Stephenie wrote:
>To my knowledge I also have never had a ferret with a fur ball, that
>dose not mean only ferrets in the USA get them, I know plenty of people
>here in Holland who's ferrets have had a fur ball, even people who have
>always given their ferrets, lax, But as I said, "to my knowledge."  It
>has only been the last 15 years or so that I have asked my vet to do a
>necropsy
 
We personally don't use much in the way of laxative and tend to worry
about intestinal irritation that could happen if overused.  We reserve
the stuff for shedding seasons usually, and then rely more on combing.
Dislodging the loose fur in mechanical ways is better than having the
ferret dislodge it with the mouth.  For example, we had some crinkly
stiff paper "hay" that some fruit had been shipped in and put that into
a tall box.  The ferrets loved to roll and burrow in it and it removed a
lot of fur, greatly reducing the risk of fur balls.
 
In 25 years we have had only two ferrets who ever needed stomach surgery.
 
One of them was a male who came here because of multiple malformations
and he had an ever worsening stomach deformity that didn't allow ANYTHING
to move normally.  His stomach would hold even food for over 8 hours.
Surgeries gave him as much quality and length of life as possible but his
stomach finally shredded one night and he died in my arms at the early
age of late 5 years or early 6 years.  You can see why fur was a problem
for him.  His situation was anything but normal.
 
On checking, the other who LOOKED like he had a fur ball but what he
actually had was mostly composed of ARTIFICIAL FIBERS.  Most of it was
the fake fleece that is used in so very much bedding over here, and a
little looked to perhaps be from something lined with fake fur.  We no
longer buy anything with those fabrics exposed.  I have sewn sheeting
material over a number of the beds and the rest are put away and not
used until they can also be covered if I ever get some spare hours.  Nor
was our ferret the only one of whom I have read who turned out to have
that fabric as the source of the "fur" ball.  This is especially a
consideration if a ferret eats in bed ever, but even without that
behavior it needs to be thought about.  Almost no one who has this type
of surgery has the item checked to see if it really is fur of if it make
be fake fleece, and I really wish people would check that more often.
BTW, covering the fake fleece makes the beds last dramatically longer and
they need to go fewer times through the washer to come clean.  I have to
admit that I WINCE when I see so many beds with exposed fake fleece just
because of Jumpstart's experience.  I do NOT know how common this content
is (nor does anyone else as far as I know) but I sure do wonder how many
furballs really aren't FURballs but are caused by the commercially
available bedding types here.  We personally never had a problem until we
had those beds and we have not had a problem since we covered the beds
with sheeting material.
 
The big thing a furball meds tries to achieve is not as much the loose
stools as it is having an undigestible aspect such as petroleum jelly
or wax to soften and snag the fur and pull it out more easily.
 
BTW, rabbit fur breaks down differently and more easily than ferret
fur which is why the approaches for the two differ.  That info is in
the archives.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5220]