My friends ferret

Question
My friends ferret has worms and she has an appiontment with her vet tommorrow to treat but he is showing signs of severe fatigue and dehydration I suggested water fed by dropper and pedialyte is there anything else she can do to help keep him through the night untill the vet visit? a respond ASAP would be appreciated thank you.

Answer
Hi Jessica,

Yes, would be a good idea if he is not eating, to get some food down him.  Always remember ferrets eat ONLY MEAT PRODUCTS, so, short of getting some Hills A/D (my opinion, BEST supplement available for sick ferrets...maybe she can at least get some tomorrow, as only available at vet offices) at the vet to make a soupy/gravy consistency food, she can get chicken, turkey or even pork baby food MEAT ONLY, not the meals with veggies, etc.  Worst things for ferrets are sugar in ANY form - any ingredient that ends in "ose" is sugar - check labels on everything you give them, veggies, fruit, milk, raisins(poisonous, cause kidney failure even in  small amounts just FYI) .  Make a gravy thickness mixture, warm, stir with finger to avoid hot spots, and put some on her finger, wiggle it into where it is on his tongue a few times, make him taste it.  Once he tries it, he should willingly eat it, if not from a spoon, then definitely will lick it off her fingers.  This will help keep his strength up. Let him eat as much as possible, refrigerate leftovers and continue to offer it every three hours.

So glad he has a vet appointment.  Worms are okay to nurse along a day or two, whereas most ferret-sick problems can become deadly in 24-hrs or less, as they hide illness until nearly dead, so always be one step ahead and get them in no later than 24-hrs after first noticing illness....and support with water thru syringe (slowly, give them time to swallow) and some "duck soup" is what ferret folks call a myriad of recipies folks have conjured up over the years (so you can look some up online if you want).  No duck to it...just named after the ferret named Duck, whose mommy figured out that giving these concoctions by mouth could save their lives, so continues to be called duck soupin his honor. :-)  i just use Hills A/D...figure the best animal nutritionists know better than I what a sick ferret really needs.

Any more problems, don't hesitate to come back here, but I can't control how quickly they will forward the question...if you go to my Facebook group THUNDERING FERRET PAWS, there are folks, experienced ferret folks, from all over the world who are very helpful 24/7 pretty much.  Hope to see her, or you...or both there!

Hope this answered your question.  Thanks for the honor of helping this little guy.  Will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers