Pepto Bismol is "bad" for ferrets because they hate it so much. It's used for treating stomach ailments, but it tastes so bad to ferrets and stresses them out so much when you try to give it that the stress can actually CAUSE stomach ailments or make the existing ones worse. The end result is that the stress of giving it can cause more problems than the medicine solves. Ask your vet for some Carafate (sucralfate) instead. You usually get it in tablet form that you have to dissolve in water, but you can find liquid preps these days, too. Ask your vet to find the liquid for you if they don't have it on hand. This is great stuff, doesn't taste bad like Pepto, and forms kind of a temporary "bandage" on the damaged parts of the stomach. (Its action is nothing like Pepto's, but it is actually better than Pepto if you're talking ulcers - damage to the stomach - rather than just indigestion.) The active ingredient in Pepto is bismuth subsalicylate. Aspirin is salicylic acid. Don't let the similarity in names fool you though. Sure, monster doses of Pepto may do some harm, but you would be very lucky to get that much into your ferret in the first place. The stress of feeding it to them is what harms them. Unless I've fallen behind the times (again), I believe the current recommended protocol for stomach problems is Carafate, amoxicillin and Biaxin. Both antibiotics are needed to knock down the Helicobacter overgrowth that comes with and causes ulcers - either alone will not do the job. The older protocol was Pepto, metronidazole and amoxi, but the metronidazole causes the same stress problems that the Pepto does. If you're seeing red blood in the stool, then you're looking at a lower intestinal problem rather than a stomach problem. Blood from stomach ulcers gets partially digested, resulting in black, tarry-looking stools. Neither Pepto nor Carafate is going to help in that case. You will need to point this out to your vet and have them look more urgently into why his intestines are bleeding. The solution may very well be surgical. (Honestly, a proper diagnosis may have to be as well.) Best of luck to you both and your kids. roger (not a vet) [Posted in FML issue 4475]