Ferrets are prone to a variety of ailments, from thyroid problems and cancer, to ear infections and even diabetes. If you own a ferret, there’s no doubt you love his charming personality and energetic frolicking around your house. You’re probably also worried about his health, and what you’ll do if he has a health problem in the future.
Ferrets are very sensitive animals. They don’t always react the way you would expect them to. They can react badly to everything from essential oils to too much sugar, so starting them out on something new is frightening and uncomfortable for ferret owners.
CBD is very new to the ferret world. There have been no formal scientific studies done on ferrets at all, and there is very little anecdotal evidence as well. Because of how sensitive ferrets are, vets and breeders are proceeding slowly and with great caution on CBD for ferrets.
Ferrets and the endocannabanoid system
All animals except for insects have an endocannabanoid system. The endocannabanoid system regulates many of our most basic functions, such as sleep, appetite, and even pain. In studies on more common domestic animals and in humans, CBD has been shown to effect the ECS by regulating these functions so that they behave normally.
That means people who take CBD can expect it to help with a variety of problems, such as inflammation and pain, insomnia, and poor appetite. It has even been shown to have anti-cancer properties.
That’s great if you’re intertested in CBD for dogs, but what does all that mean for ferrets?
Ferrets and CBD
A few vets, mainly in California and Colorado state, have started using CBD to treat cancer and other illness in ferrets. Because of the delicate nature of ferrets, we don’t recommend you try CBD in your ferret without talking to a vet first about your individual ferrets health, and where to go from here.
The good news is, in the few anecdotal cases available, CBD has been found to help in treating cancer, pain, and other diseases in ferrets, without apparent ill health as a result of using the product.
Use CBD from trusted sources only
If you decide to use CBD for your ferret, you need to take great care in choosing the highest quality pet supplement you can find. In the case of ferrets, you simply can’t get away with using an oil that has even a small amount of impurities in it.
While your ferret may do fine on CBD, if there are impurities in the oil these could react badly with your pet and cause even more problems. Only trust CBD oil that has been made from hemp grown in the US, and that has been tested by a third party independent lab for quality. This ensures that there are no other oils, THC, or other ‘extras’ in your CBD that could cause harm to your pet.
Although it is tempting to go with a human grade CBD oil, this is one case where it may actually be better to go with the best CBD oil for dogs—humans can handle more impurities than our pets can, so the pet stuff is actually usually purer.
If you think CBD is right for your pet, ask your vet for the correct dosage and other recommendations. It could be the key to improving the health, happiness, and well-being of your little guy.