Ferreting about: Meet the Northamptonshire woman who has 220 ferrets in her back garden

In a quiet backstreet of Northamptonshire there has to be one of the most unique gardens anywhere in the country, perhaps even the world.

Cathy Cadden is a ferret enthusiast who now runs the largest ferret refuge in the UK, right in her own back garden.

Cathy hasn’t always been so enthusiastic about the furry critters, a chance encounter at a medieval fair, where one actually bit her on the leg, was the unlikely start to her fascination with the thinking man’s rat, and the whole Abington Ferret Refuge business.

Cathy started taking in abandoned ferrets in 2010 and since then the business has grown to allow her to take in over 220 ferrets who had been abandoned or given up by their owners.

The refuge is an affiliate member of the National Ferret Welfare Society.

“The rescue was started by accident,” Cath said.

"I was at a Viking festival - I'm a battle re-enacter. They call me Death From Below on the battlefield, because I'm small and I'm apparently quite a fearsome warrior.

"I, wearing my Viking things, and a ferret ran up my skirt and bit me.

"I was shouting ‘Help, help, I've got a ferret up my dress. Can somebody get it out!’

"And my friend Dave very gingerly, but manfully stuck his hands up my viking skirt and got the little fellow out.

"It was covered in ticks, and had bald patches, and just looked very sad.

"I used to work in a zoo and stuff, so I did a lot of zoology study, and dietary study and stuff like that.

"I mean, I can feed a baby lion. So I thought looking after a ferret would be no trouble. And then it grew and grew and grew."

Cathy aims to find permanent homes for the animals when possible, but this can be a long process.

Each one must be quarantined, neutered and sometimes rehabilitated.

Older or disabled ferrets will stay with her permanently.

It’s a hungry business and the ferrets will eat around 80kg of dry kibble, 100kg of raw meat a week, and cost her nearly £350 each.

The venture is mainly self-funded by Cathy but they do welcome generous donations from the community and would love to welcome more volunteers to her team.

The volunteers tasks involve cleaning enclosures, feeding, and taking the ferrets out for walks.

Cathy said: “We have approximately 220 ferrets here at the moment, and more arrive every week.

"Some get handed in by owners who don’t want them anymore, some come when owners have died.

"Some people breed them but then find they can't afford to feed them. And strays are handed in from vets.

"They come from all over - I made a road trip to Devon last week for ten babies. They are happiest in family groups so we like to keep them together.

"We spend about 70 per cent of our household income on ferrets. And I have six volunteers.

"This is a lot of animals to look after - mucking out, feeding, watering, nail clipping, and they like to play.

"We have seven play areas for them, so do a rolling rota system of seven lots in and out.

"They've got little tubes in there to play with. Because they absolutely love them and they, they chase each other around in them all the time,” Cathy said.

If you would like to get involved contact Cathy at http://abingtonferretrefuge.com/