FERRET-SEARCH@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
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Tue, 25 Feb 2003 15:06:08 -0500
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I brush all 3 of my ferrets teeth. My suggestion is to forget the finger
brushes. We used those for a while ( I do have small fingers but not
made of steel, to remark about one persons comment about brushing) The
finger brushes just don't allow you to really get in the ferrets mouth.
I switched to the doubled ended dog and cat tooth brushes. You can
usually find them in the tooth section of the dog supplies at a pet store
like petsmart. They look A LOT like a human toothbrush except there is a
big end and a smaller end. We use the small end for the ferrets.
I use the C.E.T. enzymatic toothpaste for dogs & cats by Virbac in
poultry flavor. My ferrets love the taste of the toothpaste. This
was the paste recommended to me by our ferret vet.
My younger male ferret actuallly attempts to help brush his own teeth by
grasping the brush to get in further in his mouth. My older male likes
the toothpaste but dislikes the scrubbing part. My female tolerates it
pretty well.
We put a small amount of paste on the toothbrush, scruff our ferret
lightly and lift the lips and lightly brush the teeth.
While not pearly white, their teeth are in good shape with no excessive
tarter buildup on them. Which was remarked upon them by the vet that did
our adrenal surgery for my older boy.
On another note, my younger male enjoys keeping his teeth clean. He
enjoys chewing on "Greenies", an all-natural dog chew bone that is
completely digestiable. We get them in the petite size (for small dogs)
and he loves to chew on them. However, because they are made from wheat
flour, he gets the runs from them (these are an occasionally treat, maybe
once a month or so) and because of the chlorphyll in the bones, the poop
is green as well. (This also occurs in dogs that eat them) So you might
want to reconsider using them if you routinely or recently battled ECE
because you won't be able to really tell the difference. However, my
younger male is the only one that really enjoys chewing on them...my
older male will occasionally chew but mostly just likes to carry them
around...my female hates just about everything on the planet that isn't
a paste or her kibble.
Hope this helps
Stephanie
3 fuzzies and a ferret herding puppy=20
[Posted in FML issue 4070]
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