Ferret Mustela putorius furo

The ferret is the domesticated polecat, kept for centuries to bolt rabbits and now mainly as a companion and as a laboratory model of respiratory virus infection. It is a strict carnivore built on a short, simple gut: intestinal transit takes about three hours, so it needs a high-protein, high-fat, low-fibre meat-based diet little and often, and anorexia or diarrhoea becomes urgent quickly. Resting values run high, with body temperature of 37.8 to 40 degrees Celsius, heart rate of 200 to 400 beats per minute and respiration of 33 to 36, while gestation is a consistent 41 to 42 days. Reproduction is the classic trap. Jills are induced ovulators and ovulation is unreliable unless oestrus has already run seven to ten days; in an unmated, untreated jill the follicles keep producing oestrogen, which causes bone marrow aplasia and consequent pancytopenia. Two endocrine tumours then dominate pet practice: adrenocortical disease and insulinoma. Among 1,205 French pet ferrets, 4.2 percent were reported with hair loss or adrenal disease and 2.6 percent with insulinoma or abnormal blood glucose, and artificial lighting significantly raised the risk of alopecia. Near-universal Helicobacter mustelae colonisation from weaning and swallowed foreign bodies complete the clinical picture.