Hello,
 
I just read about a sick ferret that needs to be force fed.  I'm glad she
seems to take to it easier than ours ever did.
 
What I have to say is a general warning, because this happened to us, and
we didn't know a thing about it until it was too late.  This is only
because the topic was brought up, and has nothing to do with the post I
read.
 
Be very careful when you force feed your ferrets.  If you don't do it
properly, the ferret can enhale the food into his/her lungs instead of
swallowing it.  This can also be done with liquid medicine.
 
We had a very, very sick girl we were forcing food and meds on.  She
developed pneumonia in one lung before we were told by our vet about
Aspiriation Pneumonia.  It was the end for her, because we couldn't get
rid of the pneumonia on top of her Insulinoma and stomach ulcers.  A few
days later, even after we had stopped forcing food and meds on her, the
pneumonia developed in her second lung and we had to put her down.
 
We later learned that there is a proper way to force feed a ferret with a
syringe, and that is to ALWAYS inject the food or meds onto their tongue
via the side of their mouths, not front to back where they can inhale it.
We've also put it on their noses and the front of their mouth to get them
to lick it and then let them set the pace when we needed to.
 
While I know we did not do that to Bailey on purpose, and we never would
have done it that way had we known, I will always have to face that it was
a factor in her death.  I see little warnings of this when people talk
about force feeding, so I just wanted to put the info out there.  In their
struggle to not take the meds or food, they easily inhale it.
 
If memory serves me correctly, Dr. Williams did have some info on Apiration
Pneumonia on his web site, and that was where we learned our mistake.
 
Julie -
Missing the fuzzbutts in Ohio
[Posted in FML issue 3498]