From:
"Amy Hartnett"
Date: 2007-02-09 21:06:21 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Effect of Temperature on Meds
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
I hope I'm not going to come off as sounding too critical, but I just want people to understand that medicines don't belong in the microwave or stored in food (I'm a pharmacist). Most meds are stable only at room tempeature, which means the warmest they can get is about 86 degrees. If you want to heat the food, then let it cool before you add the med to it, that would be fine. It takes a while to feed a ferret soup, I know, believe me, so if you add the med while the soup is right out of the microwave, it will have had about 20 minutes to decompose. Your ferret will not be getting the full effect of the drug. IMO, it's best to let the soup cool and let it get as close to room tempeature as the ferret will tolerate.
Please don't store meds in food! Do you know where the worst place to store meds in your house is? In the bathroom medicine cabinet. It's because of the humidity from the shower. So if you're storing the medicine right in the wet food, it's not going to last very long. Also, I'm sure you're keeping the food in the refrigerator. Most medicines are not stable in the refrigerator. As I said before, most meds are stable at room tempeature. Unless you see a label on a medicine that says "Keep in the Refrigerator", it should not be kept there. I know it's probably inconvenient to keep adding the medicine to the food each time but it will work better for your ferret if you do, and that's what it's all about anyway. :)
You should never add more than the prescribed dose of a medicine on your own because you can run into toxicities. I understand your theory, that some of the drug was destroyed in the microwave, but you don't know how much so how can you know how much to add? Medicines aren't something to play around with.
Again, I hope this doesn't sound too harsh. I was just surprised that people were heating meds and storing meds in foods for animals. I've found when people mix meds for children in food they mix it in applesauce and use it immediately. It's not a situation where they have to make a batch of food up like you do with a sick ferret. I feed my ferrets' their medicine in a syringe and they eat their soup seperately. They don't seem to mind as long as they get a treat afterwards. They even come running for their meds in the morning! And they take liquid pred!!
Amy, Whiskey, Bailey, Ginny and Spirit
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