Shots & Food for New Ferrets

Question
QUESTION: Hi Jacquie,
I have a 6 month old jill, named "Boo" (she is sooo gorgeous!) and I've been told by the Pet Shop owner that all I can feed her is IAMS cat food.  I'll be seeing my vet on Thursday for her first vaccination, but he doesn't have much ferret 'experience'!  Basically, I'm wondering if it's okay to feed Boo a raw chicken wing or two occasionally?  My cat (Riley) loves them, and since ferrets are supposed to be meat-eaters, I'm hoping I can give her these to supplement her dry food diet?  At the moment she quite likes grated carrot and has nibbled at apple as well.  Any other 'treat' ideas that may tempt her would also be appreciated.  Kind regards, Elle & Boo!

ANSWER: Hi Elle & Boo!

Congratulations on your new little one! I'm just wondering if you are Boo's first owner, and if possibly she has already had her vaccinations?  Usually she would have them at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age.  The would be an increased danger of a reaction if you are duplicating vaccinations, so it may well be a good idea to try to find out her previous history before she gets any vaccinations.  At any rate, be SURE she has a shot of benadryl about 15 minutes before her vaccination and then stay at the vet's office for about 15-30 minutes afterwards.  I got my little girl when she was about three months old and her previous owner had apparently already given her all her vaccinations (and i had no way to know this, as she was just dropped off at the pet store) and she had a horrible reaction when she got her second vaccination from my vet.  Actually my it wasn't my regular vet and this vet didn't know how to handle an anaphylactic reaction, so I almost lost her. Even tho she had her benadryl pre-shot, immediately after her distemper shot, she went limp in my arms and blood shot out her mouth and her anus - I was just sure she was dead!  The vet immediately took her to the back room and gave her a shot of epinephrine in the heart and put her on oxygen.  She had to do that three times before my ferret finally came back to us.  Fortunately, I had followed them into the back room (I was too worried about my ferret to care what they thought) and I kept talking to her, calling her name, etc.  The vet even had them change the oxygen mask they had on my ferret so she could see me, because every now and then she would try to rally back, hearing my voice, and then she would go off again. I literally put my face down on the table and kept calling my ferrets name and telling her to come to mommy.  When all was said and done, my vet said the meds she gave her helped her come back ,but the most incredible thing was the way she responded to my voice - so in case of emergency, do NOT let them take the ferret away from you - STAY WITH THE FERRET.  Make sure your vet knows BEFORE the shot what to do in case of a reaction (this vet was new and had to look it up!!!)  I thought I would die as she turned pages frantically trying her best to help, but I was so helpless! All I could do was hold the oxygen on her little face and call her back to me.....which, in the end, is what the vet said made the difference between life and death.  She said that was the most 'dead' she had ever had an animal be and come back from it and she attributed it to my keeping my cool and talking to her, calling her name and using words she knows.  To this day, my ferret cannot have a distemper shot, so I have to be realllllly careful with her, as distemper is incredibly contagious.  You just might want to contact the pet store and see if Boo has spent that whole six months in their store without her shots.  She received her FIRST SHOT before leaving the breeder, so has only two more, then her rabies shot (given separately, but also with benadryl first), then that's all for this year.

As far as treats go, ferrets tend to "imprint" on their food, what they have when they are young. The pet store is having you give her Iams Kitten Chow because that's what they've been feeding her. To change to a nice, top quality ferret food like Totally Ferret, Path Valley, or 8 in 1 ULTIMATE (only), you can mix a little of the new food in with her old food and continue to increase the amount of the new and less of the old until you have either a half and half mixture (a good idea) or all the way over to the new food.  It's a good idea to mix two or three different top quality foods mixed together - that way your ferret will be more likely to eat foods  in case somebody changes their formulation (Iams changed theirs a few years ago actually and a lot of ferret folks who were feeding it had a horrible time getting their kids to eat anything else!)

Ferrets are "obligate carnivores" (meat eaters ONLY), therefore, you really shouldn't feed her carrot pieces OR any other fruit or vegetable products.....but either cooked chicken meat without bones OR raw chicken WITH bones (when you cook the bones, they get brittle and dangerous to eat).  At six months of age, she is almost full grown (seven months they are considered adult), so she may not be too willing to try new things. Be careful with raw meats - keep them fresh and remove them if they aren't eaten right away.  The best 'treats' in my opinion are Ferretlax or cat laxative to keep their intestinal tract free of obstructions, "foamy fries" in raisin or molasses flavor (that's what my kids like anyway), or any of the gelatin products for ferrets (by Hyperfur) that you can get at Ferret Depot or The Ferret Store, and the treats by Totally Ferret.  Those are the ONLY things I give my kids.  The giving of treats is really only for people's well being, not for the ferrets :-) except for the ferretlax and it should be given weekly, and daily when they are shedding...about a teaspoonful in your hand is just fine.  NO fruits or vegetables, ESPECIALLY in the dried form (as some Kaytee products and others offer for sale) are safe for ferrets. Their digestive tract is too short and they do not digest them and often retain them in their intestinal tracts and cause blockages.

As a ferret parent you need to know how to recognize the symptoms of an intestinal blockage (serious) and also how to ferretproof your ferret's play area, in addition to how to make a nice cage safe for your ferret when you are not home.  I recommend FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling for new ferret owners and also for old ones - there's new info in there for everyone - I hope you will get a copy SOON and read it!  Your little BoO will live longer if you know how to keep her safe and happy.

Best of luck to you and your new baby. Here's another link you might enjoy that has a lot of ferret info on it - click on FAQs:  http://www.ferretcentral.org

Give that little girl a hug from me!!  Don't hesitate to write again anytime!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers

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

QUESTION: Thank you so much Jacquie for your prompt reply.  I did take Boo to get her vaccination yesterday (before I received your reply unfortunately!) - but she must not have been vaccinated as the petshop owner said no, but she got Boo from someone else.  Anyway, she is a little sleepy today, but had a lovely 1.5hr play session this morning with my young dog (Woody) and I, and seems pretty chirpy.
I mentioned to the vet that I had been giving her apple and carrot and he didn't say anything - so thank you for letting me know that veges and fruit can interfere with her digestive system.  The last thing I want to do is cause her any discomfort!  I'm just about to do a websearch on the ferret food you mentioned - Boo and I are in Australia and I'm not sure whether we have specialised ferret foot here.  But I'll see what we can source for Boo.
Have given her plenty of hugs, but will definitely give her one from you!! Thanks for your very helpful (and timely) advice.  Kind regards, Elle and Peek-A-Boo!

Answer
Hi again Elle:

Yes, Iams Kitten Chow (in the purple bag) is just fine since you probably don't have as good a selection there. Some folks use Iams kitten as one of the foods in their 'mixture' and it does meet the necessary needs of a ferret. It woudl be better if you could mix it with some Totally Ferret or other high quality ferret-specific food, but as long as she is on Iams KITTEN in the purple bag, that is just fine. I *think* Ferret Depot or The Ferret Store would ship anywhere, but use your own judgment. The important thing is to be sure you have a good exotics vet that is familiar with ferrets before your little Boo has a health problem, as that's a really hard time to start searching for one!

hugs!

Jacquie Rodgers