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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2014 22:45:46 GMT -5
Hi all, my wife and I are out of town, and the person who is feeding our ferrets brought his baby daughter to see them, and my hob Finn reached up and nipped her neck!
It didn't bleed but left a red scratch. He says he's not sure if it broke the skin.
What's the proper protocol? Rabies isn't a concern but what about tetanus?
Fortunately he's not mad, he knew Finn has a history of biting small children (he's fine with adults), we just are wondering if she'll need a tetanus booster. We can ask the Dr tomorrow.
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Post by Heather on Oct 22, 2014 3:04:31 GMT -5
No....unless Finn has rusty teeth  If you take it up with a Doctor you will have to report it as an animal bite. PM Katt, she would be able to tell you for sure, but I don't think it's a concern ciao |
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Post by Blue on Oct 22, 2014 11:04:12 GMT -5
PM Katt, she would be able to tell you for sure, but I don't think it's a concern I'd be interested in seeing the answer too. I was badly bitten by an abused shelter ferret (a clamp and shake and blood everywhere) and since he'd had his rabies shot I didn't think twice about it. A week later, someone says, "You didn't get a tetanus shot?" (I made sure they knew this was a severely abused ferret, I didn't want to encourage the 'ferrets bite' stereotype.) It hadn't even dawned on me. I didn't bother. I think I would check with the doctor for a baby, even if it means reporting the bite (I didn't know about that!). Finn's had his rabies shot so it should be OK. (I think. I know nothing except that I didn't get tetanus.) |
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Post by Heather on Oct 22, 2014 12:03:07 GMT -5
If you get tetanus from ferret bites I'd be dead long ago. That's all I do is hard core biters in rescue. Hurricanekatt can you give some information on this? I'm getting conflicting information on it. I'm going to say because the skin wasn't broken (causing bleeding) that tetanus shouldn't be an issue. My concern would be for the ferret and reporting it to the medical authorities as they will quarantine the ferret at the very least.
ciao
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Post by katt on Oct 22, 2014 14:55:34 GMT -5
No, he should not need a tetanus shot. If he had a puncture would MAAAAYBE but even then I really don't think it would be needed.
BTW this is the OFFICIAL medical commentary on ferret zoonoses:
"Ferrets — Ferrets have been associated with Salmonella and Campylobacter, and less commonly with cryptosporidiosis [91], toxocariasis, tuberculosis, leptospirosis and listeriosis [28,92,93].
●Influenza is the most common zoonotic disease in ferrets [94]. The ferret can develop influenza, but the course is usually benign. Human cases of influenza have occurred from contamination by aerosols from infected ferrets [95]. The ferret has been used as an animal model for influenza research [28].
●Giardia has recently been isolated from a ferret in a pet shop; the genotype suggested it could be a causative agent of human giardiasis [96].
●Mycobacterium microti, known as vole tuberculosis and more commonly found in wild rodents than in pets, was isolated from a man with an illness featuring anorexia, weight loss, and malaise [97]. M. microti was subsequently isolated from the man's pet ferret.
●Although rabies transmission from ferrets to humans has not been documented, rabies should be considered with any ferret that has acute onset of paralysis or behavioral changes and a condition that rapidly deteriorates despite veterinarian intervention; need for prophylaxis of contacts should be evaluated. Pet ferrets should be immunized for rabies."
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Post by katt on Oct 22, 2014 14:58:36 GMT -5
Honestly he really doesn't have anything to worry about, maybe an infection of the scratch IF it broke the skin and IF they didn't clean it. If the wound was deep there would be more of an issue. Even if it did break the surface, as long as the scratch was cleaned well it should be fine.
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Post by acodlin on Oct 22, 2014 15:13:47 GMT -5
You cannot get tetanus from a ferret bite. I'm an RN, the worst that could possibly happen is that it might get infected if the skin was broken.. but you said it just left a scratch. Keep an eye on it, but I'd think the baby would be just fine. In the future I would keep little children away from him  |
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Post by katt on Oct 22, 2014 15:19:24 GMT -5
And to reinforce - if it did not bleed, it isn't a bite wound. The kid will be fine. Honestly, he is at much higher risk if he falls and scrapes his knee playing outside. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2014 22:17:34 GMT -5
Well I found out my ferret sitter took his daughter to the doctor. He didn't want to take any chances. Apparently the doctor was very rude and told him that ferrets are "nasty creatures" and harbor many dangerous pathogens in their mouths. He said their mouths are very dirty and bacteria-laden, and the risk of infections is very high with ferret bites. He also told him (incorrectly) that ferrets often carry toxoplasmosis, just like cats, which can cause birth defects and is dangerous to small children. He basically told my sitter that he was a bad parent for allowing his child to be around ferrets since they are so dangerous and filthy. He made several comments like "How did your baby get bitten by a FERRET? Who even has ferrets?" and when my sitter said something about how I had 2 of them, the dr. said "He has more than one??!! Crazy!" Just goes to show that no matter how many years someone spent in medical school, they can still be an ignorant jerk! Anyway, my sitter was nice about it. He took responsibility and acknowledged that I had warned him Finn might bite and should be kept away from children and faces in general. He knew Finn had a history of biting (though they have never been hard bites, his teeth are just so razor-sharp that even a light nip leaves a scratch when the child flinches and pulls away quickly). I hardly even consider Finn a biter, really, his "bites" have always been more like trying to grasp something. In the case of my sitter's daughter, Finn actually let go immediately after he took a bite, and acted surprised. I am not sure he even knew the baby girl was a person at first, and probably let go when he felt the skin in his mouth or something. He didn't bite down hard enough to break the skin. I know this ferret, he is not mean-spirited, if he nipped I doubt that it was in anger or aggression, it seems more likely to me that it was a mistake, since he has done that before to other people. On a more positive but unrelated note, while out of town I was able to eat dinner at a place called Finn McCool's Irish Pub  I bet Finn is super jealous that he didn't get to eat at the restaurant that shares his name! I had the mussels with fennel bouillabaisse and grilled tostini, it was delish! Unfortunately, this is also how I discovered that I am actually allergic to mussels, and I spent the next several hours miserable, red and itchy all over and covered in hives, not to mention vomiting and other bathroom woes |
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Post by Blue on Oct 24, 2014 11:24:58 GMT -5
I'm glad your friend took responsibility, not everyone would do that. It's a pity his doctor was so ignorant -- did your sitter seem swayed or convinced by any of it? Although to be fair, ferrets do carry toxoplasmosis -- it's just that, unlike cats, they're incapable of transmitting it to humans.
So are you calling Finn "Finn McCool" now? That's a cute name. And sorry about the mussels!
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Post by katt on Oct 24, 2014 16:21:13 GMT -5
Finn has been Finn McCool for years. That's his FB name. That sucks that the guys doctor was such a prick. I hope he didn't take it to heart at least and at least he is reasonable to admit it was his fault for having the kid around him and not your or Finn's fault. That sucks about the mussels though. I would take great care to avoid shellfish and would consider getting allergy tested and ask for an Epi-Pen Rx. Allergies like that can be significantly worse with the second reaction and you could easily have an anaphylactic response. Super scary!! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2014 16:45:07 GMT -5
That Vet astonishes me. How can he be an animal doctor and have opinions like that?
I'm glad that you're sitter didn't overreact and cause trouble for Finn.
It's too bad about the mussels, they are deslish but at least you found a cool place to eat.
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Post by katt on Oct 24, 2014 17:11:38 GMT -5
That Vet astonishes me. How can he be an animal doctor and have opinions like that? I'm glad that you're sitter didn't overreact and cause trouble for Finn. It's too bad about the mussels, they are deslish but at least you found a cool place to eat. That was the physician, not the vet. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2014 18:52:18 GMT -5
lol  Now that I think about it, It does make more sense to take your daughter to a Doctor, not a Vet. (shy) |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2014 14:50:50 GMT -5
Yeah my sitter fortunately was cool about it. He admitted that I had warned him about Finn, and that he knew it was risky letting his daughter hold him. His wife really gave him the business for it haha... She was NOT happy that he let their little girl get bitten by a known repeat offender.
This is the 3rd time Finn has nipped a child, but every time it was due to someone not listening to my warnings. The first 2 were twin boys about 8 years old who asked to hold him. I said you may hold him, but do NOT bring him near your face or ears, he has been known to nip faces or ears. The first boy picked him up, and first thing he did was hold him up on his shoulder and Finn grabs his earlobe! The kid flinches and pulls Finn away quickly, resulting in a shallow little scratch on his earlobe that was bleeding. He wouldn't have even bled if he just said "no!" instead of jerking Finn away. Finn lets go when he hears "no". He knows "no" and also knows his name and comes when he's called (unless something else is more interesting and he doesn't want a treat).
All the while, the 2nd boy is watching this happen. So the 2nd boy picks him up, and does the SAME thing! Gets nipped on the ear, pulls away, gets a bleeding scratch on his ear. Now both boys have matching Finn bites on their ears. Little boys can be pretty dumb haha...
In all cases though it was a family member who wouldn't make a stink about it or try to cause trouble for us, so that's good.
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