Ferret HATES medicine, need tips

[nicolou]

Hello, long time since I posted. We have a ~6 year old male ferret named Bramble. About a little over a year ago, he was diagnosed with insulinoma and has been on .35cc diazoxide and .08 prednisolone. He didn't enjoy it but it was never a problem. No flavours are good in his opinion but he didnt fight.

We had 3 ferrets for 4 years- all rescued together. One passed away from heart conditions this May, and a month later we had to say goodbye to our girl bc of lymphoma.

So Bramble developed pica (chewing/eating inedible objects due to stress/depression) and started eating his plush toys, which he NEVER used to do. We took all of them away. Then he started chewing shoelaces, and then 10 weeks ago, he found a stashed bra we used to play with all the ferrets with and ended up giving himself a blockage by eatkng 6 inches of the strap (cotton bra).

He got surgery immediately and it was successful, but the amount of medications we had to give to him orally ended up traumatizing him I think. Since it was a weekend emergency, they didn't have enough staff to remove his insulinoma nodes so the only meds he still had to take after recovery were the pred and diazoxide and its been a nightmare ever since. He thrashes and twists while scruffed, gags and foams at the mouth, spitting it everywhere, claws us and his mouth. We have tried using chasers like water and salmon oil. Bc of his insulinoma, we steer away from nutrical and ferretone.

Well, 2 weeks ago, he was vomitting again and we brought him in, turns out he formed a stricture in his intestines from his first surgery so they operated again.

This time though, they removed his insulinoma nodes in hopes that we could eventually stop meds or severely reduce them.

Well he is even WORSE now with taking his meds. All the same stuff but now he's screaming and gagging. It's gotten to the point that I dont think it's good for his mental health, and he's becoming resentful. Tonight, I think he barely got any of his meds in him. He spat them out the entire time and after throwing a fit in the rice bin, started trying to gag them up. He has to keep taking metronidazole for 6 more days bc his poops got very liquid again and that's the worst one to give as you all know. He knows the routine, the moment he's scruffed, he's thrashing.

We have a vet visit in 11 days to see about reducing his meds for insulinoma. But I don't know if doing meds twice a day is going to get worse or what amd it's really starting to worry me.

Both our vets don't have really any advice for it, and when he was there recovering for surgery over the weekend, they "had no problems giving him any. Just use tough love." Well we've tried that and the football hold and the towel wrap and even both of us holding his body while one scruffs and administers. It doesn't make a difference.

If anyone has any ideas or tips or even like. Idk advice on new maybe injectable meds I cam ask about, I'd seriously appreciate it.

[okojosan]

I'm really sorry to hear Bramble is not doing well. It sounds like you're doing the best you can for him. My Vivi had to have metronidazole and it was a nightmare giving it to her. She got really good at smacking the syringe out of my hand. I would wrap her in a towel. One thing I found that helped was aiming the syringe up toward the roof of her mouth, not straight down her throat.

Since Bramble has had surgery on his intestines, I'm concerned he's thrashing so much, that he might hurt himself before he's healed. Has he had any pain meds? (Vivi's pain meds made her sleepy.) Do you give him Carafate to help his tummy?

I'm not a vet, so take any advice from me with a grain of salt!

[Corvidophile]

I hope someone has better tips for you, all I have is burrito wrap in a towel to stop the thrashing, which is what I did. My late Winnipeg used to be a bug thrasher, we were scared he was gonna break his neck. He eventually calmed down a few months into the routine. At one point he too was on prednisolone, diazoxide and metronidazole at the same time. To get him to swallow them instead of cough them back up, we shoved in his face a little saucer of heavy cream immediately, which he would stop everything to drink up. Good luck.

[unclejoe]

yeah, I'm sorry you're all going thru this.
Defintely do snot shoot the meds down his throat. Aim at the side or roof of the mouth. I would put the syringe in the side of the mouth and hold it there after mads have been administred until they have a chance to swallow, if at all possible. And, if there is any kind of oil or other liquid he likes, suck up a littl of that into the syringe both before and after the mds. It may help.
you could allso try having the meds compounded with poultry flavor.

Wishing you the best

[nicolou]

I'll try the syringe at the roof of his mouth! It's the the point that even if the syringe had just water, before it hits his lips, he's gagging. He just hates medication time so bad. It's literally traumatizing.

We were also worried about the thrashing with his surgeries bc he's done it both times but I have asked both vets and neither were worried at all, despite me explaining how insane he was. Nothing has opened up and it's been 2.5 weeks from his most recent surgery. He was in gabapentin for 2 weeks and it used to make him sleepy but it stopped working after that and he still freaked out and screamed and gagged with taking that 3 times a day.

I'm not sure anyone can really help lol but! I will try to do some of the tips here, seems like roof of mouth is the most common tip so far and wrapping him.

Sept 9, 2022 2:29:56 GMT -5 okojosan said:

I'm really sorry to hear Bramble is not doing well. It sounds like you're doing the best you can for him. My Vivi had to have metronidazole and it was a nightmare giving it to her. She got really good at smacking the syringe out of my hand. I would wrap her in a towel. One thing I found that helped was aiming the syringe up toward the roof of her mouth, not straight down her throat.

Since Bramble has had surgery on his intestines, I'm concerned he's thrashing so much, that he might hurt himself before he's healed. Has he had any pain meds? (Vivi's pain meds made her sleepy.) Do you give him Carafate to help his tummy?

I'm not a vet, so take any advice from me with a grain of salt!

[nicolou]

That holding the syringe in the side until he swallows is a good idea actually. We also pull away. I'll try that tonight. His old flavour meds were poultry flavour and we only changed them recently to tutti frutti bc he started haaaaating the chicken flavour. I can have a syringe with water just by his face and he starts gagging and it hasn't even hit his lips yet. And that's before meds at all. I really think he's just that traumatized. Thanks for the tips regardless!

Sept 9, 2022 11:52:54 GMT -5 unclejoe said:

yeah, I'm sorry you're all going thru this.
Defintely do snot shoot the meds down his throat. Aim at the side or roof of the mouth. I would put the syringe in the side of the mouth and hold it there after mads have been administred until they have a chance to swallow, if at all possible. And, if there is any kind of oil or other liquid he likes, suck up a littl of that into the syringe both before and after the mds. It may help.
you could allso try having the meds compounded with poultry flavor.

Wishing you the best

[nicolou]

I tried doing that with pumpkin and egg soup which he usually loves and he is far more concerned with breaking out of my grip and holding his head away from the bowl. He's dramatique and it's like dude please.. I'm trying to help.

Sept 9, 2022 6:06:29 GMT -5 Corvidophile said:

I hope someone has better tips for you, all I have is burrito wrap in a towel to stop the thrashing, which is what I did. My late Winnipeg used to be a bug thrasher, we were scared he was gonna break his neck. He eventually calmed down a few months into the routine. At one point he too was on prednisolone, diazoxide and metronidazole at the same time. To get him to swallow them instead of cough them back up, we shoved in his face a little saucer of heavy cream immediately, which he would stop everything to drink up. Good luck.

[vivi]

Hello, Luna is taking medicine for insulinoma at least the last 2 years, twice a day.
I put the dose of medicine ( in form of poweder ) in a small plate,with some drops of water and 2 small drops of honey or salmon oil.
Then and only when she is sleeping i put this mix on my finger znd let her lick it. Many times she licks it directly from the plate.
The secret is to give it when she is between sleep and aware stage.

[nicolou]

Oh my goodness this might be something to try. I'm going to consult my vet about getting the meds in powder. Thank you!

Sept 9, 2022 23:07:51 GMT -5 vivi said:

Hello, Luna is taking medicine for insulinoma at least the last 2 years, twice a day.
I put the dose of medicine ( in form of poweder ) in a small plate,with some drops of water and 2 small drops of honey or salmon oil.
Then and only when she is sleeping i put this mix on my finger znd let her lick it. Many times she licks it directly from the plate.
The secret is to give it when she is between sleep and aware stage.