Post by katt on Apr 18, 2014 3:24:27 GMT -5
This has come up a few times in the past week so I would like to remind everyone - Please do not EVER let your ferrets play with rubber of ANY kind, no matter how much they love it. Rubber is extremely dangerous - it can and WILL cause a blockage if ingested. Even ferrets who never chewed a day in their life have decided one day, while the owner wasn't home, to just try a nibble. All it takes is once!! I know it is hard to take away the toys they love so much, but it is extremely important. Think of it like letting a toddler pay with a knife (yes, it is THAT dangerous). They might really like it bc it is so shiny, and cry when you take it away, but you know it isn't safe and could hurt them, so you take it away anyways.
Also, there is no such thing as safe or "indestructible" rubber - think about it - a ferret's teeth are designed to rip and crush through flesh and bone, they can make easy work of ANY rubber (Even Kongs). If you let your ferrets play with rubber toys, you are putting their lives at risk. I am not being extreme, or harsh, I am being honest. Take it from someone who has been through Multiple emergency foreign body removal surgeries - it is NEVER worth the risk.
Examples of Dangerous items, and just the kind of destruction they can do:
www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/14657/edible-dangers-home-kodas-catalog
a MUST read for any ferrent - This is ALL it takes to cause a blockage. These pictures were 2 Life Threatening blockages. Had Koda not gone into emergency surgery, he would have died.
www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13211/blockages-all-takes
If they can get their teeth into it, they can ingest it. They easily chomp through whole bones. Rubber is nothing in comparison. Even hard rubber like Kong toys is absolutely not ferret safe. Having been through 3 emergency surgeries with my boys, and 4 years of Koda's pathological chewing, this is something I am extremely passionate about. Rubber is a huge danger. Hundreds, if not thousands, of ferrets die every year from ingesting rubber objects. I have seen ferrets who never chewed anything in their life just one day up and eat something indigestible and end up either dead or on the Operating table. All it takes is once, and you can never predict when they will make that hair-brained decision to chew on something. And it WILL be when you aren't home, or at 2 am on a Saturday night when all of the vets are closed and the only ER doc doesn't see ferrets...you all know how ferrets are, they plan it that way.
Anyways, I would like to stress that this is in NO way directed at anyone in particular. This topic comes up frequently so I like to post reminders. It has come up a few times in the past week or two, esp on the FB page, so I wanted to just post a general reminder to everyone.
Also, there is no such thing as safe or "indestructible" rubber - think about it - a ferret's teeth are designed to rip and crush through flesh and bone, they can make easy work of ANY rubber (Even Kongs). If you let your ferrets play with rubber toys, you are putting their lives at risk. I am not being extreme, or harsh, I am being honest. Take it from someone who has been through Multiple emergency foreign body removal surgeries - it is NEVER worth the risk.
Examples of Dangerous items, and just the kind of destruction they can do:
www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/14657/edible-dangers-home-kodas-catalog
a MUST read for any ferrent - This is ALL it takes to cause a blockage. These pictures were 2 Life Threatening blockages. Had Koda not gone into emergency surgery, he would have died.
www.holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/13211/blockages-all-takes
If they can get their teeth into it, they can ingest it. They easily chomp through whole bones. Rubber is nothing in comparison. Even hard rubber like Kong toys is absolutely not ferret safe. Having been through 3 emergency surgeries with my boys, and 4 years of Koda's pathological chewing, this is something I am extremely passionate about. Rubber is a huge danger. Hundreds, if not thousands, of ferrets die every year from ingesting rubber objects. I have seen ferrets who never chewed anything in their life just one day up and eat something indigestible and end up either dead or on the Operating table. All it takes is once, and you can never predict when they will make that hair-brained decision to chew on something. And it WILL be when you aren't home, or at 2 am on a Saturday night when all of the vets are closed and the only ER doc doesn't see ferrets...you all know how ferrets are, they plan it that way.
Anyways, I would like to stress that this is in NO way directed at anyone in particular. This topic comes up frequently so I like to post reminders. It has come up a few times in the past week or two, esp on the FB page, so I wanted to just post a general reminder to everyone.