I can't believe it, but I did it.
 
Our Chili was in hammock with our youngest but largest male laying on top
of him.  Chili had his head hanging over the edge, his nose inches from
the carpet in the cage.  This is common; they always sleep like this.  I
noticed his eye partially open and his mouth slightly parted as though he
was anticipating a yawn.
 
At that point, my wife came in and I called her over to look at what I
thought, for the moment, was a "cute" setting.  Suddenly, Chili exhaled a
deep breath and a fading whimper and then his mouth opened and his tongue
rolled out.  His eyes stayed partly opened.
 
We both panicked.  My wife opened the cage and pulled him out.  He was
totally limp.  I firmly squeezed his feet and tickled his belly, hoping to
get a reaction.  I was certain he had simply gotten the blood and air cut
off to his brain and was dead.
 
He was nothing more than a corpse in my wife's now shaking arms.  Without a
second though, I gently opened his mouth, got the smallest of breaths in my
mouth and quickly and lightly puffed it into his mouth.  I kept my hand
gently around his chest so I could feel if his lungs expanded- they did.  I
blew once again and waited.
 
Slowly, his mouth closed, his eyes opened, and he gasped.  Then he was
totally back to normal, as though nothing happened.  We were both coming
down off the worst panic I think we've ever felt.
 
I can't recall where I read it, but a vet posted or published guidelines
for giving CPR to ferrets some time ago and I read it mostly out of
curiosity, never once thinking I'd ever have to use it.  My wife, Chili,
and I are thankful I did.
[Posted in FML issue 2699]