Unsure..what do you guys think

[meli]

So my daughter said she seen pocus "throw up", but when I check I see nothing. I pick him up and he's his usual self, exlporing, sniffing, and then he starts to like cough..like something was stuck in his throat..I gave him some ferretone just a tiny drop to see if he's interested and he was..so I gave him some ferret laxative to help lubricate his throat and he licked it up. I also fed them and he ate perfectly fine. Think he just had something stuck on his throat? Their poop is fine. He's not hacking or coughing anymore.

[meli]

Okay now I'm getting a little worried. I cleaned the cage like I always do before I go to bed and find that pocus did throw up. Two times. He also has a limp...one of his rear legs seems to be bothering him. Now he's eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing, playing, biting, and now he's running around (I was observing them running around on the floor). He's his happy little self as usual..provoking fights with Hocus. I don't see any change in him other then a small limp. I'm wondering if he might have pulled a muscle from jumping in the bath tub because his leg isn't swollen and when I touch it he doesn't bite me..just pulls it away as usual. He hasn't gagged or thrown up since the last time my daughter seen him which was about 4 hours ago. His appt. to the vet is not until the 7th. Uggg guys tell me he's okay..I'm freaking out here and starting to get nervous.

[Jaycee]

How is he this morning? I know my guys hack and cough...but it seems like all ferrets I have ever seen do this. Throwing up though....I don't know. I don't think it is a good thing, but if he is still pooping then it couldn't be a full blockage. It could be a partial blockage. Just keep monitoring him today...check his poop and watch to see if he is eating and drinking.l If he stops eating and drinking, I suggest finding a 24/7 vet and get him there asap. This is what my Piper did...no vomit though. She just quit eating and drinking and have very thin poo. She had a blockage, and we got her to the vet just in time. I don't want to scare you, just keep your eye on him today.

[aleronferrets]

How is Pocus now? Throwing up is not real "normal" for ferrets. When was Pocus last vaccinated? Has he received any medications or treatments recently such as HW prevention, flea treatment or ear mite treatment? As mentioned, a blockage is always possible especially with kits.

[meli]

Pocus is doing 100% better today. He was jumping, dooking, biting, war dancing, you name it he was doing it. He's still eating great..matter of fact he couldn't wait for me to take my hand away from their bowl when I gave them fresh meat this morning. He's using his leg now, but his limp is very very subtle. He's also still drinking. I observed him poop yesterday(after I posted last) and he did fine. I honestly don't know what it could have been. You think he might have had a bone or something go down the wrong way or ate a peice of yesterdays news?? He's not acting any different today. Same sweet playful little guy.

The boys haven't been vaccinated yet. They're appt. is on the 7th of july. Reason its so late is because their new vet is at a seminar learning more about exotics. The conversation I had with the clinic was great and they seemed very knowledgeable. One of the staff members was also a ferret owner.

[meli]

Just finished watching pocus eat, poop and drink. All is good now. I'm going to keep an eye on him and see if anything changes. I'm also going to tell his vet about this incident.

[Jaycee]

Thank goodness!

[meli]

Tell me about it. I get attached to my pets. When I dropped my lab pup off at the boarding place for vacation I felt like crying...seeing my litte guy limp yesterday and cleaning up the two vomits he did made my stomach turn and I started to get a lump in my throat..all I did was watch him last night..feeding him and watching him eat..my hubby had to call me to bed..I just laid down and said a little prayer for him. Is this all such silly of me?

[nwheather]

I am glad he is doing better! There are so many factors that could cause vomitting. Maybe he had gotten into something, maybe a partial blockage, who knows?
You did good by watching him close.
I always say, when in doubt, call the vet. Trust your gut too. If you "have a bad feeling", but cannot pinpoint it, take 'em in! It's better to be safe than sorry, you know?

[meli]

You're right. I just wonder what it was. He's doing great though. Thank God.

[meli]

I took Pocus to the vet today because of his limp. The vet gave him a thourough check on his legs. She said he doesn't have a fracture, but that he might have pulled him muscle. She said if he gets worse to bring him in.

Now here's the kicker. The look on her face when I said I feed them raw. She asked if I was concerned about ecoli and salmanela. I said yes, but that when they eat they're inside their cage and it gets cleaned twice a day as well as with their litter box. She was also concerned about them getting proper nutrients and I said yes they eat different parts of meat through out the week. After word she was like okay as long as their getting the proper nutrition.

She said she use to own 7 ferrets where one had adrenal and one was insulomnia(spelling). Anyway I liked how she looked over pocus. She stayed watching him a full hour, massaging his leg and moving his knees around. So all in all she said he looks great. He weighs 1.3 pounds which she said is small for a male. I explained that Pocus was the runt. The 7th is their real appt. with shots and ear mite checking.

[Forum Administrator]

Sorry that the vet freaked. Thats normal They have basically no control over what you are feeding and they are probably worried that something will go wrong and that you'll blame it on her. In a way she is right. A raw diet is easier to "mess up" then a whole prey diet. This is why I prefer whole prey myself. Its alot less hassle and alot less worries. I think you said you were going to add mice to the boys diet. Once you do this is will help to "round out" the diet. In fact, I liked whole prey so much that I just started feeding ONLY whole prey. HOWEVER, I did this after the boys turned 7 months old. They get 1-2 mice per day (and other prey too like rats, guinea pig, chick, etc). If you try and feed all whole prey before they turn 6-7 months you will be feeding ALOT of prey. But once they mature its definitly something to consider I would highly reccomend doing all whole prey if you only have a few ferrets that are over the age of 6 months.

But back to the topic of the vet, I think is sad is her worrying about salmonella and e.coli. Did she say she worried that the ferrets would get it, you wouth get it, or both? A vet should know that the digestive tract of a carnivore can handle that stuff just fine

I am happy to hear that otherwise the trip went well. Good ferret vets are hard to find. A good ferret vet that supports a natural diet is even HARDER to find.

[meli]

She was concerned about me handling it, the kids being around raw meats, and passing ecoli and other nasties through poop. I told her I clean their litter box and wipe down their cage twice a day and that they eat in their cage only. Afterwards she was okay. I clean with clorox anywhere spray and the clorox wipes. I take my precautions which I think she saw when I said how much I clean their cage.

[Forum Administrator]

Well its a relief that she was worried about YOU getting sick (and not the ferrets). Properly sanitizing poop/pee areas is important no matter what you feed. Im glad she was more okay with it once you mentioned that you handle everything in a sanitary manner.