Respiratory infection that is being treated: skip any OTCs (over the
counter meds) unless the vet approves them first because too many are
dangerous and even fatal for ferrets.  Try plain steam, holding a ferret
high while steaming up a bathroom, etc.  If you have a clothing steamer
those work well.  Just take precautions to not burn or over-heat the
ferret by using distance and times away from the steam.  Of course, okay
it with with the treating vet in the same phone call message asking about
the other stuff.  Just call the office asking for a call-back and have
your questions next to the phone for when it rings.  You did exactly the
right thing having chest x-rays done.
 
I'm afraid that I can't recall offhand what combo of antibiotics we had
when Meeteetse had pneumonia and pleurisy, but you might be able to find
that and certainly will find what others and their vets used in the
archives here at
http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
or the Ferret Health List Archives at
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/
 
Interesting, salt is not often mentioned as possibly playing into things
with ferret heart disease, so your's is among not all that common
situations.  Am I right in assuming that there is one heck of an ascites
problem for your sweetheart?  We had to watch it with two -- with one
that turned out to not be a needed caution, but the other one even had
peripheral edema.
 
With a/d another time to use an alternative when possible (in this case
all-meat baby food) is when the ferret's body is having trouble digesting
fat as seen with some bird seed stools but needs an easy to digest food.
 
a/d is a WONDERFUL food; it's just not perfect but since nothing is that
should not be a surprise.  The world lacks cure-alls or perfection --
which is just a fact of life thing and not a fault -- and therefore we
quest for improvement or we dream of demi-gods.  Hopefully, we don't
throw up our hands in the way of too many folks in _1984_ and just
accept things without checking on them, especially the important things.
That is said knowing that too much double-speak abounds in the world.
(Verify, verify, verify, think, think, think, and especially question,
question, question, question, question...)  This a/d thing is just one
example; it's great but it sure isn't perfect anymore than anything
earthbound is.
 
As usual, I am not a vet and also as usual, nothing -- absolutely
nothing -- replaces hands on vet care.
[Posted in FML issue 4121]