Kindness Matters Ferret Rescue, Acworth GA

06/05/2026

Welcome three year old Rocket to the rescue. He's a very active and playful boy! He's wanting to be with the other ferrets already. It's too soon for that though. He'll be for adoption to a home with another ferret.

06/05/2026

Crafty Weasels is a group of people in Georgia who get together the first Saturday of the month to sew bedding for different ferret rescues around the country. They make great product and are always willing to help out a ferret rescue in need. If you're in the area, consider joining them this Saturday in Norcross GA. You don't have to know how to sew. There is plenty to do that doesn't involve sewing. https://www.facebook.com/CraftyWeasels

06/04/2026

Wednesday was National Egg Day! Share pics of your ferrets enjoying some egg. (When cooking with eggs, I put down the empty egg shells for 15 minutes for the ferrets to lick clean and play with.)

FEEDING EGGS TO FERRETS - It's fine to give ferrets an egg. It's a good source of protein.

With giving raw egg, there’s always a slight risk of salmonella, which could be deadly. If giving raw egg, be sure eggs are kept cold all the time and don’t leave it sitting out before feeding. You can give raw egg yolk about every other day and a whole egg 2-3 times a week.

The white of the raw egg contains avitin which can prevent biotin from being absorbed. As long as the egg white is only given 2-3 times a week, it’s not a problem.

Feeding pasteurized eggs reduces the risk of salmonella. Feeding eggs isn’t a risk for avian influenza.

Quail eggs can be fed whole, as long as they're thoroughly cleaned and either fed fresh or been kept cold.

Cooked scrambled egg increases the protein absorption from 50% to 90% and removes any risk of salmonella! While cooking removes biotin and omega-3s by 33%, eggs aren't a significant source of either of those nutrients for a ferret. These are offset by the increased protein absorption. You can give scrambled unseasoned egg every day.

Egg can help a small amount with preventing hairballs. Egg yolk lecithin is an emulsifier. An emulsifier can help break down the beginning of a hairball. However, egg lecithin (emulsifier) isn't concentrated enough to be certain of breaking down a hairball. Egg can pull some fur through the digestive system. However, stomach acid breaks down most of the egg. So, egg has two ways of helping with hairballs, though not enough to be used as a sole source of hairball prevention.

06/04/2026

Someone who adopted a ferret from me last year is dealing with some medical issues that I and the vet don't have answers to. I'm posting about this to see if anyone else has any experience with something similar. This is a male ferret, three years old. He was healthy at adoption and has developed adrenal disease, for which he has treatment at two different times. He was brought here two weeks ago for me to check him over and I told him to make a vet appointment as soon as he can.

The ferret has considerable unexplained weight loss. His food hadn't been changed. He was started on soup two weeks ago with no improvement.

It has very bad pruritis - uncontrollable itching. He's walking a few steps, then stopping to scratch. Parasites have been ruled out. The owner was provided with all my recommendations for pruritis and nothing has helped. Excessive itching can be a symptom of adrenal disease. The last adrenal disease treatment hasn't been long enough to have an effect. At the vet's recommendation, he'll be coming here for a Lupron injection. (The vet doesn't have Lupron.)

It has slightly labored breathing with no explanation.

It has patches of fur falling out. This isn't the normal thinning fur from adrenal disease. This is actual patches of fur loss from ½”-1" with no obvious explanation. The vet has ruled out a bacterial cause.

The ferret is not quite as active as it was.

The owner has been doing everything possible to put weight on the ferret and relieve the itching, with no relief. The vet prescribed Prednisilone to see if that would help with the itching or anything else. There was no effect.

The owner is seeing Hog Mountain Animal Hospital. I consider Dr. Martinez the best vet in the state. Blood work was done and the only thing abnormal was an indication of muscle inflammation. The vet's at a loss with the ferret. It's not DIM and it's not only adrenal disease. He's been referred to UGA for a CT scan. This is going to cost the owner several thousand dollars.

The vet and I talked about the ferret today and both feel it's more than likely cancer, though there are no obvious signs of this and there was no relief at all from Pred.

Please don't just offer up treatment options. Between me and the vet, we've got a handle on that. I'm asking if anyone else has dealt with similar symptoms.

06/04/2026

Thanks to Edwin Zeliz for donating $30, Melissa Cothrine for donating for me helping Burger find a home and the person who sent the printer cord and salmon oil from the Amazon Wish List. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2LNBLPJG0R84B . I couldn't keep the place up and running with you!

06/04/2026

This is a bit simplistic, though reasonable.

06/02/2026

Thanks to Douglas Rose, Thomas Townsend, Linda Herndon, and Tina Davis for donating to $2 Tuesday last week!

06/02/2026

It's $2 Tuesday! This week we're raising funds to cover a $445 dryer repair bill! We had a major dryer malfunction last week. I looked into just replacing it but decided to repair, since just about everything was being replaced! Small amounts add up! Please donate if you can, share and comment! VenMo -Matters-Ferret-Rescue (may ask for 0070), Zelle or Paypal [email protected], check to 4233 Zephyrhills Dr NW, Acworth GA 30101, or credit card payment as a donation to the rescue vet 770-614-9060. (CashApp is still out of service.)

06/02/2026

This evening Dory Hollenbeck sent a message asking if she sends a donation can she ask a couple of questions. I told her a donation is appreciated; advice is always free. She sent a donation of $55, then asked her questions. Wow! Thank you Dory!

Her questions may be pertinent to others, so I'm sharing them. She has a seven year old ferret needing a Des implant again and a dental cleaning. She's reluctant to have him put under anesthesia for these things.

My response: The vet doesn't need to sedate the ferret for an implant. I give Des implants all the time and can't use sedation. I have no problem. I've only ever had to send one ferret to the vet for sedation for a Des implant and have given hundreds of them. The ferret can be distracted with a bowl of the Critical Care that he loves while getting the implant and that will work fine. If the vet refuses, see another vet. He's not looking out for the welfare of the ferret. He's trying to do what's easier for him.

I agree getting put under for a teeth cleaning at this age is likely a death sentence. The vet can prescribe an antibiotic to fight infection. That will help with pain. My vet has used a tooth scaler on older ferrets with me right there in the office to scrape off larger chunks of tartar. Otherwise, the best you can do is keep any infection in check. If the gums are bright red, consider them infected and needing antibiotic.

Since he's having pain with eating kibble, I'd keep him on a soft diet at all times from here on out. You don't have to make it a soup, but can. Try soaking kibble in warm water for about 15 seconds, then dumping off the water. This softens the kibble enough that it turns to mush in his mouth and doesn't need to be chewed. It still keeps it intact enough that you don't have to worry about it turning sour as quickly. You still need to change out wet kibble, preferably every few hours, but it can go overnight if needed. If you can't get him to eat just softened kibble, then add a little warm water and mash it up into a mush. You can even add some salmon oil, if he likes that, or some Critical Care to entice him to eat it. At this point in his life, I'm all about giving him whatever he prefers to keep him happy and alive!

06/02/2026

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/news/black-footed-ferret-kits-born-smithsonians-national-zoo-and-conservation-biology-institute

Viewers can watch the endangered black-footed ferret kits and mother via live cam on the Zoo’s website.