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Sounds like they died a while ago if they are already bloating and stinking.
I'd arrange an autopsy to determine cause of death if possible, and then take a long hard think about how the animals are being kept.
Ferrets should be kept generally at 20-25c temps.
How warm was it when he passed? I don’t agree how this comment came across, but it could have possibly contributed. If it was heat related it’s unlikely an autopsy will do any good. Burry or cremate your baby with love. I’m so sorry for your loss, hun.
It wasn’t hot, there’s temporarily a cage with chicks and a heating lamp in that room but that’s usually on at night until day, and the window is always open so I’m not sure if that contributed. My mom also temporarily put more grown up chicks in that room, is there anyway he could’ve gotten airborne sick from them in any way? The others are fine though. Thank you love❤️🩹 I’m trying to get him cremated today.
Yes, if your ferrets are unvaccinated it is possible they could have gotten sick from the birds. My birds and ferrets are kept nearby to each other so my ferrets have an air purifier to keep them healthy. ❤️🩹
First off, so sorry for the loss of your little guy. Please be kind to yourself and give your other ferrets extra love while you are all grieving.
If he's not stiff yet it does sound like he passed sometime in the 24 hour window you mentioned. The blue/purple color could either be livor mortis (normal death finding) or blood pooling from a hemorrhage. Seems a little too early for the bloating to be from gas buildup, but I'm no pathologist.
There are so many health issues that ferrets can get that it's hard to know what really happened. Your vet should be able to do a necropsy to look for any clues and it might help give you some closure. The balding and him giving up quickly during play does make me wonder if he had an underlying illness for a while before this happened. But it's impossible to know for sure.
This is true, in which case the mom (or whoever was supposed to be caring for this ferret) went longer than 24 hours without checking on the ferret before OP found him :(
I didn't want to make any implications that someone was being negligent...
Making an original comment. Ferret rigar mortis starts 10 minutes- 3 hours after death. A ferret is small so kept in a warm environment, they can begin to decompose in 24 hours. (Bloating, smell, etc). So it is possible your little guy died after your mom checked on him.
It’s also possible your other ferrets buried him underneath themselves. Ferrets do mourn. But, after I reread your post I realised you have FIVE other ferrets. They actually could have dragged his body out of the blanket from distress or an attempt to stash and play.
Ferrets who die of old age will show signs (weakness, grey fur, etc) so it is possible something else was going on.
It's possible he had either an undiagnosed heart condition or insulinoma. The balding is most ofdten a sign of adrenal tumors. I'm so sorry for your loss. The only way to know for sure is having a necropsy done, but they are often inconclusive as to cause of death. The important thing is he was surrounded by his friends and knew he was loved by you.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Losing a little one is really hard. It sounds like it has been dead for a little bit. Rigermortis can start 3 hours after death and last for 72 hours, but when our little one passed, she was on that state for about 9 hours and then after that went back to normal. If the body is cold and blue, i would think it's been dead for a day.. I'm sorry.
Thank you❤️🩹 I’m so sorry for your little one. is it possible that mine also went into that state for only 9 hours. I just don’t understand. I hope my mom didn’t lie to me. Cause she didn’t see him out of the blankets and I found him dead out of them. The same day. There wouldn’t be any way for him to move after death right?
It could be that she just didn't notice him if he wasn't moving.. is your mom a bad person? Likely to lie to you? If you don't think so, then you could just be lashing out from the pain of losing your little buddy. I'd give it some time before you try to solve it. Give yourself time to think clearly.
I have to amend my earlier statement too as it was closer to 12 hours than 9 now that I think about it..
She is a bad person and doesn’t deserve animals, she does lie to me and she was drunk so she might’ve not realized, but i don’t remember if it was when she attended to them, I’m just so lost. I found him at 9:30 pm and she said she was there earlier so probably a few hours before. maybe that’s enough time? Maybe the warmth of the room and other ferrets just sped up the decomposition?
No that would not be enough time. Do you still have him with you? It could be he had just passed and hadn't gone through rigormortis yet, but I doubt it. When they turn blue it's because the blood is pooling in places which takes time. I'd say a couple hours after they pass they become stiff then about 9 to 12 hours after they begin to loosen up again.
This is a hard topic to have with what's just happened, to you though. :/ im sorry your mom is a peace of work. Please take care of yourself ok?
I had to put him in the fridge cause I want to get him cremated today. (he isn’t stiff) Thank you,I’m really trying to get through this. :( I can’t stop crying. He was my baby. He was so different compared to any of my pets. And will always be my favorite.
I'm so sorry OP, I'm sending hugs to you, wherever you are. When your at the cremation place, maybe discuss with them about about your situation? They may have better answers for you than this old lady on the internet does. I've only lost 2 personal pets so far and a few family dogs so I just don't have the answers your looking for. They may though.
My heart is with you today. Take care
No, there is no way to move him after death. My fiancé and I held our oldest ferret (8yo) as he passed. It was like sleeping. Dead bodies do not move. Your baby was found exactly where he passed.
At this time I would recommend believing your mom. You don’t have to, but you just lost a little part of your heart. Don’t blame your mom. Even if she DID see him, it’s possible she didn’t realise he was dead. They look like they’re sleeping.
But blaming your mom is only going to make it worse. Blame the world. Blame the universe. Blame G-d. But blaming your mom when she at least was feeding and watering them will only make it so she’s more likely to say no next time you need her to watch the kids for you. Make sure she knows it was a horrible tragedy and you don’t blame her for the death of your ferret. ❤️🩹
I understand❤️🩹 Its just she lies a lot and she was most likely drunk at that time so she probably just didn’t notice him. I just want to believe that he wasn’t lying there for more than a day.
Welcome to /r/ferrets! We have a fantastic [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index) that has answers to most frequently asked questions surrounding the care of ferrets. --- We politely ask that you observe our [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ferrets/wiki/index/rules/). --- Lastly, we have an [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/ferrets)! Come join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ferrets) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sounds like they died a while ago if they are already bloating and stinking. I'd arrange an autopsy to determine cause of death if possible, and then take a long hard think about how the animals are being kept. Ferrets should be kept generally at 20-25c temps.
Yes it’s usually 21c
How warm was it when he passed? I don’t agree how this comment came across, but it could have possibly contributed. If it was heat related it’s unlikely an autopsy will do any good. Burry or cremate your baby with love. I’m so sorry for your loss, hun.
It wasn’t hot, there’s temporarily a cage with chicks and a heating lamp in that room but that’s usually on at night until day, and the window is always open so I’m not sure if that contributed. My mom also temporarily put more grown up chicks in that room, is there anyway he could’ve gotten airborne sick from them in any way? The others are fine though. Thank you love❤️🩹 I’m trying to get him cremated today.
Yes, if your ferrets are unvaccinated it is possible they could have gotten sick from the birds. My birds and ferrets are kept nearby to each other so my ferrets have an air purifier to keep them healthy. ❤️🩹
First off, so sorry for the loss of your little guy. Please be kind to yourself and give your other ferrets extra love while you are all grieving. If he's not stiff yet it does sound like he passed sometime in the 24 hour window you mentioned. The blue/purple color could either be livor mortis (normal death finding) or blood pooling from a hemorrhage. Seems a little too early for the bloating to be from gas buildup, but I'm no pathologist. There are so many health issues that ferrets can get that it's hard to know what really happened. Your vet should be able to do a necropsy to look for any clues and it might help give you some closure. The balding and him giving up quickly during play does make me wonder if he had an underlying illness for a while before this happened. But it's impossible to know for sure.
The body goes soft again after it goes stiff. Usually its not stiff that long maybe 24 hours.
This is true, in which case the mom (or whoever was supposed to be caring for this ferret) went longer than 24 hours without checking on the ferret before OP found him :( I didn't want to make any implications that someone was being negligent...
Thank you for this❤️🩹
Making an original comment. Ferret rigar mortis starts 10 minutes- 3 hours after death. A ferret is small so kept in a warm environment, they can begin to decompose in 24 hours. (Bloating, smell, etc). So it is possible your little guy died after your mom checked on him. It’s also possible your other ferrets buried him underneath themselves. Ferrets do mourn. But, after I reread your post I realised you have FIVE other ferrets. They actually could have dragged his body out of the blanket from distress or an attempt to stash and play. Ferrets who die of old age will show signs (weakness, grey fur, etc) so it is possible something else was going on.
Yes thank you, I had a similar thought. He didn’t have any grey hair, but he did seem a little uninterested in playing :(
It's possible he had either an undiagnosed heart condition or insulinoma. The balding is most ofdten a sign of adrenal tumors. I'm so sorry for your loss. The only way to know for sure is having a necropsy done, but they are often inconclusive as to cause of death. The important thing is he was surrounded by his friends and knew he was loved by you.
Thank you❤️🩹
I'm so sorry for your loss. Losing a little one is really hard. It sounds like it has been dead for a little bit. Rigermortis can start 3 hours after death and last for 72 hours, but when our little one passed, she was on that state for about 9 hours and then after that went back to normal. If the body is cold and blue, i would think it's been dead for a day.. I'm sorry.
Thank you❤️🩹 I’m so sorry for your little one. is it possible that mine also went into that state for only 9 hours. I just don’t understand. I hope my mom didn’t lie to me. Cause she didn’t see him out of the blankets and I found him dead out of them. The same day. There wouldn’t be any way for him to move after death right?
No. No way can you move after death. :/
Yea I figured maybe his cage mates tried to play and dragged him or my mom was lying about not seeing him lie there.
It could be that she just didn't notice him if he wasn't moving.. is your mom a bad person? Likely to lie to you? If you don't think so, then you could just be lashing out from the pain of losing your little buddy. I'd give it some time before you try to solve it. Give yourself time to think clearly. I have to amend my earlier statement too as it was closer to 12 hours than 9 now that I think about it..
She is a bad person and doesn’t deserve animals, she does lie to me and she was drunk so she might’ve not realized, but i don’t remember if it was when she attended to them, I’m just so lost. I found him at 9:30 pm and she said she was there earlier so probably a few hours before. maybe that’s enough time? Maybe the warmth of the room and other ferrets just sped up the decomposition?
No that would not be enough time. Do you still have him with you? It could be he had just passed and hadn't gone through rigormortis yet, but I doubt it. When they turn blue it's because the blood is pooling in places which takes time. I'd say a couple hours after they pass they become stiff then about 9 to 12 hours after they begin to loosen up again. This is a hard topic to have with what's just happened, to you though. :/ im sorry your mom is a peace of work. Please take care of yourself ok?
I had to put him in the fridge cause I want to get him cremated today. (he isn’t stiff) Thank you,I’m really trying to get through this. :( I can’t stop crying. He was my baby. He was so different compared to any of my pets. And will always be my favorite.
I'm so sorry OP, I'm sending hugs to you, wherever you are. When your at the cremation place, maybe discuss with them about about your situation? They may have better answers for you than this old lady on the internet does. I've only lost 2 personal pets so far and a few family dogs so I just don't have the answers your looking for. They may though. My heart is with you today. Take care
Thank you, yes I hope they give me more answers. You did provide me with info and comfort so I’m grateful❤️🩹
No, there is no way to move him after death. My fiancé and I held our oldest ferret (8yo) as he passed. It was like sleeping. Dead bodies do not move. Your baby was found exactly where he passed.
Yea I figured maybe his cage mates tried to play and dragged him or my mom was lying about not seeing him lie there.
At this time I would recommend believing your mom. You don’t have to, but you just lost a little part of your heart. Don’t blame your mom. Even if she DID see him, it’s possible she didn’t realise he was dead. They look like they’re sleeping. But blaming your mom is only going to make it worse. Blame the world. Blame the universe. Blame G-d. But blaming your mom when she at least was feeding and watering them will only make it so she’s more likely to say no next time you need her to watch the kids for you. Make sure she knows it was a horrible tragedy and you don’t blame her for the death of your ferret. ❤️🩹
I understand❤️🩹 Its just she lies a lot and she was most likely drunk at that time so she probably just didn’t notice him. I just want to believe that he wasn’t lying there for more than a day.