From:
Asia
Date: 2001-11-28 22:49:00 UTC
Subject: sneezing, hacking ferret
Hi,
I have 2 ferrets almost 3 years now. I couldn't take them to the
area I was going, so I left them with family, who were going to take
care of them for an extended period of time. I explained proper
feeding, as well as money to buy the required necessities. I asked
about them all the time for 2-3 months, I assumed they were in good
care since after so much worrying, I didn't ask all the small
questions, like what food they were buying.
2 more months passed by, so when we found out our home was ferret
safe, we decided it was time to get them, but it had been nearly 3
months since I last saw them.
When I went to pick them up, I was horrified to find that they were
fed catfood for about 6 months (bcuz they wouldn't eat the ferret
food they bought). When I got them back they were very, very, very
malnurnished. I've been feeding them lots of ferretvite to help with
the weight and slowly switched them onto ferretfood. 1 of them
that's 2 yrs & 10 mths. has this sneezing and coughing (hacking)
problem.
One reason for not seeing a vet was due to Thanksgiving, and just
getting home from a long trip. Now that he has had the ferretvite,
his hack has almost stopped. I even bought some laxatone that I read
would possibly help him if he just had a hair-ball, or an
obstruction.I also put Ferret Drops in the water since they would
not take the drops in food, or right in the mouth.
Since there is two ferrets, one of them is a bully sometimes, and
can take all the food. The other one is not as malnurished. I
believe my family mistook them for needing to be too slender during
the summer, and fights broke out when no one was around after they
were fed.
Is there any side effects that could require the attention of a vet?
They've been to many in their lifetimes, always healthy, never a
problem. We are planning to take them, but not under an emergency
basis, as we have about 4 days until we can go.
Should I be concerned that something could be wrong even though we
have seen an improvement in the sick one? Should I take him in as an
emergency or am I being a little too worried about a simple cold?
I wanted to ask for you're opinions on trying Johnson's vaporizing
baby shampoo to see if that helps his cold (if it is a cold).
Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
April & Rob
Major and Reeko