Ferret throwing up once a week

Question
Ever since we purchased one of newer male ferrets he has thrown up once a week. The content is either clear or yellow. We have seen two different vets who always put him on medication and say 'stomach infection'. The ferret appears totally healthy aside from the throwing up, he even has healthy stools. I should also mention that when he throws up it shoots pretty far and that we have 4 other ferrets who also appear very healthy and do not throw up.

Can ferrets like dogs or cats just randomly throw up for no real worrisome reason?

Out of all the years I have owned ferrets this one is a great mystery to me.

We feed our ferrets a combination of totally ferret food, eukennuba and iams.   

His age is 8 months.

Answer
Hi Maureen:

Wow, that IS an unusual symptom. It is not *normal* for ferrets to vomit.  A ferret who vomits usually has something going on.  However, I usually don't start worrying until they vomit more than one time...then it's off to the vet to find a cause.

The most common causes for vomiting can incude partial blockage (which is the most dangerous), irritable bowel or other chronic digestive problems, or even an allergy to food.

Since the most dangerous problem would be a partial blockage (and this may not be detected by a vet if it's only a partial blockage), I would want to be sure that is off the table as a possibility.  

I give my kids a product called Vetasyl, which is a bulking agent, instead of goopy, sugary ferret or cat laxatives.  You can get it at most online pet supply stores and maybe even locally if you have a good pet store.  To make it as I do, you will also need Uncle Jim's Duk Soup Mix, a powdered *soup* mix in a jar.

I open one capsule of Vetasyl (throw the capsule itself away and use only the contents) into 8 oz of very warm water and two level teaspoons of Uncle Jim's Duk Soup Mix. Stir well and hold ferret while he eats as much of it as he can.  If you hold him, you will know how much he actually gets down. My big male ferret eats the whole 8 oz! Whatever watery soup your kids will eat, maybe baby food in lots of warm water, or pedialyte - whatever way you can get 8 oz, or even close to it, down your ferret, use that to put the vetasyl in.  Whatever he doesn't eat immediately, toss away.

Since you have other ferrets, it would be a good idea to separate this ferret from the others while you do this treatment so you know exactly what he has pooped out and you will know if this helps him eliminate something that has been in his intestines.   I feed the 8-oz mixture ONCE A DAY FOR THREE DAYS IN A ROW.  I give it at bedtime; and to all ferrets about every other week to keep them clear of hairballs. I do not use vaseline/petroleum-based hairball remedies, as they just don't work. Vetasyl literally swells up and moves thru the bowel like Metamucil works for people, taking along with it whatever it finds in the bowel - it's a great way to clean them out. You *MUST* be sure he gets plenty of fluids with the Vetasyl; keep stirring the mixture with your finger as he eats it.

The first time I gave this Vetasyl three-day treatment to my big male ferret (who had a previous hairball blockage even tho I had given hairball remedy weekly every since he was a tiny kit) he passed a hairball the size and shape of my little finger on the third night after I fed him the concoction. One end of the hairball had green pus all over it - he was ready to have a serious problem. I was SO happy to have averted surgery. His only symptom was that his poops *possibly* seemed smaller than usual and he had vomited once. No one has reported their ferret passing anything beyond the third consecutive night of treatment, so three days in a row are needed, but more than three are not necessary.  This treatment is so much better & more effective than the goopy lax I used to give them!

After you try this, if he still vomits, I recommend you take him to a vet who specializes in ferrets, or "exotics". Most dog and cat vets just don't know enough about ferrets to know what to look for.  The vet may decide to take a radiograph or give him some barium so he can check out his swallowing mechanism, esophagus, and watch the food via xray as it travels thru his body. He will probably also (if it hasn't been done already) draw blood and have a full panel of tests run to eliminate the possibilities of illness/disease.

If the specialty vet has run these tests and cannot find anything physically wrong with the ferret, I would then try changing his food to something completely different.  If his current food is chicken and rice, I would seek out a different meat source such as turkey (or any other) and corn as the second ingredient. There are many allergy diets out there for cats that would be worthwhile trying. It is *always* hard to change a ferret's food, as they imprint on their food at a young age, but it can be done if you are patient and change him over a little bit at a time, adding more and more to the bowl until he is eating all new food.  

Why *something* only makes him vomit once a week is the thing that is baffling.  Once you have eliminated the possibility of a partial blockage and/or a physical deformity of any kind in his digestive tract, and he does not have an allergy to the main ingredients in his food - as long as he only vomits once a week, you may choose to just watch him closely to be sure he doesn't develop other symptoms; make sure he's eating regularly and keep up on his bowel health by giving the Vetasyl on a regular basis (I give it every other week on the weekend).

Here are several lists of ferret vets that other ferret owners use and have recommended. Hopefully one or more are in your area - IF you are unsure of the vets you have tried already. (since you didn't say where you live, I will put all the lists here for you)

VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm   (British Columbia)
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

VETS  UK & IRELAND:  
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/vetlist.htm

VET INFO/ LIST OF FERRET GROUPS/ CONTACTS IN UK, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY & DENMARK:       
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-overseas.html (scroll down page to find the one you are looking for)

VET TO VET HELP: (procedure videos & phone consultations)
* http://www.westendanimal.com   Dr. Deborrah Kemmerer *order medical procedure videos (vets)
* http://www.bradleyhills.com   Dr. Charles Weiss - *does vet to vet telephone consultations for a fee*

If you feel the vets you have already been to were thorough and have already run these tests and xray exams, then you may wish to stick with your own vet and do whatever he recommends.

I will be curious to see what surprises your little guy may pass when you do the Vetasyl in his soup for three days.  Please write again and let me know if anything comes out of significance?  I have been hearing some really incredibly stories about how well this stuff works and how it removes junk for ferret tummies that have been on ferret or cat laxatives for years.  The goopy lax's just don't work!  Let me know, okay?

Best of luck. I will look forward to hearing from you if you find anything out.  Please give the little guy a <<<<hug>>> for me!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers