Do Ferrets Have Emotions?

Yes, ferrets are emotional creatures but as with humans you never know who you will run into.

Not all ferrets are the same. Some of them like to cuddle, they miss you if you are out of your home for a couple of days but some of them simply live their very busy lives and do not have time to thank you for all the great things you are doing for them every day. Admit it , the same as with humans and in this article you will find helpful tips on their emotion.

How ferrets show affection

First of all, no matter in which group your ferret is ( either it is emotional or not so much ) try to bond with it right from the beginning. There are several ways to do that.

As most important –spend some time with it, play together. For your pet, you are one giant ferret who he wants to play with. Provide toys for your pet, hold it and pet your ferret. It is also good to spend some time training your ferret, to make it learn new things.

Take good care of your ferret – giving it high-quality food and providing it things it needs. Eventually if you look after your ferret well, it will be one healthy and happy animal and most probably will show you that feelings are mutual.

Ferrets are not just emotional creatures they are very intelligent ones. In most cases, your pet will show you its affection, by chasing you to play with it, by being depressed or sad if you are out of the house for a couple of days, by ‘kissing’ you in its own way, by trying to make you better ( for example if you feel sick or you are in some pain, most of the ferrets will come to you, lie next to you ) …

Signs of unhappy ferret

Same as they can be happy, they can also be sad and this feeling you will be able to notice. Maybe your ferret is not so active, not willing to play, or can be between two extremes – running around like crazy and being totally lethargic. It can happen that refuses food or become grumpy, keen to bite. Reasons can be either emotional or medical.

If those symptoms are not so strong do not run to the vet right away but if you notice that condition is serious and possibly with some physical manifestation then you should see your vet.

If you think that symptoms have emotional nature ( especially if there is a reason for that, you came back from the long trip or its cage mate died recently or your ferret is scared to death) then you should do pretty much the same what you would do with human – show patience, extra care and love, spend more time, give more hugs to your furry ball and hopefully everything comes back to normal soon.

Can ferret die of loneliness ?

Ferrets usually have a very tight connection with their cage mates. If its cage mate dies there is a big chance your ferret gets very depressed. Most likely it will eat less, play less, sleep with its deceased fellow favorite toy. Many ferret owners are very concerned then. I have heard that some of them tried to solve this situation by buying a new ferret, in some cases that can help.

The thing is if ferrets were not domesticated by humans and stayed completely in the wild instead, the issue with loneliness and depression would hardly exist. History says that ferrets were bred by people 2500 years ago from European polecats or steppe polecats.

These are not to be confused with skunks. The truth is that there is no domesticated ferret in wild now and the ferrets that are sold as pets would not survived in wild more then a couple of days.

Accordingly, we can understand the connection between humans and ferret and as a consequence we have ferrets as emotional creatures that easily bind both humans and other ferrets.

Taking everything that is said here into account, yes, your pet can die of loneliness. It is not something that will happen to every ferret but it is possible.

Can ferret be an emotional support animal?

When you think about ESA animals, I am sure you hardly ever thought about ferrets. Usual ESA animals are dogs and cats. Be careful, ESA animals should not be confused with service animals.

While service animals are highly trained professionals, ready to fulfill different requirements and needs of their disabled landlords, ESA animals do not have that kind of specified task that should be done.

ESA animals are there for their landlords who could be persons with different psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, stress, autism.

Ferrets are recognized as a very good option to be ESA animals due to their characteristics. Ferrets are very friendly, quiet, personable and litter trained which is also important. These pets can provide emotional comfort to their landlords and their vast energy are very beneficial to those persons who are prone to depression and lethargy.

Another good thing about ferrets is their size, they are small and can fit anywhere so the landlord can easily travel with its pet, many airline companies will let them on the flight, etc .

Ferrets like to cuddle, adore to sneak in the arms of their owners which can be very effective if the owner suffers from stress or anxiety.

So not only ferrets are emotional creatures but they can help you heal your emotions and help you feel better . Ferrets are really great pets but you always must have one thing on your mind – ferrets are great but you have to have enough time for them and enough will to take care of them as it should, then you will feel to the full benefit of having a ferret as a pet.

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