I second Jeff's comment. Acetominophen is just plain poisonous to
ferrets. And while they can generally tolerate aspirin, dosages MUST
be determined by a vet and carefully monitored.

In a study involving ferret toxicology from 1982:

   http://www.pnas.org/content/79/23/7557.full.pdf

it was found that too much aspirin causes a buildup of ammonia in the
blood, which can easily be fatal for ferrets. And ferrets that are
deficient in arginine should NEVER be given aspirin. At all. In any
amount. Arginine-deficient ferrets cannot tolerate aspirin. It kills
them. (Arginine is an amino acid that ferrets usually get from bird
meat in their diet, but it can also come from vitamins. If the ferret
has been on a poor diet it should not get aspirin. Period.)

Lesson: just as Jeff said. Don't give your ferret meds unless your vet
prescribes them, or you have done genuine, proper, diligent research
(or both), and you know EXACTLY what you are doing. Don't guess. I once
had to give mine some decongestant for nasal symptoms due to flu. (And
man, was I miserable having to watch the little guy go through the same
flu that I'd had, despite my earnest attempts to avoid passing it on.)
It was surprisingly difficult to measure a proper dose, even knowing
in advance what it was, because it was so small.

Calculating proper dose by body weight is tricky business, and you
can't just use humans for comparison, because different animals
tolerate different medications... differently. For example: you can
often give a dog enough morphine to kill several humans, and it
might get a bit sleepy, or might just snarl at you for giving it an
injection. Give the same amount to a cat, and it will probably become
hyperactive and go into stimulant-induced convulsions (much like those
caused by strychnine) before it dies.

If you think I'm trying to scare you, you're quite right. If you're
giving your pet "guesswork" medications, be afraid. Be very afraid.

And even if the meds are from a vet, unless the vet says no (you
should ask), if you're giving meds it is probably a good idea to
make sure they are getting vitamins too. Just in case.

Lonny Eachus

[Posted in FML 7459]