WOUND CARE:
 
I purposely declined to discuss wound care because each vet has their own
opinion, often based on specific circumstances, on how it should be done
and they will specifically inform their clients how to care for their
ferrets.  For minor wounds that do not require a vet, keeping the area
clean with perhaps a minor initial application of an antibiotic ointment
is all that is necessary.  Watch for swelling, nasty drainage, a bad
odor, elevated temperature in the wound area, and color changes to the
skin; see your vet immediately if you notice any one of them.
 
Another reason I don't discuss the issue is because current wound care
theory--as it applies to human health care--is under review: for years
I was told to keep a wound clean and dry, and when I had my last 'spot"
removed (curse you, Sierra Nevada sunlight!), my wound was sealed under
plastic for a week in a protocol called "moist wound care." I hadn't
heard anything like it, so off I went to the medical library for a couple
of days of reading.  Initial studies are quite promising and I think
moist wound care protocols will ultimately become more popular.
 
At least it will be for humans--try keeping a bandage on a ferret
obsessed with removing it!  Moist wound care requires the preservation
of cells and cellular by-products (called exudates) to be effective,
and those fluids are generally maintained by covering the injury with a
transparent plastic film.  I personally can accept the data indicating
it is a better way to treat a wound, but I worry about the plastic film
being removed and swallowed by ferrets unimpressed with the protocol.
I suppose if a wrap was placed over the film to protect it from curious
ferrets, or if the wound was in a location the ferret couldn't reach, my
objections would be moot.
 
However, there is the problem that many or the majority of human doctors
have yet to sign off on the moist wound care protocol, and I honestly
doubt if many vets have even considered it.  Suggestions for using moist
wound care may fall on deaf ears, but education is a good thing, so
photocopy the best articles and mail them to your vet.  Who knows, maybe
you can be responsible for a shift in the veterinary wound care paradigm.
(9 emails)
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4415]