Chris -
 
        Sorry to be so late in responding.
 
        Retching and vomiting, or gagging can occur with blockage.  Distension
fo the bowel often causes vomiting, even if the distention is in the rectum.
 
        It's tough to say what you saw, but the signs would have been compatible
with marked bowel distention - the same signs that we see with blockage.
 
        It's good that he has passed whatever it was - (I know this sounds
distasteful, but in a case like that, you should pick up the stool and pick it
apart in a bowl of water - that way you can see if there is a foreign material
or hair that he is passing.
 
        When my ferrets have pased objects (usually rubber or plastic bags -
even though we are SO careful), they usually are sick for 12-24 hours prior, may
pass some loose stools (occasionally with a little blood), and gagging is not
uncommon.  But after they pass it, within an hour, they are their old selves
again.
 
        I caustion everyone - don't throw out those abnormal stolls without
going through them and seeing if their is any foreign material in them.  It may
sound "gross", but it can tell you if your ferret is eating somethin it
shouldn't.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 576-2453/2454                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
 
[Posted in FML issue 0937]