Raisins in high enough amounts (which isn't many for ferrets) have
caused acute (sudden) kidney failure in too many ferrets, dogs, and
cats so be careful.
The cause remains unknown. A number of possible culprits have been
investigated and eliminated. One current hypothesis is that raisins and
grapes may have more Vitamin D than ferrets, cats or dogs can safely
ingest. Too much D is a known hazard for the three (unlike humans who
often get too little).
Although you can read about this poisoning type in ferrets in a past
Ferrets Magazine article and in at least one ASPCA Animal Poisoning
Control Center article, and read about it in cats in several places,
most articles and investigations are about dog poisonings.
Sadly, Vet Rec is beginning to not send abstracts to places like Pub
Med so it becomes impossible to know if some articles may have useful
new info.
We are getting into a time of year when more people may have dangerous
foods like raisins, macadamia nuts, cocoa, and dark chocolate around
so, please, remember that according to the ASPCA APCC articles each of
these is potentially fatal for ferrets.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/http://ferrethealth.org/archive/http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
[Posted in FML 6508]
