With anemia, because of the range of causes, and the different drugs that
are used to treat diseases, there is no "one cure fits all" approach.  By
guessing and giving a drug to treat one cause of anemia in a ferret, we
may end up actually making the problem worse.
 
In an older ferret, anemia may be the result of a number of causes,
including a bleeding ulcer, autoimmune destruction, kidney disease,
lymphoma, the rare case of adrenal disease, and even long-term illness.
 
I'm going to make two suggestions for what you can do tonight.  If you have
any Carafate, from any previous ferrets that may have had ulcers, let's
start by giving a dose of that.  If there is an actively bleeding ulcer,
that may help to slow or temporarily stop the bleed.  Repeat every four
hours, and ten minutes before every meal.  Second, have everything ready
to go to the vet in the morning.  A CBC will certainly be required to
establish the level of anemia and to start identifying the cause.  A
chemistry panel may also be useful in this regard.  Also check the litter
closely for tarry stool, and watch her for grinding teeth, loose stool,
etc.  As gastric ulcers are the #1 cause of anemia in ferrets, let's start
there.
 
Also, with any anemic ferret, let's keep the stress down.  Quiet and
isolated until we see the vet in the morning.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3418]