Message Number: YG12349 | New FHL Archives Search
From: sukieferret
Date: 2002-04-08 17:57:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Metronidazole ?

> > It is not the indiividual which becomes resistant.

> Is this statement true for painkillers? Just curious.

Individuals build up a tolerance for some types of painkillers,
tranquillizers, etc. Now, serious pain killers aren't usually used
on ferrets till something is quite advanced, so I expect that the
shifting in what amounts can be effective would be more the
advancing of the disease process rather than becoming overly
used to the durg, but I do NOT know for sure.

There is also something called something like "situational use
or situational dependency" in which a drug is used during a
trauma or injury but the individual weans off it without problems
on his or her own once the difficult thing is past. (If I recall right
this was discovered due to users of durgs that canbe addictive
by soldiers in Vietnam and yet when some of them came home
they had no problem stopping and did not re-start.) It is not
unusual for hujmans post-op to have painkillers they can control
within safe limits just wean themselves as they begin to feel
more comfortable. Would expect that this might also be
possible in ferrets that are sedated temporarily to help heal an
injury, but don't know.

As has been said before: I'm not a vet.