making grinding noises

Question
I noticed today that my ferret thelma has been making weird noises and grinding her teeth.. She drank some water and made the noises again.I havent seen her eat all day so i gave her and louise my other ferret new food she still didnt eat.. All shes doind is laying ther and her nose is really dry .. she looks almost like shes in a daze.. Please help and explain why shes doing this
thanks jessi

Answer
Hi Jessi:

Soundns like your little girl has a tummy ache. That's what makes them grind their teeth. Especially if you changed her food and she isn't eating, she probably needs food. Even if it's there, if she's not eating it, it's not doing her any good.  

She is acting like she's in a daze because she probably has low blood sugar from not eating.  Again, the solution is to get food in her. Once she gets to the stage of grinding her teeth, she may have an ulcer. You can get a PEPCID A/C (SMALL TABLET type) and dissolve it in 5cc of water. Then give 1/2cc every six hours by mouth. This will help her tummy ache. Be sure to get the Pepcid that is the small tablet. You can crush it between two spoons to help get it dissolved quicker.  Still, she needs food to get better.  Continue to give the Pepcid for one week after she stops grinding her teeth to be sure her ulcer has healed.

Get some of the food she used to eat and let her eat all she wants. That will solve her tummy problems right now.  Then, start to change over to the new food very very very slowly.  First week you only add a few kibbles of the new food to her old food. She may not even eat them, but they will pick up the smell of her food and her food will pick up their smell. After a week, add about 10 pieces of the new food to her regular food. Then after about a month you will be feeding 1/4th new food and 3/4 old food in the same bowl mixed together.  If she still refuses the new food when you get to 1/2 and 1/2, maybe she isn't going to eat the new food.  

Is the new food better for her than the old food?  Do you have a really good reason for changing foods?  Unless the old food is really bad for her, it may not be worth changing her food. Most people do feed a combination of two and even three or four different kibble foods mixed together so they don't become picky. A ferret that gets only one food can become really picky (like your little one may be doing) and can even starve themselves to death refusing to eat a new food!!  So, it's really important to get food in her ASAP!

Do you feed her duck soup?  If so, I would recommend making that for her at least twice a day for a week or 10 days to help that tummy heal.  A great, easy 'duck soup' is made by taking a couple tablespoons of Hill's A/D Feline canned food (get it at your vet's office), warm it in the microwave and add a few tablespoons of water until it's the thickness of gravy you would put on your mashed potatoes. Be sure it's not too hot, but nice and warm (test with your finger), then dip your finger in it, then touch the ferret's nose. She will probably gag a few times. Have a paper towel handy ready to clean up the mess and continue to feed it anyway. She will get used to it and it will help heal her tummy.  Keep trying - if you get even a little down her twice a day for a week, she will get used to it and then you'll have a good 'duck soup' recipe for when things like this happen. Ferrets can get deathly ill and even die when they stop eating, so it's very important to have a secondary 'soup' they will eat and they are familiar with in case they get sick or stop eating their regular food - they MUST eat three times a day. If you can't get food down her and she continues to be weak and dazed, get her to the vet for intravenous fluids or she will die.  A ferret can die in less than one day without eating or drinking.  

If you can even get her to drink water - warm a little water and dribble Ferretone on the surface to get her to drink it - that will help too.  If she won't eat or drink, she really needs to get fluids from your vet. It's urgent that you not wait. You must find an emergency vet if you can't get ahold of your own vet - otherwise you will lose her. Being dazed is the stage right before seizures, then death. Please don't take this lightly. She needs fluids and/or food immediately...if she won't/can't get some in her, get her to a vet ASAP.

Best of luck - you and your little one are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers