Q: "You mentioned putting petromalt into gelatin caps...where can I get some?" "I am interested in your opinion on starting [my ferret] on [hairball] treatment....You are a sane & funny voice amongst the madness!" A: Are you talking about me? Sane? Yeah, right.... Here is a piece of trivia; do you know what a trichobezoar is? It is a rounded or elongated mass of felted hair resulting from ingesting the debris of grooming. That's tricho as in hairy, and bezoar as in gastrointestinal stone, or simply put, a hairy "stone" from inside your guts (some people think a bezoar has magical or pharmaceutical properties but they've never seen what my cat barfs up). The reason they are called "felted" is the interior tends to be a mass of very fine, wool-like hair. They normally form inside the stomach, and in ferrets, gastric trichobezoars are not uncommon (they may not be as common as suspected, either). Sometimes, they cause pyloric (that's the valve between the stomach and intestines) or intestinal blockages, so prevention is a lot better than curing, unless you like your ferret's innards being explored by vets. ME? I'd rather date a rabid pig than have someone tickle the inner me. The felted interior is the problem, or rather, the composition of the felted interior. It is mostly composed of fine underfur. These fine hairs are generally trapped in small bits of bone and other carcass debris when a wild carnivore eats prey, but in animals that consume commercial foods, the stomach contents are thin and watery and don't catch the tiny hairs as well. So, they tend to accumulate in the stomach, especially during the fall and spring molting seasons, or when the ferret has a disease that causes hair loss. Sometimes the hairs are sort of glued together with a mixture of "digested particles cemented with various calcium compounds." I've seen plenty of gastric trichobezoars from ferrets and some are surprisingly hard from minor calcification. The bottom line is, since petroleum jelly is inert, and passes through without harm (and gives positive benefits) it doesn't hurt to give a dose once every couple of weeks, or twice a week in shedding season. All benefit, no harm. Most hairball laxatives are just flavored petroleum jelly, although some contain an enzyme which helps break up hairballs. I went to a the local pet supply and read the ingredient lists on various brands and types of petroleum jelly hairball laxatives (dog, cat, ferret, rabbit, etc.), and could find no significant difference (but if I am wrong, I'd appreciate being corrected). All you have to do is pick up a ferret brand and compare the label to the other types. I think the big difference is in the taste, so it might be useful to try several types if they turn up their nose to petromalt. Here is a money saving tip. Vaseline petroleum jelly works just as good as those expensive "pet" brands and is really cheap; you can save a lot of money by filling a couple of small gel caps with vaseline and dosing your ferret that way. I use vaseline in gel caps. I buy various sizes of gelatin capsules in bulk. I actually use them to store and protect the small bones and teeth I study, but soon realized they were quite useful in ferret applications as well. For example, when Stella was ill, I needed to give her a medicine she despised. Twice a day, there was medicine all over the place but inside Stella, and a very stressed out ferret and owner. You've been there. Out of desperation, I put the medicine inside a tiny gel cap and used a 'sticky stick" to dose her. Now, I routinely administer nasty tasting medicines to my ferrets using gel caps. I slick it up with ferretone or a bit of nutrical, then give them a drink of unsalted chicken broth to make sure it went down. The goofs think they are getting a treat. I do not load them until needed, and I give them immediately because the liquid medicine will dissolve the capsule. There are lots of places to buy gel caps, which run about $20/1000 (depending on size). There are dozens of web-sites (try http://www.herbsnmore.com/gelatincapsules.html), or you might be able to get them from from animal supply stores, body building centers, local pharmacy, or even your vet. You usually have to buy lots of 1000, but the costs can be shared by several people who won't need as many as a shelter or nut like me. Bob C and 16 Mo' Gel Cap Carnivores [Posted in FML issue 3028]