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Post by crazylady on Oct 3, 2014 15:54:28 GMT -5
yep you need the antiseptic healing cream one ( in england its in a grey pot with a red label )and is a thick white cream I have no idea if you can buy it in a tube with the number of guys I have I use it by the bucket lol good luck with your baby take care bye for now Bev
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2014 19:14:09 GMT -5
I wasn't using Sudocreme per se. I was using Desitin because we don't have Sudocreme here in the US. I bought the Maximum Strength (with Cod liver oil and 40% zinc oxide), and Rapid Relief (with the Wax, etc.). The Rapid Relief says don't take internally. Deep sigh. I thought they were the same thing. I really hope I haven't hurt him too badly. How do I compensate for the cod liver oil issue? P.S. I just ordered the sudocreme from Amazon, it'll get here on the 30th. 8{
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Post by Sherry on Oct 4, 2014 9:14:57 GMT -5
Ah, THAT is the difference. You can order the sudocream from Amazon
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2014 18:16:30 GMT -5
He just had his first dead ferret sleep since this started. Scared the crap out of me, but I think it's a good sign since he used to do that every day. I put the Rapid Relief on him and he didn't lick any of it that I can see. I'll double check when he wakes up. Oh, something I've been using for errant carpet stains: dish soap. If Dawn will pull oil out of feathers and fur, then it should pull poop out of carpet. Just make sure you get the water dried up with towels, paper or otherwise. Could cause mold in the padding.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2014 1:37:57 GMT -5
Rules for syringe use: 1. ALWAYS clean your syringe right after use. Some medications will gum up the syringe if you give them time. 2. When getting ready to suck the med into the syringe, lubricate the rubber stopper and the inside of the barrel with oil and water (ferretone is what I've been doing it with so far. EVOO may works as well. I think that EVOO viscousity is too different and has been causing sticking of the plunger.). Basically use the same liquid to lube it as you do to mix the ground up pill. 3. When feeding your fert the med from the syringe, be aware of the propensity of the syringe plunger to hit a slick spot and spurt your medication all over your fert. Go slowly and carefully. Not all ferts are forgiving of this. 4. When sucking the med into your syringe, you may need to get rid of air bubbles to make room for all of the meds. When doing this refer to rule 3 and take care that you don't shoot the meds all over the room like a fountain. 5. To maintain the measurement markings on the syringe, use clear fingernail polish or equivalent to cover them. Otherwise they won't last 2 days. Thanks for this one, Heather. 6. Don't force the plunger if it is sticking, you will bend it and ruin the syringe. Use oil and water, submersion in water works, and move the plunger back and forth until it moves freely. If the rubber part pops off inside the barrel, just pop it back on and keep working on it. If all else fails, get some .032 diameter wire or equivalent to push the rubber part out. 7. If you must grind up your pills for meds, make it as finely ground as you can. I crush and recrush them with needlenose pliers. This way it doesn't gum up or clog the nose of the syringe, making you fiddle with the syringe more than you have to. I have graduated to mortal and pestle. It is the only way to do this. It takes so much less time and gets the pill ground much more finely. 8. Keep something like a nail or wire handy in case the syringe nose gets clogged. You can also use the air or med/oil to push the clog out or suction the clog in, if it isn't too stuck. 9. When using soap to clean syringe, remember the phrase "squeaky clean." The squeak is from friction. Use plenty of water with your soap or the plunger will get stuck in the barrel. 10. After cleaning keep plunger separate from barrel, either to dry or soaking in water. (I haven't found out which is better.) If you don't any med or filler from ground up pills may gum things up despite washing.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2014 23:58:51 GMT -5
Apparently Teddy has disk disease too poor baby. Go figure. The acupuncture really helps with that. Has anyone had a ferret that will hold off going? I try to express him and I can feel his bladder is large, but he doesn't go. I keep thinking he is being stubborn because he can't go in the litterbox like he used to. He keeps cleaning himself, but I worry that drinking to much urine will hurt his kidneys.
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Post by Heather on Oct 17, 2014 12:48:32 GMT -5
I had a wee girlie who had spinal damage and she'd not go very often either. You have to watch them closely because they will develop UTI issues and often it becomes chronic. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2014 1:11:39 GMT -5
Let me just say this...AAAAARRRGGGHHH! Thanks Heather, should I hold off or minimize the freeze dried raw? Also, the salmon oil I give him for a treat seems to make him smell like sulfur. Can this sulfur-whatever it is- be a factor? :thankyou:
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2014 1:44:36 GMT -5
Teddy has been holding onto his urine. I have learned how to express him, but did not do it thoroughly enough. I am now doing it thoroughly, but it hurts him. I have gotten prazosin from the vet to relax his muscles so he will release. Has anyone here had experience with it. I did a search and didn't get any results.
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Post by Heather on Nov 14, 2014 2:40:54 GMT -5
No, sorry. My wee girlie only lived a couple of months after her injury. It broke my heart but as the nerves in her body died off she was in excruciating pain. I couldn't bare to allow her to suffer both the pain from her injuries and dying body, nor the pain of me constantly emptying her bladder. Can your vet help you with this. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2014 3:33:33 GMT -5
Things are working better. He has some luck emptying when he kicks about. Now he knows what the potty pad is for when I hold him over it. I just have to be patient, let him concentrate and do this fairly frequently, minimizing the pressure. A serious reward/treat after helps. He doesn't have the die off of nerves, so that's a blessing. He does get depressed because I can't afford to let him scoot about the apartment (it is too coarse for him). But I'm finding things to keep him interested. Smart animals are.... Enrichment: Figured out another, less efficient, way of helping with the bladder emptying and method of enrichment. If I can get him to play, war dance sans back legs, chase, whatever, the muscles help empty his bladder. It tends to go in phases, but it isn't as painful for him and he has fun. I also do whatever massage or leg therapy will let him express while I am ddrying him off from his bath (in my lap-like when you clip nails). He chows on salmon oil all wrapped in a towel, and I gently let the towel pull the water out of his coat. Bathing: I use water that matches his body temperature by touch-thermometer was useless to me. He's not a water baby, so his front half hang out of the sink on my hand. Pulling on fur to clean it hurts-especially on his bum. Swirling water around to wash the poop out of his fur is more soothing. Several important notes about retaining urine. I only have experience with my one male ferret, so it probably varies by gender, type of injury, and ferret temperament. Teddy is a big ole sweetie pie. Not fussy at all. Use treats to reinforce peeing when you express him. He's a guy, so he needs to focus on the operation. A lot of small potty trips are much better, and less painful, than a couple of big ones. The bladder is like our stomach and will stretch out, but that isn't good and is messier. An overfull bladder will make him act rolypoly because his legs don't work. It looks like he's fat, but when you feel his bladder, it's varying degrees of round. An empty bladder feels a bit like a tiny empty water bottle-the old-fashioned, red rubber kind you use for headaches and stuff, like on old cartoons. IMPORTANT: Trying to forcefully express an overfull bladder all at once will make him sore. Trying to pee with aforementioned sore bladder is an exercise in futility because IT HURTS. It is like when your drink too much water-you go and then 20 minutes later you have to go again, and so on. So bribe him to go over the potty pad when you express him, and do it in stages. He wants an empty bladder as much or more than you do. Which brings me to my next point: If he can't express because of the muscle tension (my boy was fastidious about the toilet, until he got sick), he will lick himself raw. (I have to give him medicine-prazosin-to help relax his muscles.) The very cheapest and most practical way to prevent this is to keep his bladder empty or at least not too full. Even if you are religious about this, he will leak. Leaking is messy, but good. The fuller his bladder is, the more he will leak. Additional Cool expressing method: YAY! I had Teddy on my lap with the salmon oil while drying him and doing the therapy and hit a spot down towards his tail that I could lightly press and cause him to express. I know it doesn't cause the discomfort that the primary (scruffing) method does, and when his bladder's way full he basically will just urinate in this position, so I make sure I have a towel ready. I don't know how this will work long term, but it beats the scruffing several times a day, and it is more comfortable for him. I do know that he had to be conditioned to know to urinate prior to this, so that might be a factor with other ferrets. (What I mean by that is I've been expressing him for so long, I have a couple signals that let him know it's time, so he helps.) I've adjusted the technique a bit-it is a combination of light tickling pressure with fingertips between the tip of the penis and the furthermost pelvic bones (next to his bum). I place a towel between his head and his business end to catch the mess. So far this is a more convenient, comfortable, and effective method. It has not (so far) allowed me to completely empty his bladder, but when their bladder is so chronically overfull, it will leak soon after anyway. I read that mother dogs clean their newborns and stimulate urination and feces production by licking them. If mama ferrets do the same thing, then it may be a hardwired reflex rather than just pressure. If that is the case then a similar method might work with females. It's a thought. Important note: I have found that I must use both methods and Prazosin to establish a semi-empty bladder for Teddy. I also do the first scruffing method 1/day or 1 time every 2 days, and the second alternate several times each day. If you take note of how many times they pee then try to maintain that number. For Teddy it was around five every day, sometimes more. (I still cue him with treats.)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2014 2:04:24 GMT -5
scratching is important. A ferret that cannot use his hind legs, cannot reach much of his body to scratch. Helping him out this way improves quality of life. Imagine having no arms but having your nose itch. : : ::ear-twitch:: : :
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Post by Heather on Dec 13, 2014 11:53:10 GMT -5
Poor Boris is like that right now. Not because his back legs don't work but because his bloated girth has reached maximum and his legs just don't work to scratch. He will roll over and hope that there's a human right there who will rub his body. To make matters worse he's got adrenal and this of course makes him more itchy ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 1:24:14 GMT -5
Poor Boris! I hate watching when they get round. It gives them that helpless animal look when they move. Here's something that helps the boys maybe Boris would like it too? I got this plastic pad-it's actually for the litter box, so when they step out all the litter is supposed to be trapped. It is an outstanding itchy scratchy pad. Both my guys, when they are having a tough time, will sit or lay on it and move around. Artie sits on it and scratches with his back legs, but the motion scratches his other leg-so he's happy. Teddy will lay on one side on it and move his front legs back and forth to get his scratches. The sad thing is now I can't find any more. I want to make a tube or tunnel out of it, so Teddy can crawl into it and have a full body scritch. Here's a new one! Christmas wreaths (or even regular evergreen-not pine-boughs). I doing the airplane with Teddy (where I carry him around and let him sniff whatever he wants) and we went to my Christmas wreath-it's a real one-and he started burrowing into it with his nose. You know how when something feels good, like a blanket, they nose themselves into it. Well, I took the wreath and put it in his pen and he did the same thing. Then he climbed on top of it and just sat there looking around. So now he has a Christmas wreath-I guess he can be Santa ferret this year. LOL. Note about the pine- a lot of ferrets are allergic to pine. I don't know if the other conifers ( spruce, fir, juniper, etc.) have the same compound, but if you try it, do so cautiously and consider the alternate evergreen boughs instead.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2015 1:40:43 GMT -5
He has bleeding hemrhoid?, or is it prolapse? I know we put sugar on it so they will keep it clean and it'll retract, but he can't reach back there. Thus far, I put either neosporin or Desitin Rapid Relief to protect it when I bath him. Temperature sensitivity has got to make water even less fun, so I made sure it was just above my body temperature. He's had some trouble with expressing the alternate method about the same time, which makes me wonder if there's a connection. It's only been half a day, so I'll keep my eyes peeled.
Update. He's got some sort of diarrhea, but I think it straining might be a factor as well. If it keeps up, it's off to the vet we go. I hate these mystery things. A note, the alt. method of expressing doesn't work real well when they have rash or prolapse. They reflexively protect that area, so contact just makes them defend a lot and move away.
He peed! yay! Decrease pressure (a lot) when using alternate method when they have rash/prolapse.
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