Ferrets don't get colds.  There is info about that from ferret expert
veterinary pathologist, Dr. Bruce Williams in the archives if you are
curious.
 
We tend to always see a vet and always get chest x-rays when one who
does not normally cough develops a cough.
 
That is because the things that ferrets get which cause coughing too
often can be serious causes.
 
Cardiomyopathy is one example, and you want to begin treating that
immediately.  Heartworms can cause coughing and we saw if with two
other heart conditions, A/V Heart Node Block, and a cardiac tumor.
The first we were able to treat.  (The second was an additional
surprise medical problem in a badly multiply deformed and handicapped
little one, Ruffle, for whom we managed to get 6 years of life but
who finally developed something like over a half dozen separate fatal
conditions simultaneously as well as several serious non-fatal ones.
 
Speaking of Ruffle, one of her problems from early in life was asthma.
She was in our family a long time ago -- dying over a decade ago --
and we used pediatric Benedryl with no additional meds, but there are
more recently approaches to respiratory allergies in ferrets.
 
Ruffle and I once traded a bad antibiotic-resistant sinus infection back
and forth for about 3 months.  Ferrets do get these bacterial infections;
that is why a number of ferrets who show upper respiratory symptoms get
antibiotics.  Antibiotics treat for bacteria, whereas true colds are
viral infections.  (Some people loosely apply the term "cold" to sinus
infections as well as to true colds, but that practice bothers me because
a sinus infection is potentially much more serious than a cold even if it
doesn't move on to cause a lower respiratory infection (which is a risk
it can carry).
 
Despite the precautions we take Ruffle was also the only one to catch
influenza from us, and that if another respiratory problem that ferrets
get.
 
We have had one with severe pneumonia and pleurisy.  Her only symptom?
She was never a cougher but that day she coughed several times, and she
also gently cradled my big toe in her mouth, something we had noticed
that she only did when she did not feel well.  She acted normally.  Never
the less, we made an emergency appointment -- which meant that she saw
someone other than her usual vet.  The vet could hear nothing wrong and
was going to send us home but we dug in our heels for an x-ray.  If we
hadn't Meeteetse never would have had her additional years of life after
that.  The next thing we heard our usual specialist being extracted from
another appointment room and then both vets came in to tell us that
Meeteetse's life was at risk.  As you know, it worked out right.
 
There are other possible causes: if your house air is too dry some will
cough from that.  If your ferret has begun the Autumn/Spring shed cycle
then self-grooming can cause a cough-like glatch noise (so comb, brush,
and use ferret laxatives with petroleum jelly in them in that case),
sometimes a stomach problem like a furball can as well, etc..
 
It boils down to this: if the cause is serious you want veterinary
treatment fast; if it is not then you get the reassurance that your
ferret is fine.  Coughing is one thing where it is safest to not spare
the expense.  I hope that all is fine on x-ray for your little one and
the solution is an easy one!
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan and regular user
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4983]