http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922&messageid=2008
 
Author wrote:
>Does anybody know how Paracetamol/ Acetaminophen poisoning would
>progress in a ferret and how quickly it would/ could kill the ferret?
>Could it cause a drop in body temperature to the point where the
>temperature is below normal values?  Fast heart rate, difficulty
>breathing, very depressed and lethargic ferret.  Very smelly diarrhoea.
>No vomiting though.  The owner tried to give the ferret paracetamol, I
>don't know if she succeeded so I asked her again but the ferret was very
>sick and died at the vets.
 
The progress is due mainly to the amount given - but it usually takes
24 hours or more, and it is not pretty.  Tylenol is a hepatotoxin in
ferrets, cats, and most other pet species (and is not the safest drug
for humans).
 
The terminal drop in body temperature is a sign of shock, not of the
effects of the drug.  If this owner succeeded in administering tylenol,
they likely succeeding in killing their ferret.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3950]