Ferret Dehydration - Could be fatal!

Ferret dehydration occurs when there is abnormal fluid loss. This can happen due to ferret diarrhea, ferret vomiting or if your fuzzy stops drinking (this shouldn’t happen unless there is no water available or someone has altered the taste of it).

Dehydration most often occurs in hot weather , if the ferret is left without water, but other times it can mean that your baby has some type of ferret sickness for some reason or another.

If you think your fuzzy is suffering from dehydration then it is important to take action as this condition can be fatal. Ferrets are fairly small creatures, so they can’t actually go too long without fluids.

So how can you recognize that your ferret is suffering from dehydration?

Here are some signs:

Weak

Lethargic/ tired all the time

Squinting and non glossy eyes

Low urine output

Dry gums

There is another way you can test for dehydration, however it might not necessarily be accurate for older ferrets and ferrets with adrenal disease (as their skin loses elasticity).

The pinch test:

Lightly pull/pinch the skin on your ferret’s neck and then let go, if the skin stays in place for a few seconds before returning to normal then it means your ferret is dehydrated. Normally the skin should snap back into place fairly quickly (flatten out). The longer the skin takes to snap back into place, the more dehydrated your ferret is.

If you think your fuzzbut is suffering from dehydration then it is wise to get it straight to the vet. It will most probably need to be put on a drip (IV into the vein).

Learn to recognize what a healthy ferret looks like so that you can prevent any serious dehydration from occurring.