We took in two fuzzies that seemed to be doing okay health-wise for a
few weeks, but then one of them had an episode where she started having
spit/drool/froth in her mouth, and then she'd shake her head and it
would fly everywhere, and also paw at her mouth frantically (inside
her mouth) as if trying to get to her throat. I've dealt with these
guys for at least 10 years, and I've only seen ferrets paw at their
mouths when they actually have something "stuck" in there. I gave her
Carafate, no one else was doing it, and she wasn't choking on anything.
It resolved itself after a day or two. I did not see any ulcers in the
mouth or the back of the throat like I have seen with some ferrets,
who gag on water. Another symptom is digging at food in the food bowl
during the episode, being frustrated, and trying to eat.

A few weeks later, another ferret who has never had this happen before,
displayed the same symptoms after I woke her up from her sleep. She
was drooling in her sleep, soon as I woke her up, she ran around and
started pawing inside her mouth as well, shaking her head and
drool/froth flew everywhere. It went away after a few minutes.

I'm not sure what is causing it. My first thought was ulcers, but I've
had ferrets with ulcers before many times, and even sometimes ones
where we can see the ulcers in the mouth and the back of the throat,
they have nothing like this, and they eat heartily all other times (and
don't chew/grind their teeth). I looked around the house for something
that is making them sick, and I can't find a thing.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to look for? The vet could
not find anything wrong with either of them. The original ferret who
displayed these symptoms has done this off and on three times now.

[Posted in FML 7086]