This is heartbreaking. None of them were accidental though none of them
were meant to be poisonings, of course, and all were avoidable.

One of them had a bad ending but also a good ending because the loving
person with that ferret is trying to teach other people how to avoid
poisoning situations so she may save a number of ferrets' lives through
education.

The most recent involves Advil.

So many types of human OTC painkillers are fatal for ferrets, cats, and
dogs... Tylenol destroys the liver. Some others destroy the kidneys or
the liver or both. I remember a time on Yahoogroups when someone wanted
to use a med in that category on a ferret. I supplied links to many
articles at the ASPCA's Animal Poisoning Control Center but others said
that it must be safe because it is OTC and "just" a pain killer. The
type the person wanted to use was going to be fatal and I could not do
a thing about it...

PLEASE, realize that there are many things which are appropriate for
human use which will kill ferrets, dogs, or cats.

Use the Animal Poison Control references and never (NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER) give or use anything on your ferret unless the treating
veterinarian okays it first. That includes your own meds, over the
counter meds, herbal meds, etc.

To prevent accidental poisonings learn what you have in your home that
can kill your ferrets.

Use these resources:

<http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/>
 or
<http://www.mspca.org/programs/pet-owner-resources/animal-poison-control-hotline/>
or both

Having just heard about this most recent one I am doing something very
uncharacteristic for me after 10 years of people writing to me about
heartbreaking situations. I am sitting here crying. Avoidable deaths
are the most horrible and from the description I doubt that this ferret
will survive, though I will hope to be wrong. There have been too many
avoidable poisonings recently, and I hate hearing something when I am
unlikely to be able to help, even by helping them contact the right
experts because I can't turn back time.

Addendum:

Many thanks to Pam Sessoms who helped the treating vet and the shelter
that was called in to try to save this ferret with:
Ibuprofen toxicosis in dogs, cats, and ferrets
Eric Dunayer, MS, VMD
beginning on page 580
JULY 2004 Veterinary Medicine

and

Ibuprofen Ingestion in Ferrets: 43 Cases
January 1995-March 2000)
Jill A. Richardson, DVM; Rachel A. Balabuszko, CVT
JOURNAL OF VETERINARY EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL CARE
VOL. 11, NO. 1 MARCH, 2001
starting on PAGE 53

Troy Lynn provided sub cu info for the shelter person who is trying to
help this ferret whose owner gave him Advil.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 6933]