For those of us living in the Antipodes, summer is well and truly among us and especially here, in Western Oz, it’s hot hot hot.

I know many ferret owners know the dangers of ferrets and heatstroke but for some of you newbies out there, please be careful if you have ferrets and they live outside in cages. Make sure their cages are under some kind of shade and if you see your ferret panting, you should freeze a couple of 2L bottles full of water, wrap them in towels and put them in the cage for your ferret to lie against. If you can put a fan outside to blow air on the cage, that’d be helpful too.

Remember that ferrets have poorly developed sweat glands so it’s difficult for them to cool off, unlike dogs or cats, who also suffer in hot weather. Add to that they also have a pretty thick coat, which is great to ward off winter chills but lousy for the summertime, even if they do moult.

Here are some signs of heatstroke to watch out for …

  • Limpness
  • Dizziness
  • Weakness
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Depression
  • Panting
  • Bright red tongue
  • Pale or red gums
  • Mucus from the mouth and nose

    • My guys are all free roam in the house and even inside, I find them stretched out on the wooden floors like long, hairy sausages :D Although Kimiko does tend to sleep half in and half out of the couch!

    I guess it was too hot to be inside the sofa, wrapped up in all the wadding for the cushions! And the seat cushion looks very tacky too – poor Seamus messed on it when he was ill and my attempts to clean it wasn’t particularly successful :(

    Anyway, hopefully all your outside ferrets are doing well and weathering this hot spell :)

    © 2012, Nona. All rights reserved.

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    Filed under: Ferret Health • Ferret Illnesses • Ferrets as Pets • Heatstroke

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