>Subject: Re: Need Help Force Feeding With A Syringe Feeding sick ferrets: Jennifer, ALWAYS first try finger feeding rather than syringe feeding. Syringe feeding is essential when needed but can usually be avoided. Here are some resources (past posts and more) to help you. Some give the kinds of tips you need to avoid syringe feeding while others concentrate on syringe feeding itself. There are some errors in some such as listing ferrets as getting colds (which are from a rhinovirus they don't get though ferrets do get more serious things which can look like colds) so use your vet's advice and your best judgement with these truly fine resources. Call and clear what you are feeding and how you are feeding with your vet first. If syringe feeding is needed ASK FOR HANDS ON INSTRUCTION BY YOUR VET OR AN ASSIGNED VET TECH. http://www.afip.org/ferrets/babyfood.html http://www.everythingferret.com/caring_for_a_sick_ferret.htm http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/feeding.htm <http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_feeding.html> http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=540 Our link just got slow so I will count on you to check the many excellent posts on how to safely feed sick ferrets in the archives: http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ Here is some other recently shared info: Kibble can be hard on a some sore stomachs so try things like meat or poultry based baby foods and try finger feeding to introduce it. Sometimes they will eat more if sung to (not joking). Just put a towel on your lap and take your time. Smear some of the food on the ferret's lips and let the ferret taste it a few times till it is accepted. Avoid raw foods whenever ferrets are compromised; the bacterial load (sometimes parasite load, sometimes irritation from bones passing through by inflamed and easily injured tissues) can be too much for them. (I do not feed raw myself, but a healthy ferret usually can deal ok if the prey is well selected, but worse than with other balanced diets if poorly selected or poorly managed.) If there is a treat he likes that can be added to water to make the water especially attractive try that. If the ferret gags when you are syringe feeding then you are not doing it slowly enough in low enough amounts, and not enough to the front of the mouth. Never shoot food in, never insert large amounts, never aim it for the back of the mouth. Gagging is one of the indications that food could have been inhaled; that can cause aspiration pneumonia. It's a slow thing to feed sick ferrets. Singing can help relax them and ease the process, so can gentle talking. Take your time! It is because of the aspiration risk that syringe feeding is saved for extreme situations typically, and why so much finger, dropper-in-front-of face, and spoon feeding info is in the archives. We use the "Dr. Clown Spoon Dropper" with accordion pleat top and wide opening and have found that to be the best tool we've encountered in our decades with ferrets. A broad opening reduces the need to press hard enough that the food will shoot down the throat (an inhalation risk) Also reducing that risk is a special hand hold for syringes learned from an article by Dr. Deb Kemmerer Cottrell. Lay the syringe along your palm and hold it with your folded in fingers. Use your thumb to press the plunger. It feels awkward at first but you will find much better control results. Do be sure to check the archives. http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ 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/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5683]