Hello,
 
I hope someone can help as the vet and I have run out of ideas!  I have
four ferrets and two of them have a lingering cough.  Twist, (about 2
years old) has had this very intermittently and I have had the vet check
her chest and he said heart and lungs sounded fine.  As it was only very
occasional (she would have it for a couple of days and then not have it
again for months) I didn't worry.
 
However, now Charlie (1 year old) has it and Ziggy (about 7 years old)
have it too, only they are coughing every few days, mostly at night, and
they also have violent sneezing fits.  Charlie got it first and I took
him to the vet who listened to his chest - again heart and lungs sounded
fine.  He tried him on an antibiotic (Baytril - I don't know if the names
will be the same in the US) for a week but there was no improvement.  So
then he tried a steroid injection and a 'cat asthma' injection.  I
thought there was improvement but then it came back.
 
I asked ferret knowledgeable people and someone suggested a form of
kennel cough.  Her ferrets had this and the vet gave them Ronaxon (a dog
medicine) and it cleared up.  I tried this but it made no difference.
The vet decided to try the asthma injection again as it lasted about
a month last time and if it did so again then it must be asthma (and
Charlie would have to share my partner's inhalers!).  However, this
time there didn't seem to be any improvement.
 
By now Ziggy was getting it too, and even Dumbles was just starting to
sound a little bit chesty.  So all four went on antibiotics for a week.
(Charlie had another steroid injection but the vet doesn't want to keep
doing this because of side effects.  He also checked Charlie's glands and
lymph nodes and they were fine.) Dumbles and Twist cleared up, but Ziggy
and Charlie had another weeks' worth, but they are still coughing.
 
The vet and I are totally out of ideas!  I have surfed the net and the
vet has looked in his books and spoken to other vets but we can find
nothing that ties in.  He said if it was pneumonia or pleurisy they would
be a lot worse or dead by now.  Cardiomyopathy has been ruled out as
their hearts sound fine, and he knows what to listen for as I had a
previous ferret with that.  Any other illnesses that have coughing have
other more major symptoms such as lethargy, lack of appetite, changed
stools, weakness, etc but other than when they cough (which lasts from
one or two coughs to a bout of approximately 30 seconds and sounds like a
sort of hacking cough as though they are trying to clear their chests)
they are absolutely fine!  They are full of energy, playful, they
wardance, they dook, they play-fight, they play and chase and they have
healthy coats, eyes, appetites, and stools.
 
The vet thinks it may be an allergic reaction, e.g.  dust or bedding, but
they don't have any sawdust or wood shavings.  They have old sweaters and
towels for bedding and paper based, or low dust non-clumping cat litter,
depending on which I can get!  I have just started to wash their bedding
with no detergents or conditioners, just a hot water only cycle, in case
that is it.  They are only allowed in the kitchen at present due to the
living room being renovated so that is hard floor, vacuumed every day and
mopped once a week, rinsed and dried before they are let on to it.  They
have a huge three-storey hutch outside in a shady bit by the house for
when we are at work and overnight.  Their bed is on the second floor but
the ground floor was on concrete so I wondered if damp was the cause.
So I raised that and put a covered wooden floor in, but that was a few
weeks ago and they are still coughing.  They eat a complete ferret food
(James Wellbeloved - highly recommended) and have occasional raw chicken,
kitten food or egg and tea mix (yummy??).  I have just bought a 'ferret
respiratory treatment' which actually turned out to be a mix of oils such
as balsam and menthol, which you put on the outside of their nostrils
and/or a few drops on their bedding.  The coughing is not as frequent as
it was a few months back, and it never seems to bother them but it
bothers me!  Any ideas gratefully received.  Sorry this was so long but
I wanted to get all the information down.
 
Thank you.
 
Fred and the Furry Fiends
[Posted in FML issue 4637]