Re: long plane trips and sedating ferrets with alcohol
 
I know that we shouldn't even be considering using alcohol as a
sedative.  But, I know by accident that a ferret's metabolism is much
too fast for this method to work anyway.
 
I know because Olly once got drunk about 4 years ago.  I found him on
our kitchen floor flopped flatter and limper than a wet December maple
leaf.  He was drooling and glassy-eyed.  Frantic, I searched the room
to make sure he hadn't gotten into any poisons when I realized that my
husband's rather strong white russian was 1/3 empty and it was on a
tray table right next to the couch.  My husband hadn't had any of it
yet.  Olly HATES any alcohol but his craving for milk obviously made
him forget about that.
 
Since Olly was breathing normally, I put him in his cage near his water
and food and watched him to see if I needed to call the vet.  After a
few minutes, he started to retch and vomitted a few times.  I cleaned
it up while consoling and petting him.  He took some water and started
getting less groggy, but was still unsteady - as if he had a hangover.
In a few more minutes he was gulping water, then he was eating like
nothing had happened!
 
In the space of no more than 30 minutes, Olly got sloppy-drunk, threw
up, had a hangover, and got better!  Olly's been on the wagon ever
since.  :-)
 
Linda
 
[Posted in FML issue 0657]