I just took my ferret in for a large dime sized swelling on the side of her nose from corner of her eye to her nose pad. This turned out to be an abcess filled with infection fluid. It was cut and drained, but not completely. I had to flush the site, fill the area with chlorhexidine flush then gently squeeze it out again along with more gunk from inside the swelling. Did this twice a day for three days until if was almost normal size and finally sealed on its own. Also gave her Clinimyicin drops twice a day and a nonsteroidal pain reliever drops prior to the cleaning.
This is indeed an infection and should be treat by the vet. Total cost was about $170 for all. But since ferrets are very delicate and cant always be treated with cat meds or off the shelf meds, it was necessary to see the vet. Origin of infection may be her bottom canine tooth which seems to rubbing a continuous sore spot on her upper gum. Now that the swelling is down, we can verify this and have the ground down a bit. This is not painful and wont impair any chewing, biting functions, just stops the rubbing. Hope this helps you.
There are several other posters on this site using castor oil on tumors.
I was just wondering after I read this about Apple Cider. Does it help Ferrets or not?
Hey Lisa!
I see no reason why you should not give ACV a try with your ferret. Try 1 teaspoon into a tall glass of water to start. If he tolerates that well you can increase to 2 teaspoons into a tall glass of water.
Good luck!
ummm...while that dosage might work for humans I believe a much smaller amount would be safer to try....theres a conversion chart based off of weight...the dosage you gave for the glass of water was adult human dose... ferrets weigh generally only a few pounds and their dosages are much much smaller!!!!
As far as pro-biotics are concerned, if your worried about dairy products there is a great bovine probiotic that I have used on ferrets for years, we call if smurf goo. Any large animal feed store will carry it, it is called ProBios. You will want to get the bovine and not the equine due to palatability. You'll know cause the bovine product is blue in color. All you need to give is a pea size amount once or twice a day, sometimes they will only want a lick or two but that is enough. You'll have to refridgerate the ProBios but a single tube ( usually less than $10) will last you for a very very long time. This product is safe for dogs, cats and most importantly ferrets. Good luck. And I have never seen any bad reactions with clavamox in ferrets. But just like any antibiotic you only want to use it if it is really necessary to prevent immunity.
One more word of advise for any heat stroke animals is to immediatly apply rubbing alcohol to the pads of their feet and begin to cool them off with cold water or ice packs, just don't cool them off too fast, take it slow to not shock their system.
When you purchase a ferret for your family, GET A FERRET that either has had all of its current shots and HAS BEEN STERILIZED(no breeding). this will cut down on their need to mark territory as much (marshall farms have the best track record for the best pet "weasels", cleanness and healthy)
Ferrets will use the bathroom only in corner or close spaces; thats what the corner litterbox thing is about.
If you want the nasty ferret duke smell to go away for good, FEED THEM A HIGH QUALITY CAT FOOD like iams- I have worked with, owned, raised and sold these animals. Ferret waste stinks amazingly like the ferret chow they sell bulk and cheap. Eliminate the smell going in, enjoy the benefits of the less smelly litter going out. And buy 2-3 corner litterboxes, cause if one is too full one day, they will find another corner (uggggh) its the food people, not the glands.
Marshall ferrets are not the best at all! You obviously haven't done your home work. They overcage their ferrets which causes inbreeding and don't take very good care of them! I have had 3 of their ferrets, I know. The last ferret I bought was from up north and this ferret had way more energy and was better taken care of.
