Felia, Both you and Wolfy have valid points. I'd like to mention that you really should have asked your vet first because you were combining drugs when your ferret got the valium on top of the caffeine, and combining drugs can at times work out very badly. There are some studies in ferrets involving diazepam (Valium). Most are in combination with some other drugs for tranquilizing or anesthesia but some things attributed to ferrets when diazapam was in the mix ***as opposed to other tranquilizers in the mix*** include: muscle rigidity (when used with Ketamine) inability to completely block pain (when used with Ketamine) respiratory depression _Biology and Diseases of the Ferret_ mentions higher heart rates with the med combo than without, and 21% of the ferrets had premature ventricular contractions, so that might be an indicator of a possible increases risk rate factor when used along with caffeine, just as the inability of diazapam to reduce muscle rigidity in ferrets might indicate that it wouldn't be best for one form of caffeine induced discomfort. Here are a few of those: <http://books.google.com/books?id=CSFN5H8RSaEC&pg=PA465&lpg=PA465&dq=Diazepam+%2Bferret&source=bl&ots=Mb51pTJR10&sig=EvXbGNP90zCIrwcZOHj7qk4j8iE&hl=en&ei=wC6wSYXbKJ3etgeXrJX5BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result> http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/34/5/407 http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/234 Lab Anim Sci. 1985 Jun;35(3):287-90 Now, it may have been worth trying enough that the vet would have said to just go ahead, but unless you have a background in veterinary pharmacology you can't know that for sure. I think this is a common oversight. Many people forget that some meds of any type (including herbal), some foods, or some supplements should be avoided with certain medications. Sadly, the outcomes are not always as harmless as this choice was this time. 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.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 6267]
