**The advice dispensed by myself in reference to FML postings is not meant
to supplant the advice of veterinarians who are in charge of the patient.
If the patient is not currently under the care of a veterinarian, the client
is recommended to take their ferret to one.**
 
>From:    Andy Slocombe <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Looking for remedies for cleaning blackheads from balding tail
>My older male Darwin has serious pore blockage on his tail, lots of
>blackheads.  In fact last night I was attending to several of them and a
>large quantity of oil came out near the tip of his tail...
 
Try Oxydex gel - available from your veterinarian.  It is a animal benzoyl
peroxide cream to flush out the blackheads.
 
>From:    Gary Holowicki <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Teeth cleaning
>FRITZ, GINA, et.al.
>I just had the teeth of my nine ferrets and a cat cleaned with them fully
>awake with a regular scraping method by a vet.  tech, with no side effects &
>not much discomfort.  Much safer than gassing them, especially since my
 
This will be a hard sell, but studies show that adequate subgingival
scraping (where tartar starts) can only be accomplished with the pet is
completely still .  Unanesthesized pets receive a less than adequate job and
the tartar and gingivitis recur much more quickly.  Your concerns about a 15
year old cat are valid concerning anesthesia.  In my opinion, the easy way
out is not anesthesizing your pet because it results in a poorer quality job
and a higher rate of recurrence.
 
>From:    Larry Kinney <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Advantage Flea adulticide
>Has anybody tried this on their ferrets?  Does it work?  How much is it?
>What do the vets think of it?
 
Theorically it should work without any side effects for the ferrets.  I
personally have not tried it on ferrets.  I have used Program from Ciba and
it works well and I have not heard of any side effects.
 
>From:    Jessica Park <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: A quick question about Lysodren...
>OK, I'm gonna make this a quickie: Is Lysodren known to cause internal
>hemorrhaging (sp) in ferrets? ...
 
This is not known to be a common side effect.  I would consider stress
related causes first.
 
>From:    Laura Ellis <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Dumb question
>Since it seems to be the season for blackheads on ferret tails (luckily none
>of my 5 have them yet) I was wondering something about a product you could
>use to treat them.  I have a prescription for something called Benzac ...
 
I am not sure if oral ingestion (those ferrets lick at the stuff) is okay
for the human products.
 
>From:    Stephanie Mudgett <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MEDICAL QUESTION - LESIONS
>Ted, has gotten over the course of a few months on three separate occasions
>a skin lesion on his upper ribs, kind of behind his armpit area.
 
Could be as simple as a little hair follicle infection.  Try a topical
antibiotic cream and see what happens.
 
>From:    Aliceon Fritz <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Help our Bandito
>We have a 3 yr old male ferret.  On June 24th our little guy underwent
>perineal urethrostomy surgery because of a blocked urtha (I understand this
>is not uncommon in male ferrets)...
 
Feline c/d and s/d diets are formulated to reduce the incidence of
ammonium-phosphorus- magnesium crystals.  Unfortunately ferrets do not seem
to have the same response to c/d and s/d as cats leading some ferret
researchers to believe that the crystals seen in ferrets are not
ammonium-phosphorus-magnesium composition.  Also c/s and s/d are a bit low
in protein for normal ferrets.
 
I would recommend that the crystals from your ferret this time be sent off
for qualitative analysis.  Dr. Carl Osborne at the Univ.  of Minnesota is a
leading authority and your vet should have the address.  Based on the
composition, hopefully an appropriate dietary solution can be found.  As
always, control any secondary or underlying urinary tract infections with
antibiotics.
 
Mike Dutton, DVM, DABVP
Weare Animal Hospital
Weare, NH.
[Posted in FML issue 1659]