Ferret Fur Everywhere!

Our ferrets blow their coats twice a year. Around the end of February into March, ferrets will start shedding that beautiful thick luxurious winter coat. Your ferret may “blow” his coat in one or two days coating everything in sight with fur or he may decide to spread the shedding over several weeks with tufts of fur left behind in his hammock.

Cheech getting a good brushing from Fred

Ferrets become very itchy when they are shedding. Using a soft brush on your ferret helps to loosen the fur and give them a good scratch at the same time. You don’t want your ferret inhaling all this loose fur! Worse, you don’t want your ferret to groom himself and ingest all this loose fur. If he licks and ingests too much of his own fur, he can give himself a life threatening blockage requiring major surgery and a huge vet bill.

I have tried many types of brushes over the years and thanks to my friend Colleen, I have fallen in love with this round cat brush. This brush fits nicely in the palm of my hand. Made of soft rubber, it contours the ferrets body nicely. It’s easy to remove the accumulated fur and of course very easy to wash with soap and water. **Don’t leave this soft rubber brush lying around after brushing. Your ferret may decide to chew on it because it’s soft rubber and give himself a blockage!**

soft rubber brush for short haired cats

I have discovered that this rubber brush is also great for getting that thick mat of fur off the split hammocks. I have already worn out a washer and dryer due to an accumulation of ferret fur that doesn’t seem to get caught by the filter and gets into the guts of the machines. I had a split hammock that was “loaded” and I certainly didn’t want to spend an hour picking the fur off of it. One or two swipes with the brush and the hammock was relatively clean of the fur. Wow!

split hammock with “some” fur

excess fur removed prior to washing

condensed mat of Cheech’s fur in the hammock

mat of fur removed from inside split hammock

After using the brush to get as much fur off the hammock; I will wet my hand and pass it over the bedding and get the fine fur that the brush didn’t pick up.

Tiko, a gorgeous sale male came to the shelter in the late fall. He adjusted to shelter life while he awaited his forever home. I was getting to know him. On litter box changing day I inspected his litter box as I do for each and every ferret. It is the best and quickest way to determine if your ferret is sick. When I looked into the litter box I immediately saw a strange poop! Red flag went off. I removed this poop so that I could examine it in minute detail. It was not your normal fecal matter. It was a poop containing nothing but FUR!! Tiko was a ferret that groomed himself lots and seeing as it was shedding season, he had ingested all his loose fur. I was very lucky that he was able to pass this blob of fur. He could have died as I would not have suspected a blockage and may not have gotten him to the vet in time! Tiko could have easily been looking at major surgery to remove a blockage caused by his own fur. Tiko is a ferret that you cannot forget to give hairball remedy on a weekly basis. The hairball remedy ensures that his fur is “greased” and can pass easily through his system!