by Stacey
This is really hard to write but I feel an obligation to do so. Maybe I can prevent this from happening to someone else.
I have had ferrets for about 4 years now. My house has been checked and rechecked many, many times.
I have 2 ferrets and recently decided to add another. I had her about 3 weeks and then 2 nights ago I found her not breathing.
I have 2 rooms that I keep for them to run about when they are not in the cage. And the cage I had built is like a room itself.
I thought I had checked everything, but I missed something. One of the dressers had been moved, only a few inches and I didn’t think of it. I left the room for ten minutes, I was ten feet away in the adjoining room checking email and my 4 month old ferret had gotten stuck.
She pulled and pulled I believe until she was choked I did not hear anything and nothing was on such as radio,TV etc… I found her lying there and I tried everything to revive her.
I have never been so heartbroken in my entire life. This could have been avoided had I just looked over the room. I’d have seen that it was not wide enough and maybe have moved it.
So please check anything in your house that might be as this was. Either remove it from the room, or simply do not let your ferret in this room.
Things you may not think of can be deadly and I can tell you it is not something that is easy to live with.
I have been crying for 2 days and I have said a hundred times ” If only I did this…” Always do a check before you take them out to play. You never know if something has been moved or added to the room. Please don’t let this happen to you.
I can’t change what happened, but you can prevent it.
I did a thorough check of the house and found even more dangers. I think because I had grown accustomed to my ferrets’ behaviors I didn’t think of the things I should have. If you have any doubts then don’t use the room. There are just too many dangers that one could overlook.
My ferret was caught between the wall and the dresser, she had room to get out but she must have panicked so it might have seemed safe one way, but it certainly was not safe.
Make sure that there is room all around and block anything that you doubt. And never leave them alone as I did. If I had been there she would be alive.
I think it is a good idea to have a checklist and add to it. On a regular basis check everything on it.
It had been 4 years since I had a young ferret and I had forgotten important things.
I feel so horrible. I really hope this helps someone else.
If you need help just go to google and search for ferret proofing.
This page here has a good list of what you need to check. You need to be even more careful than you would if you were baby-proofing.
I am currently going over every inch of my home to be sure. I am emptying the spare room of everything. And I’ll never leave my ferrets alone for even a second again.
Remember — I have had 4 years of my ferrets playing and thinking that they were safe, when it was just luck that they were.
Thanks for reading, I hope this helps someone think of things they may not have otherwise like I didn’t.
Thank You
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