My ferret is vomiting

Question
My lil Georgie had one vomiting episode..so far...but is looking so sad and tired...It was brown and almost looks like a bowl movement...what should I do?

Answer
Hi Holly:

Hopefully your lil Georgie is not still vomiting.  I usually allow my ferrets *one* session of vomiting, as they can occasionally feel cruddy just like we do. However, if he is acting very ill, which I think is what you are trying to tell me, then I would take the vomiting a bit more seriously.  Pawing at the roof of his mouth and/or drooling also mean he is feeling sick to his stomach.

Do you give him ferret/cat laxatives regularly?  Does he play in an area that is reeeeally well ferretproofed and you are just positive he hasn't eaten something like a rubberband, foam or rubber ear plug, pencil eraser, or any other similar item?  If he has access to those items, the chance is good that he has an intestinal blockage.  Or, if he grooms himself or another ferret, he is also likely to have a blockage if he doesn't get lax on a regular basis.

Once a ferret exhibits symptoms of a blockage, i.e. vomiting or pooping very skinny or scant poops, he probably needs surgery to remove the blockage. This is a medical emergency and you can't wait until Monday; you can't wait even until morning if he is sick in the night and vomits what you believe looks like stool (poops). This indicates that he does have a full blockage and needs surgery or his bowels may perforate (tear).

I recommend Vetasyl to keep intestinal tract healthy. I open one capsule into 8-oz of very warm watery Uncle Jim's Duk Soup Mix (two level teaspoonsful of the mix to 8-oz of water).  Open the capsule of Vetasyl and immediately blend the contents into the warm mix as best you can and feed IMMEDIATELY to the ferret.....as much as he/she will eat. My big male ferret will actually eat the whole 8 oz!  Then he is pretty sluggish afterwards tho.  

The Vetasyl expands once ingested and works like Metamucil works for people - it scrubs the interior walls of the intestines and pushes any small bits or partial blockages out in the poops.   I give vetasyl for one meal (at bedtime) for three days in a row.  The ferret will probably pass fur and/or other items all during the three days, but a fourth dose doesn't seem to do much; whatever is going to come out will come out in the first three days of treatment. You can watch the stools and actually will see stuff that passes too.   

My personal experience was: I had always given my kids ferretlax regularly, but when I gave Vetasyl the first time, my big male ferret passed a hairball the size and shape of my little finger on the third day of treatment!!  He was *almost* completely blocked and I had no idea!  He also passed several smaller hairballs in addition to this huge one!  This after very very regular lax for his entire life. For this reason, I highly recommend the Vetasyl. It definitely saved my boy from a certain surgery if he had not received it when he did.  I had noticed that his poops seemed a bit small compared to what he used to do - sure enough, this huge 'finger' shaped hairball came out!

I do NOT recommend that you give Vetasyl treatments to a ferret that is vomiting, however.  The vetasyl treatments are a preventative and MUST be given  to avoid blockages, not as a remedy for blockage, as it may cause the bowel to perforate with the extra bulk it adds if the ferret cannot eliminate well.

Best of luck - be sure to get him to the vet a.s.a.p. if he is still vomiting. If not, consider giving him a Vetasyl treatment. You can add the capsule into any flavored watery 'soup' (there are recipes galore online for ferret 'duck soup')  The more water or liquid he takes when he takes the vetasyl, the better it will work, so be sure you mix it with enough water when giving it.  Vetasyl is available from most online pet supply places and many local ones too....same with the Uncle Jim's Duk Soup Mix (by Marshalls).

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers