From:
mariebartholdsson@hotmail.com
Date: 2001-04-24 20:52:00 UTC
Subject: Re: NEED INFO on CPR for Ferrets?
I have used CPR on ferrets on two different occasions:
1. A 6 weeks old kit choked on a piece of meat. He had no breathing
or pulse when I found him. I removed the meat with a pair of
tweezers, but nothing happened, he didn't start breathing and no
pulse. Then I blew, very very gently, a small amount of air into him,
just enough so I could see the chest rising. I massaged his chest
too. I continued this for about 20-30 seconds and then he started
breathing again and had a pulse. He was very week and it took about
half an hour for him to recover enough to be returned to the other
kits. This kit is a healthy 5 year old hob today.
2. A two year old intact female had, without me knowing it, developed
a severe closed cervix pyometra. I found her one morning lifeless, no
breathing or pulse, but she was still warm. I laid her flat on her
back, neck stretched out, and blew air into her by keeping her mouth
tightly closed and covering her nose with my mouth.. I gently
compressed the entire chest region where I figured the heart to be. I
checked my watch when I started, and it took exactly 56 seconds
before she started breathing again. This jill was saved after an
emergency operation, and recovered completely. She is now 5 years old
and healthy.
On both occasions I used a stethoscope as well as feeling for the
pulse on the inside of the thigh, so I'm fairly sure they actually
had no pulse, not just a very week one. I don't know if I did the CPR
correctly, but it obviously worked.
Marie