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Post by Jinxed It on May 9, 2021 23:54:32 GMT -5
can anyone share some home remedies for colds in ferrets? my fiancé took ill over the weekend and now my moose is coughing, wheezing, and has a runny nose.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on May 10, 2021 5:25:18 GMT -5
you might want to go to vet if ferret is wheezing and coughing. I do not know much about home remedies.
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Post by Jinxed It on May 10, 2021 8:18:25 GMT -5
he will be going later today. thankfully my vet can get him in! but i saw marshall has some upper respiratory balm that goes on their nose for congestion relief that i imagine is like vicks vaporub for humans. everywhere is sold out of it though, and even amazon says it wouldn’t be here until may 20 if i ordered yesterday. i was wondering if anyone knew of a safer homemade alternative to give him any kind of temporary relief until i can get him to his vet.
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Post by unclejoe on May 10, 2021 13:31:28 GMT -5
let us know what the vet says. antibiotics might need to be prescribed. I think Marshall FerretRx is clove oil or some such. I've never used it, but when I got my first ferret the store tried to push all sorts of marshall products on me. The store told us that ferrets have very sensitive respiratory systems, but I don't think they're TOO sensitive. they live at ground level near all the dirt and from my experience, they don't get flu hardly ever if you are cautious. We've had 30 ferrets in 15 years and I've only seen them get flu once. We had 6 at the time and it took 2 weeks for them all to recover. Everyone in the family got it too.
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Post by caitmonster on May 10, 2021 16:48:34 GMT -5
Many human cough medicines are toxic for ferrets--wait until your vet prescribes anything to give any medicine. If it's a cold, making sure they are eating and getting enough fluids are the best options. (Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw, mixed with warm water, makes a nice soupie and every ferret I've had has gobbled it down right away.) You can also let him hang out in a steamed up bathroom to help soothe their respiratory tract.
If it's an upper respiratory infection, your vet may opt to give antibiotics in case secondary infection is a concern. Usually you just have to wait it out--it can take a week or so to pass.
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Post by lyles on May 10, 2021 17:26:06 GMT -5
Raising the temperature in the room helps I notice. When mine would get colds I'd set the room temp to around 78, it wouldn't take long for their sniffles to go away.
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Post by Jinxed It on May 11, 2021 7:47:35 GMT -5
hey, guys. thanks for all the replies and suggestions! according to his vet, it looks like something minor that i’m just going to have to wait out. his lungs and heart sounded fine, nothing weird on palpation, inside of his mouth looked fine, and he was curious and doing ferrety things in office (just lethargic and a little less mischievous than normal during cage rest). he believes it was likely some kind of irritant that caused the initial severe coughing/wheezing fit. like a child, of course, moose loves to make a liar out of me in front of the doctor - but i’ll take an unnecessary vet visit and good news any day!
in the meantime, he’s still a little on the snuffly side - so he’s getting plenty of warm soup and cuddles.
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Post by unclejoe on May 12, 2021 21:04:01 GMT -5
good news. sometimes they can get a hair stuck in their nose or throat which is almost impossible to find. I hope that it's the end of it and he's back to his old self
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