Laura,
 
My thought on your choking ferret is that it sounds similar to what my Fred
had when he was diagnosed with heart problems.  He was choking and having
dry heaves, and was very listless and tired.
 
After a couple of initial misdiagnoses, my vet listened to his lungs, and
then x-rayed them.  She found that they had a good deal of fluid in them,
and that's how she diagnosed the heart problem.  (The heart wasn't working
very efficiently, and that caused fluid to back up into the lungs).  That's
my only experience with a choking ferret, and I've never known any of mine
to have hairballs.  (I'm not saying that it can't happen; it's just never
happened to any of mine).  Good luck and please keep us posted!
 
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    |           |         Ela Heyn                   /
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[Posted in FML issue 1731]