Well, we had our first real scare with our first ferret, 6 month old
Accolon.  Yesterday me and his "daddy" had the day off, so we took him to
the beach because it was nice.  Later that night, around 6:00, we noticed
he was having some sort of problem breathing or he was trying to throw up.
He would make a gasping sound every minute or two, and was sort of
twitchy..  as in, slight convulsions pretty much constantly.  I kept an eye
on him for a while..  other than that, he seemed normal..  drinking, peeing
and pooping normally, wanting to play, etc.. except for what seemed to me
to be dry heaves.
 
So, finally around 9:00 we went online to find one of the many phone
numbers I've heard of to call with questions, couldn't find any, so we
looked at some ferret first aid web pages.  We looked under convulsions and
it recommended giving him a bit of Karo syrup..  it didn't seem to be a
sugar-related seizure, but we tried it anyway..  we tried giving him water
out of a cup in case he wasn't getting enough from the bottle.  Finally I
remembered the MaFF website has a list of shelters, and a friend of mine
said she had called Jo Fowler frequently with questions.  I couldn't
remember what shelter she was from, so I ended up calling Luv of Ferrets.
Well, the woman I talked to (not sure if it was Jo Fowler or not) was
wonderful and suggested giving him a gob of Vaseline (we didn't have any
Petromalt or anything) in case he ingested sand, and Benadryl in case he
got bit by something.  After running out to CVS at 10:00 to buy Benadryl
and a medecine dropper, he got much better, thanks to the help we received
from the shelter.
 
So, I'd just like to say thanks to the people there at Luv of Ferrets for
helping a worried new mommy with the sweet baby Accolon and his first
medical problem.  : )
 
- Rachel, Doug, and Ack
members.aol.com/Raidra/ferret.htm
[Posted in FML issue 2991]