From:
Mohr
Date: 2004-09-27 23:09:10 UTC
Subject: RE: [ferrethealth] RE: RAISINS
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <6.1.0.6.0.20040927175737.01bd5e80@pop.central.cox.net>
At 04:59 PM 9/27/2004, you wrote:
>[Moderator's Note: only grapes and raisins are known to be involved in
>the kidney
>toxicocus concern which raisins and grapes have, so for other fruits take
>moderation and the health of the ferret himself or herself into
>account. Banana has
>been useful for some ferrets who are on high levels of diuretics due to the
>potassium value.]
Now I'm a bit confused. Are there any documented studies point to this
kind of toxicity as a problem in ferrets? We have always given our fuzzies
raisins *in moderation* (1-3 per day) on an almost daily basis. We have
and have had many little ones and we have never lost a baby to kidney
failure that was not the result of another disease such as metastasized cancer.
In fact, we had an incident a long time ago with my sweet little Xena
(since gone to the Bridge for totally unrelated reasons) that is much like
the one with the dog described in the original link. She figured out how
to get to the raisins (a feat of ferret mountain-climbing ability in
itself!), how to get the lid off (a second real puzzler for a fuzzball),
and also managed to drag the entire can behind the couch undetected, at
which point she ate herself silly. I didn't know anything about any of it
until we went to put them in their cages for the night and she vomited. I
panicked, then I realized she had thrown up a giant gob of raisins. Some
investigation revealed the half-empty can, which we promptly put under
"lockdown." Other than the digestive difficulties one would expect, which
resolved quickly, she never had any problems at all.
I realize this is anecdotal info, which is why I would like to know if
studies have been done and/or if vets are actually encountering ferrets
going into renal failure specifically after ingesting raisin/grape
overdoses like my Xena's.... ?
- Natasha