I note with interest the mail on cleaning ferret teeth.  This brings up a few
topics I would like to address.
The first is an unfortunately common belief amongst the owners of all animals,
not just ferrets, that it is NOT neccessary to deal with animal teeth until the
tooth actually turns BLACK.  By the time this happens, the tooth is quite
likely lost and the infection can possibly have spread to other teeth.  CHECK
those teeth every MONTH and take remedial action immediately.  Take your friend
in to see the vet once or twice a year and, if possible, find a veterinary
dental specialist, too.  Rasputin came to the club in November as a rescue with
a "biter" reputation and, as I am the "expert" on handling such, he was passed
on to me.  Sadly, circumstances prevented me from taking him home for a month,
but I did notice that (a) he was a very sad but friendly animal and (b) his
fangs had been chipped and one was quite dark.  Once I could take him in, I
made an appointment with our veterinary dentist for a check-up.  Rasputin had
an exposed root and an abcess, requiring either extraction or a root canal.
But first we had to put him on antibiotics for two weeks to control the raging
infection ... No wonder he was biting!  He went in for the root canal work and
recovered just fine.  Another few days of antibiotics and he was a completely
different ferret:  Happy, playful, loving.  In fact, now that there is no more
pain, he is more teddy bear than anything else.  We decided to keep him rather
than adopting him out again.
In short, REMEMBER THAT TOOTH PAIN CAN CAUSE A MAJOR CHANGE IN AN ANIMAL'S
DISPOSITION, SO CHECK THOSE TEETH REGULARLY.  Not only will you catch the
problem earlier, thereby relieving your pets discomfort, but treatment will be
easier and cheaper.
My feeling about anaesthesia for animals about to undergo dental work is this:
The trauma of being held by two or three people, having the jaws prised apart
so that someone can shove a cold, sharp object into the mouth, poke around all
over the place and start scraping it against the teeth will probably do more
psychological harm to the animal than any benefit the tooth cleaning will
provide.  Rather that the animal sleeps for an hour or so and wakes up with
clean and fixed teeth than put it through what only can be described in human
terms as a form of torture.
All the ferret-specialising vets in Vancouver use Isoflourine, a gaseous
anaesthetic used for humans.  If I remember correctly, recovery requires no
more than termination of the gas and can be expedited through the introduction
of oxygen.  Reactions and side-effects are minimal; recovery time very short.
If you have concerns about the effects of anaesthetics, check if your vet uses
this.  There seems to be a bit of panic about vaccine and anaesthetic reactions
out there, but consider the FULL implications of caution to the point of
radicalism.  There is no benefit to being a Neo-Luddite.
Consider:  If you do clean your own ferret's teeth, what will you do if you
find a cavity or a broken tooth?  Or, worse yet, prod an exposed nerve?  I
think this type of care, where the complications are unpredictable and the
animal can be hurt even with the best of intentions and precautions, is best
left to experts.
We treat the kids with the same consideration we give ourselves and there is NO
WAY I'm letting Tamarah clean my teeth even if she does use Isoflourine!
For preventative care, brush the sheet-sharks teeth daily (not so bad once they
get used to it).  My vet provided me with a teensy-weensy Butler interdental
brush called the Proxabrush Trav-Ler -- it's ferret sized.  There is a
chicken-flavoured toothpaste available, but my diminutive devils prefer to use
my toothpaste.  Also, try Maxi-guard's tasteless Oral Cleaning Gel.  A drop on
each side of the mouth each day strengthens and protects the teeth.  I'm not
certain about being tasteless, though.  Two ferrets hate it and the other two
want it by the gallon.
 
Angi -
 
The best way I have found to clean ferret ears is to let them play/stand around
in the tub for five or ten minutes while bathing them.  I used to let the first
two into the tub and let them bathe with me:  They enjoyed sitting on my chest,
swimming, and frolicking.  But now, with four of them, that has come to an end
and they bathe together.  Fill the tub with warm water to a level where they
can float but their paws will just touch bottom (makes them feel safe).  Water
will get in the ears naturally (if not, I help) as they splash around and
soften the ear wax.  When you dry the little fur coat, use a few Q-tip swabs
and clean the ears.  Remember, they don't need to be spotless.
On those bad-ear days, I put two or three drops of baby/mineral oil in each ear
with an eye droper or syringe (no needle!) and leave it in for about five
minutes.  By then the wax is softened and I either bathe them or just clean
with swabs.
I agree, the alcohol method sounds strange:  Its hard enough to excavate
Carlsbad Caverns without the cold of evaporating alcohol.  I can't imagine it
softening the wax very much, but I can imagine some extremely upset ferrets.
 
Best wishes to all,
Karl, Tamarah ("Where's the drill?"), Rasputin ("Smiley"), Jennifer (the
"Easter Ferret"), Lucretia ("I brush and sharpen my fangs daily"), Minerva
("I'm a big girl now")
[Posted in FML issue 1168]