ferret teeth

Question
QUESTION: Hi. I have two male ferrets that are both about 5 years old. I noticed a few
days ago that one of my ferrets is missing 3 of his bottom teeth. (one canine is
chipped but my dr. said it looked fine. all other canines are in good shape. its
just three of the tiny front ones) so i checked my other ferrets teeth, and he
is missing 2 on the bottom. I do brush their teeth occasionally (they really
hate it so I dont do it as often as I should, I'm sure) They eat 8in1 Ultimate
hard food, and the only treats they get are feline greenies and Chicken NBone
sticks. Their toys are plastic balls with bells and plush squeeky toys, but they
really arent chewers anyway. There is no sign of rotting or infection.No bad
breath, and their gums arent red. I have read that older ferrets do start losing
their teeth. But I was wondering if its anything I should worry about. I'm not
sure how long they've been missing. One of them was at the vet about a month ago
and my dr. didnt mention it. I'm sure i
ts not related, but one of them has adrenal disease (had surgery in Dec. where
they removed the left gland but the right is still affected) and he has been on
Lupron for about 9 months. My other ferret just got his first Lupron shot a few
days ago and we are moving toward an adrenal disease diagnosis. Like I said, I'm
sure its unrelated to their teeth, but just thought I'd let you know. Thank you
in advance.

ANSWER: Hi Nicole:

You are correct, the tooth problem is unrelated to the adrenal disease problem. The thing I would suspect is the greenies - those are pretty hard for ferrets. The Nbones are a good snack and 8 in 1 Ultimate is a pretty good food too, so I wouldn't really recommend any changes there.

Sometimes these things just happen, especiallly with something as hard as the Greenies in the mix. It could well have happened without them too, so don't feel guilty about it; but I would consider discontinuing those.

I think it's not that unusual for a ferret to break a tooth now and then - I think it's just a cooincidence that both your kids have broken teeth. Even the Nbones can get pretty hard if any uneaten pieces aren't picked up regularly - do you do that?  Just trying to think of anything to help you here, but I think it's pretty much a coincidence and not anything to worry about.  IF a tooth breaks down to the gum or where it leaves a sharp place, they need to be seen by a vet to be ground down so they don't cut their lips on the sharp places, but other than that, nothing to worry about, hon.  Sounds like you're a good ferret mommy and I really wouldn't change much except what I mentioned above.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much. I asked my vet about the greenies and she said they should be okay, but I'll try not giving them too many. They're very picky and those are the only treats ive found that theyll eat. I dont usually need to pick up the NBone pieces, because I split one between the two of them maybe once or twice a week so they gobble them up pretty quick. The vet thought maybe even the food could have caused the teeth breaking. its not broken a lot, its only a little bit on the tip, and my vet did check it out and said they both look fine as long as it doesnt seem to bother them, which is doesnt. Do you think the greenies could be the reason for the missing teeth? Either way, thank you for your help. I appreciate  it!

Answer
Hi again Nicole:

Ferrets are "obligate carnivores", which means their stomachs are made to digest ONLY meat and meat byproducts. They have no caecum, which is necessary to digest plant and plant materials, i.e. the contents of "greenies", therefore I don't recommend them. They basically just run through IF you're lucky and they don't get stuck and cause a blockage - which CAN happen with ferrets since they don't have a caecum.  If your vet said they are okay, then I would at least keep them to a very minimum and try increasing the Nbones instead and see if she doesn't do better on those.

I don't think any of them are capable of causing tooth loss tho, no.  So, I wouldn't worry about that.  Always read labels and make sure the ingredients are all meat and meat byproducts, NO sugars (or anything ending in "ose" like sucrose, lactose, glucose, etc.), no molasses, no honey, NO form of sugar at all. It was recently found that sugar causes insulinoma (cancer of the pancreas) and ferrets who have never had sugar in any form never get insulinoma. I am not aware of anything like that concerning vegetables, but I know they are not good for ferrets since they cannot digest them, but I certainly don't recommend them (i.e. greenies).

Hope that clarifies for you.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers