Q: "You mentioned putting petromalt into gelatin caps...where can I get
 some?" "I am interested in your opinion on starting [my ferret] on
 [hairball] treatment....You are a sane & funny voice amongst the madness!"
 
A: Are you talking about me?  Sane? Yeah, right....
 
Here is a piece of trivia; do you know what a trichobezoar is?  It is a
rounded or elongated mass of felted hair resulting from ingesting the
debris of grooming.  That's tricho as in hairy, and bezoar as in
gastrointestinal stone, or simply put, a hairy "stone" from inside your
guts (some people think a bezoar has magical or pharmaceutical properties
but they've never seen what my cat barfs up).  The reason they are called
"felted" is the interior tends to be a mass of very fine, wool-like hair.
They normally form inside the stomach, and in ferrets, gastric
trichobezoars are not uncommon (they may not be as common as suspected,
either).  Sometimes, they cause pyloric (that's the valve between the
stomach and intestines) or intestinal blockages, so prevention is a lot
better than curing, unless you like your ferret's innards being explored
by vets.  ME?  I'd rather date a rabid pig than have someone tickle the
inner me.
 
The felted interior is the problem, or rather, the composition of the
felted interior.  It is mostly composed of fine underfur.  These fine hairs
are generally trapped in small bits of bone and other carcass debris when a
wild carnivore eats prey, but in animals that consume commercial foods, the
stomach contents are thin and watery and don't catch the tiny hairs as
well.  So, they tend to accumulate in the stomach, especially during the
fall and spring molting seasons, or when the ferret has a disease that
causes hair loss.  Sometimes the hairs are sort of glued together with a
mixture of "digested particles cemented with various calcium compounds."
I've seen plenty of gastric trichobezoars from ferrets and some are
surprisingly hard from minor calcification.  The bottom line is, since
petroleum jelly is inert, and passes through without harm (and gives
positive benefits) it doesn't hurt to give a dose once every couple of
weeks, or twice a week in shedding season.  All benefit, no harm.
 
Most hairball laxatives are just flavored petroleum jelly, although some
contain an enzyme which helps break up hairballs.  I went to a the local
pet supply and read the ingredient lists on various brands and types of
petroleum jelly hairball laxatives (dog, cat, ferret, rabbit, etc.), and
could find no significant difference (but if I am wrong, I'd appreciate
being corrected).  All you have to do is pick up a ferret brand and compare
the label to the other types.  I think the big difference is in the taste,
so it might be useful to try several types if they turn up their nose to
petromalt.  Here is a money saving tip.  Vaseline petroleum jelly works
just as good as those expensive "pet" brands and is really cheap; you can
save a lot of money by filling a couple of small gel caps with vaseline
and dosing your ferret that way.  I use vaseline in gel caps.
 
I buy various sizes of gelatin capsules in bulk.  I actually use them to
store and protect the small bones and teeth I study, but soon realized they
were quite useful in ferret applications as well.  For example, when Stella
was ill, I needed to give her a medicine she despised.  Twice a day, there
was medicine all over the place but inside Stella, and a very stressed
out ferret and owner.  You've been there.  Out of desperation, I put the
medicine inside a tiny gel cap and used a 'sticky stick" to dose her.  Now,
I routinely administer nasty tasting medicines to my ferrets using gel
caps.  I slick it up with ferretone or a bit of nutrical, then give them a
drink of unsalted chicken broth to make sure it went down.  The goofs think
they are getting a treat.  I do not load them until needed, and I give them
immediately because the liquid medicine will dissolve the capsule.
 
There are lots of places to buy gel caps, which run about $20/1000
(depending on size).  There are dozens of web-sites (try
http://www.herbsnmore.com/gelatincapsules.html), or you might be able to
get them from from animal supply stores, body building centers, local
pharmacy, or even your vet.  You usually have to buy lots of 1000, but the
costs can be shared by several people who won't need as many as a shelter
or nut like me.
 
Bob C and 16 Mo' Gel Cap Carnivores
[Posted in FML issue 3028]