Greetings FML--
I am constantly reading posts from ferret moms and dads who do something
unintentional that puts their ferrets' lives in danger, but they post
to the FML to potentially save other ferrets from similar fates...
unfortunately, now I have something to share.  But fortunately, it ends
happy (thus far).  So here's a confessional from a stupid ferret parent...
 
After coming home from work early with a splitting headache, I undressed
and crawled right into bed.  I set my alarm for 5:30p so the ferrets could
get out at their regular time.  If I wear something casual to work (slacks
or something), I leave it out for the ferrets to run through.  In my haste
to just go to sleep this afternoon, I forgot to take my Allegra (allergy
pill) with lunch since I skipped lunch to come right home.
 
At about 6:30 I noticed white stuff all over the bed.  I couldn't figure
out what I could be...till I noticed that the concentration of it was all
over my slacks.  I scooped up what I could and compared what was left to
the contents of an "unopened" Allegra capsule.  I estimated that Ginger
and/or Penny could have ingested as much as 1/4 of the powder, and for the
life of me, I could not find the capsule!!  It's 9:15pm now and I have torn
apart the room looking.  Someone must have eaten it.
 
So now I knew that at least one of them had eaten at least what could have
been sticking to the inside of the capsule.  I figured that I should call
animal poison control ASAP to figure out how serious it was.
 
Turns out it can be *extremely* serious.  I've had to call poison control
2 other times (less serious problems) and their advice in the past had
been to give a bit of hydrogen peroxide to make the ferret vomit.  Their
advice this time was to take both ferrets to an emergency vet immediately.
I panic.
 
It is after 7 by this point, my regular vet is an hour away and they were
closed anyhow, the other ferret vet near us is closing and recommends the
emergency clinic, and the emergency clinic near me does not see too many
ferrets...they've seen us on 3 occasions and I haven't been happy with
them.  So the poison control people tell me that they will talk me through
administering activated charcoal to both ferrets.  So I race over to the
nearby vet to pick this stuff up (fortunately, they are only 5 minutes
from my house), and get home to give these guys their meds.
 
All the while, both ferrets are doing fine.  Symptoms for ingesting Allegra
range from extreme lethargy to extreme hypertension.  Not at all helpful
to me when my 3 year old ferret is always tired and my 3 month old is
constantly on the go.
 
Let me save you the drama of administering activated charcoal to ferrets
by just saying that I will never in my lifetime get the charcoal off the
ceiling in my bathroom.  It is the color and consistency of ink.  And let
me tell you how much the ferrets liked it...not.  All three of us looked
like we had jumped into a dirty fireplace.  There remain black paw prints
on my bathroom floor.
 
This was a horrible mistake and could have had horrible consequences.  I've
put them to bed but am still monitoring them because they could still go
into seizures or display other symptoms.  And I have to make sure that the
charcoal is getting through their little systems.  We have probably another
2 hours left in our ordeal and then I can go to sleep.
 
So the moral of this long story, and every story that is told here on the
FML of unintentional mistakes, is that we can never be careful enough.
And for me, I've definitely learned that if I'm ever too tired again to do
things right and ferretproof this place each and every time they get out,
which means checking and double checking everything, then I'm too tired to
take care of my ferrets properly.
 
Hope this never happens to any of you, and I never wish the administration
of charcoal on anyone or any ferret.  It will take weeks of treats for them
to forget this.
 
Cheers-
Tamara Stanton
[Posted in FML issue 3189]