Message Number: YG9662 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Roger Vaughn
Date: 2001-12-31 13:50:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Re: prednisone liquid vs tablet

> --- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Vicky <ferretmama226@y...> wrote:
> > Are the tablets cheaper than the liquid?  The
> > liquid is so expensive, it costs me about
> > $52/month for Knucklehead and Thomas
>
> I have no experience with the pill form, but it sounds to me like you're
> paying way too much for the liquid.  I used to get 60 ml at a time
> and paid about $25.  If you're giving 2 ferrets 0.5 ml twice a day,
> that works out to 60 ml a month.  Are you buying it directly from the
> vet?  If so, maybe you should have him call in a
> prescription to a Walgreen's or other discount type drug store and see if
> that's cheaper.

I have given nothing but pills to one of ours. I don't know about the cost,
but there are some specific disadvantages that may make any extra cost for the
liquid worth it. First, the smallest pill we could get was much too large a
dose for a 2lb animal, so it had to be broken up into eighths. This means
you're giving slightly different doses every time. Second is the difficulty of
feeding a pill (or anything they don't want) to a ferret. We had to crush the
bits of tablet and mix them liberally with Nutrimalt or Nutrical to get the
fuzzball to take it. Unlike a cat who will doggedly swallow the good part but
spit out the pill, our fert didn't mind the pill as long as it was wrapped with
something tasty.

Personally, I'm going to ask my vet about the liquid next time one of ours
needs pred.

Roger, Digger and Bear