worries were focused on our two fuzzy girls.
Tea and Coffee are over 6 months old now, so they were due to come into season soon. I was being a tad neurotic and worrying that their paler, winter coats meant they were already in season – which would mean they’d need to get a temporary injection instead of being fully spayed. I was also worried about them going under anesthetic so young, and the whole scary thing where they’d get.
The Moray Coast surgery staff were great – I was at work for the appointment, but after swiftly arranging an appointment they explained everything to Dave and phoned quite often with useful instructions (don’t feed them for 6 hours before the operation, bring some of their favorite foods to eat after the operation is done). They were also happy to update us and let us know that the operation had been successful.
Now I’ve just got to keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t bite at the stitches, since they don’t exactly do those headcone-collars for ferrets.
Ferret Fact #2: Alongside cages, spaying is one of the most expensive parts of choosing to get a ferret. It’s a complication operation involving internal surgery on the little things, and averages out at around £60 – 80 each ferret.
Below are a few pics of them post-surgery – nothing gross, just the scar and some sleepy ferrets.
You can click the images to view them at a larger size.
They’re both settled in their cage now – the affects of the anesthetic were obvious Thursday night because they keep flopping down to go to sleep in the middle of the floor or hanging out of their bed instead of their usual curling together.
A question for you lovely lot: What pets do you have? Any quirks to share, or medical scares you’ve been through?