Q - What kinds of foods are bad for ferrets?
A - Items containing onion or onion juice or powder are harmful. Onion can trigger autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which is frequently fatal in ferrets. Garlic, garlic juice and garlic powder can cause renal failure, and one of the prepared duck soup products contains garlic. So, here is someone feeding their sick ferret this product, hoping it will aid in the recovery, and all the while it may be causing additional problems. Products containing carrots and/or dried fruit pieces can cause blockages. Almost all of us know or have heard of at least one ferret that has died or almost died from eating these kinds of "treats." And, as we learned from Dr. Kawasaki at the Symposium, raisins can cause renal failure. According to him, as few as 7 or 8 raisins eaten at one time can be deadly. - Danee Devore, moderator of the ADVList
Hi Brenda, Lakewood Ferret Farm Rescue Shelter Inc has recommended that I email you with this issue I am having with my less than a year old ferret Sophia. She keeps gagging like she’s trying to get something out, but nothing has come out yet. I have put her in her cage to keep an eye on her and she won’t drink any water right now. As of right now it’s been about an hour since her last episode but I am still freaking out of course.
Good morning Samantha - How is Sophia doing this morning? You said she is less than a year old. Is she pooping? If she's not drinking water then I expect she is not peeing. Let me know how she is this morning please
Okay so last night we gave her some Vaseline that was recommended to us from a group, I then gave her a syringe full of water since she wouldn't drink it out of the bowl. I let her out of the cage, she was only locked in there to keep a really close eye on her because she was hiding from us when she was going through the gagging episodes. Once I let her out I walked around the house with her until she went into one of the liter boxes, her poop looked completely normal (I was very relieved about that), after that she became very playful (when this was going on she was laying down, getting up to gag, laying down etc). She then drank a whole bunch of water out of my water bottle I had. I did not hear her gagging again throughout the night, and today my boyfriend has off work all day so he is watching her very closely. Do you know what this could have been? It was extremely scary especially because the nearest 24/7 ferret vet is 2 hours away. She was gagging approx. 1 1/2 hours last night after it started and it came out of nowhere.
Good morning Samantha,
I recommend getting some ferretvite keep that on hand for that purpose. Containing them to watch what is going on is what we do here. That is perfect, you did exactly what you needed to do.
Without seeing her and handling her I can only speculate. Given her age we can pretty much rule out Insulinoma, but if this happens again or begins to happen on a regular basis I would recommend getting a blood glucose test done to be sure she is not having glucose issues. I would think she probably had a very small piece of kibble stuck in the back of her throat she could not get up and out or down. Scary for sure - just a heads up most emergency vets will recommend euthanasia because most emergency vets don't know how to treat ferrets. Unless you have a major crisis with her I would recommend you stay away from the emergency vets. Where are you located? Do you have a vet for her?
Again I would think she had a small piece of kibble caught in her throat she could not dislodge. A bit of information, when a ferret is compromised, or feels vulnerable they will hide, put their heads under a blanket. That is their instinct for staying safe. I hope this helps.
Further reading:
ASPCA Poison Control & Information - There is a $65 consultation fee for their phone service.
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