Play sand making ferret sick.

[Deleted]

 have a 13 week old twibbles. She was playing in play sand. I got from wall mart. I was worried when she started to have runny stool. And she was coughing, almost choking. As well, a wheezing sound. Today, the vet told me she had inhaled it. From digging in it. He said she has an upper resp infection. She even, still had some sand in her nose. She is still wheezing, and choking. But I am sure, that's the infection. Any ideas what I can give her to dig in? I got her some rabbit pellets. She was sad, and sat in the box. Not digging. So I got her news paper pellets. She is not happy with me. She's laying in her dig box, looking sad. She would dig for hours, with no end. I think this is depressing her. What else can I try? Potting soil? Is that safe. She hates the vets ideas of pellets. I'm guessing potting soil had chemicals. Any help would please her. 

Pretty much, this happened www.petcha.com/is-sand-safe-for-ferret-play/

[LindaM]

Sand boxes can lead to troubles, that's for sure. A lot of ferrents prefer to give their wee ones dig boxes that are filled with either ping-pong balls, plastic easter eggs, dried beans (pinto for example), rice (long-grain rice, do not use any instant/quick-cook though), bio-degradable starch packing peanuts (make sure yours doesn't like to eat them though), etc. Come the seasonal changes, many of us create other temporary boxes, like a leaf box or a snow box.

[abbeytheferret6]

Gosh, thanks for that bit of information. Mine has never had any kind of dig box, although when I used YNews long time ago, I had it in a 5 gallon bucket and my sable had fun in it going backwards digging.


Above post has good info.
Hope your little one gets to feeling better.

I would not do Potting soil which has fertilizer in it for the flowers and some have perlite or vermiculite in it too.

[Sherry]

I have honestly never heard of this happening. Had she actually inhaled it, she'd have developed aspiration pneumonia, which is often fatal. So the idea of inhaling the sand giving a respiratory infection I honestly think is just an excuse the vet gave.

[Heather]

My guys have been playing in play sand for years, each group has a swimming pool of sand. Is the sand wet or dry? I always keep it moist. She's just a baby but she should have some idea on how to dig, this is a natural behaviour not learned. My guys dig in soil to dig tunnels in their play area. I know the kits thought the litter box was a dig box when they were first learning how to use it....momma ferret planks their furry arses in the box rather than having to clean up after the little poops...and baby ferrets have lots of poop. They'd sneeze and such but I never had issues with respiratory infections.
ciao

[Deleted]

It was slightly moist sand. I thought it was too dusty. A friend said to make it moist. I do know she sneezed a lot when playing in it. Then she started to wheeze. So I took her to the vet. While in the car, she was sneezing, wet, salty feeling mucus. I saved it on a tissue for the vet. That's why he came up with the sand issue. He took samples for testing, and called  today. She does indeed need antibiotics, and some kind of cough syrup??? Which I think is odd. My vet is not a normal vet. He trys natural, not chemical remedies. I do think he is crazy now. He sold me COLLOIDAL, freaking SILVER. ... I am not sure I should use it. That should not be good for ferrets. Or I would think not. I have an appointment in the morning with a normal vet. For a 2nd thought. So I think you are right about it being an excuse for the vet. I got beans and rice ideas.... It looks like an Asian person had a kung fu fight in here. She loves it. Ty so much... Now just watch for rice nose. She thanks you too... Or will, if she ever comes out.

[LindaM]

Ferrets actually can take Colloidal Silver for various reasons, far as I recall. I know it can be used like a topical antibiotic for one, and for mouth injuries as another. I'm gonna tag some of the more experienced owners to throw in their 2 cents on the subject. Sherry, Heather, unclejoe.

Glad your wee girlie is feeling more excited about her dig box now.

[Deleted]

Oh really? Thank you for letting me know this. I would never think this. I will proceed with caution then. Ty for the help.

[unclejoe]

I used play sand from Lowe's for a while. I kept it damp by adding a little water occasionally and mixing. That way they could dig tunnels. Unfortunately, I left the lid open one time (storage bin with folding lid) and a cat used it for a litter box. I had 50 lb of sand in the box which made it kind of hard to move around. I never had any resp. issues because the sand was wet.

We've also used potting soil and leaves, without any problems.  Some of ours like to walk on a leash and love digging in the flower garden.  In the fall, I have stopped along the roads and filled bags with leaves that people put by the road for pickup to last all winter.  I still have a trash can full of last fall's leaves.  The ferts love them when they are newly changed

[Heather]

Ferrets can have CS. I've never used it as an internal medicine, I do know it can be used that way but I have used it as a topical and it works very well against mouth ulcers. Naturalpaths prescribe it like an antibiotic
ciao

[Deleted]

I, myself use it all the time. That and garlic. I never thought ferret use was a thing. But she is doing well. I have decided to do it for the seven days, and watch her close. She has a gagging issue. I am sure, from her sick. She is shedding. I got ferretlax. But she is too young according to the bottle. So I will raw egg her. But she seems to be feeling better. The cough meds help. She is amazing with meds. No fight. She's the most amazing pet ever. She sleeps in Hubby's hair. I keep taking her out. It might get in her system. She is just so fun, sweet and amazing. We have found our fave pet.

[LindaM]

Toss the Ferrelax, please, it's chock and block full of unhealthy sugars. You can even call it insulinoma in a tube. Raw egg is going to the best course of action. We do 1 raw chicken egg, either white and yolk whisked together, or yolk only per ferret, per week. And during the shedding season we do double that. Never give only the white by itself, as it may lead to a biotin deficiency in the body.

The following products are best avoided like the plague they are; Ferretone, Ferrevite, Ferrelax, FerretRX, Marshall Kibble, Marshall Ferret Shampoo/Daily Spritz, Marshall Bandit Treats, Brown's Tropical Carnival Treats, N-Bones Treats, etc. These all contain either carcinogenic ingredients, sugars, too many fillers or indigestibles, or even Essential Oils. It's sad, but most of the time if a product has the picture of a ferret on it and is marketed and sold commercially for ferrets, it's likely going to be unhealthy somehow, especially Marshall products.

[Sherry]

I use CS for myself and my animals. For the ferret internally I would give about 6-10 drops a day for about a week, then a break. Repeat if necessary.
It also works wonders for mouth and throat ulcers by dabbing it on if you can see them, putting it on top of a wee bit of soup in a spoon and feeding to them if you can't.

[Deleted]

Wow ty guys for all the helpful info. It made becoming new ferrents so much, less stressful. I love this place. Good honest help. She's doing amazing now. I will make sure to break it off at seven days.

[Deleted]

My pet store gave me marshalls. Said it is the best thing in the world. Even swore by it. But I think I'm about to start a natural diet for her. Getting ready to being raw feeding too. She chokes on kibble. It seem unatural. Is it OK to make her enrichment toys, or a live mouse maze for her to hunt in? I am about to look up raw feeding diets. Any ideas are amazing. Will check on here first. On other posts.