Hi all you ferret lovers: I have been lucky enough to own ferrets for about
1 1/2 years.  I read here all the time.  I have read about peoples ferrets
catching peoples colds and flu but wasn't sure what I thought about it.
People with dogs and cats claim their animals got their colds and I could
never see any signs of this.  No dogs sneezing over and over or throwing up
over and over.
 
Anyway, my family all had a flu thing that left us all with a bad cold.
Well, my 2 ferrets have contracted our cold.  My white baby has it the
worst.  She sneezes over and over (about 8 times in a row), and she is all
nazel sounding when she breaths.  She is worst when she first wakes up.  She
makes a weird sound, I guess trying to clear her throat.  At first she was
just making the weird sound, I was afraid that she had something stuck in
her throat, like tinsel off the tree, but then came the definate sound of
sneezing, just like a person, she sneezes and a spray comes out of her
mouth.  She has it bad.  She woke up the other night and went through a fit
for about 20 minutes.  I held her and walked her and she just layed in my
arms, making this terrible gaging sound with a lot of sneezing.  She is very
hyper (only 6 months old) and never lays still.  She was getting worse for 5
days.  I was so worried that I took her to the vet.  It turned out to be a
cold, with broncitis and sinus complications.  The vet gave me amoxicillen
with a antihistimeine in it.  Now she sounds just like a kid with a very bad
cold.  I am giving both ferrets the meds.  My other one is sneezing also,
but not as bad.  I love my babies and I just couldn't stand it if anything
happened to them.
 
Good Health to all ,
Sharon
[Posted in FML issue 2182]