Handling ferrets
It is important to carry out a physiological and behavioural assessment of all patients . Ideally , ferrets will be trained by their owners to stand still for an examination or intervention , but often this is not the case . Enlisting two people and a syringe filled with salmon oil or a high-reward treat ( when they are hungry ) can help distract the patient for a physical examination or intervention such as ultrasonography , intravenous ( IV ) catheter placement or bandaging ( Figure 24 ).
In relation to biting behaviour , it is also important to remember that ferrets are predatory and opportunistic animals , with eyesight that is relatively poor in comparison with their olfactory or auditory senses [ 39 ] . ‘ Problematic ’ behaviour in any animal always warrants investigation into the possible medical / physiological – as well as emotional – causes of the behaviour .
Figure 25 shows a female ferret that had just been admitted with a possible spinal issue . The patient was well socialised and easily approachable . She is shown observing her new surroundings for the first time . Note the curiosity in her facial expression , but there is also a high level of arousal or excitement , as she is in a completely new environment . With new patients like this , especially patients that are potentially experiencing pain , it is important to assess their behavioural signs when approaching them .
Figure 24 . A ferret being distracted with food while a limb bandage is being placed .
Poor socialisation to human handling can lead some ferrets to be considered ‘ aggressive ’. Subsequently , handling is often performed using thick leather gloves and a sudden , firm and tight grip [ 27 ] . Understandably , this can further increase the ferret ' s stress and anxiety , and the likelihood of biting behaviour . If veterinary staff and ferret owners learn the behavioural signs of fear , anxiety and stress in this species , and invest time in socialisation , acclimatisation and positive reinforcement , nervous or anxious ferrets can become very friendly and enjoy human contact .
In the authors ' experience , ferrets will often exhibit behavioural indicators of fear , anxiety or stress comparable to those of a dog or a cat , such as looking nervous or uncertain , averting their gaze , backing away , and resisting approach or handling . However , these signs can be more difficult to interpret in ferrets , as their behaviours are generally much faster than those of a dog or a cat . Therefore , the initial early warning signs of fear , anxiety and stress can be easily missed or overlooked by inexperienced human caregivers . This can cause ferrets to be considered ‘ unpredictable ’ or a bite deemed ‘ unexpected ’, when the signs may have been given , but were missed or misinterpreted . There are some ferrets that can be truly unpredictable because they have learned to skip all the warning signs and go straight to biting , as , in the past , their warning signs have been ignored by their caregivers . It is understandable that veterinary staff may want to use leather gloves or thick towels to handle such ferrets , but these can be used in a gentle and positively reinforcing manner .
Figure 25 . A ferret that had recently been admitted to the practice , observing her surroundings .
Future considerations
A validated ferret pain scale , which encompasses all behavioural , physiological and emotional signs of pain , would be helpful in assessing pain in ferrets . Pain scales should be species-specific and particular to the type of pain , for example , dental pain , abdominal pain or ocular pain . This would be challenging and requires further investigation , but the authors believe that such pain scores will be attainable in the future , as more research is conducted .
A new real-time pain monitoring veterinary innovation called PainTrace [ 42 ] looks promising . PainTrace is a wearable monitor that quantifies both acute and chronic pain using skin-mounted sensors that process a direct pain biosignal generated by the nervous system .
Qualitative behavioural analysis ( QBA ) may be useful to differentiate between a ferret that is pain-free and a ferret that is in pain . In QBA , a person assigns different behavioural descriptors to an animal while observing its behaviour . This analysis has been shown to be reliable , repeatable and well correlated to other behavioural and physiological indicators of animal welfare in other species .
28 Veterinary Nursing Journal