Feeding and Husbandry Practices in Pet Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo): A Cross-Sectional International Study.

BACKGROUND

The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is an increasingly popular non-traditional companion animal; however, limited information is available on how caregivers manage feeding and husbandry practices.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate feeding and management practices in pet ferrets and to evaluate differences among countries.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, multilingual (Italian, English, French) online survey data collected from 495 ferret caregivers, mainly from France, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

RESULTS AND

CONCLUSIONS

Most ferrets were young adults, neutered (70.7%) and housed indoors (87.3%). Neutering practices differed significantly among countries, with surgical sterilisation more common in the United States and the United Kingdom (p < 0.001). Husbandry practices generally included daily free-roaming and environmental enrichment; however, undesirable behaviours were frequently reported, particularly inappropriate elimination (79.0%) and food hiding (75.4%). Preventive veterinary care was common, although vaccination and parasite prevention rates were lower in the United Kingdom and the United States compared to continental Europe (p < 0.001). Feeding practices were highly variable. Dry commercial diets were the most commonly used (72.1%) and were typically offered ad libitum, while homemade diets were provided by 44.2% of caregivers and whole prey by 25.9%. Inconsistencies included use of products formulated for other species. Overall, husbandry and feeding practices varied considerably across countries. The wide variability in feeding approaches, inconsistent preventive care and lack of evidence-based nutritional guidelines may increase the risk of nutritional imbalances and health issues, highlighting the need for clearer recommendations and improved caregiver education.