Leaving your ferret with a sitter: a safe home and clear instructions

A friend, relative or pet sitter at your home

Your ferret keeps its cage, its routine and its ferret-proofed room; arrange a meeting before you leave.

Care at the sitter’s home

Possible if their home can be made safe for a ferret; ask which other animals they look after at the same time.

Boarding

Visit before booking, and check that they really take ferrets and know how to care for them.

Book early: according to the PDSA, good pet care fills up quickly over the summer and the holidays.

• Check your ferret’s vaccinations: according to the PDSA, professional carers turn away unvaccinated pets. Arrange them in advance, as some need time.
• If your ferret is microchipped, check that your details on the microchip database are up to date.
• Leave enough of the usual food, litter and medicines for the whole stay, plus some extra.
• Find a vet who is experienced with ferrets and an out-of-hours clinic that treats them, and note their details.
• Have the sitter come round once while you are there, to show them how to handle your ferret and where it hides.

Meals

Which food, how much per day, and a reminder: food and water must stay available at all times.

Water

Bottle or heavy bowl, to check and change every day.

Time out of the cage

At least 2 to 4 hours a day, in a ferret-proofed room or supervised, with the door closed.

Litter and bedding

Where the litter trays are, how often to clean them, when to wash the hammocks.

Treatments

Each medicine with the dose, the time and how to give it.

Habits

Favourite hiding places, games, what it likes to chew, how to pick it up.

Contacts

Your number, a trusted person, the vet and the out-of-hours clinic.

According to the ASPCA, it is best to go through these instructions in person with the sitter before you leave, to avoid mistakes.

• Heat: ferrets have no sweat glands and cope poorly with heat and humidity. According to the MSD manual, the ideal temperature is around 18 to 23 °C (64 to 73 °F); never a cage in direct sun or a ferret left in a car.
• Rubber, foam or plastic objects (rubber bands, erasers, soft toys): ferrets chew them and can choke or develop a gut blockage.
• Escapes: an open door, a gap of a few centimetres or a drawer is enough. Close doors and windows while your ferret is out.
• Flu: ferrets can catch it from people. Anyone with flu should keep contact to a minimum and wash their hands.
• Human medicines, to be kept out of reach.

The ASPCA advises telling your vet that you will be away and giving them the names of the people allowed to make decisions about your pet. Agree in advance what the sitter should do in an emergency, and how much they can spend on treatment without reaching you.

MyArk builds the pet sitter sheet from what is already in the app: habits, treatments and contacts. Invite the sitter into the household: they log meals and care, and you can see that all is well, even from afar.

• Your ferret’s meals, litter and regular care
• Current treatments and upcoming reminders
• Contact details for the vet and emergencies
• The shared care log, visible wherever you are