coughing ferrets

[waidmann 105]

hi as i have my ferrets in the house i sometimes hear them cough. is this possibly a crumb of dry food down the wrong hole?

i have a jill and her daughter from this year( she also coughs every now and again).

a bit concerned it could be lungworm or something equally nasty. any tips?

 

 

its usually a few coughs at a time.

cheers

[The one 8,483]

What you feeding them ?dry grub?i feed mine meat and i dont ever think ive heard mine cough they have sneezed a few times when playing in the fresh shaving after being cleaned out

[langouroux 14]

could be food, i have heard mine do it, could be dust from sawdust to mate. they have very sensitive breathing systems.

[martin 332]

Never use hardwood shavings because this will make them cough like mad.............Martin.

[Kaiserdog 20]

My ferrets eat dry food (JWB), & on occasions the hob coughs a few times, the vet said it was nothing to worry about, might be just due to the dry diet because sometimes they have some fresh chicken as a treat & no coughing!

[smokin 0]

Mine cough from time to time when eating dry, oddly enough its the hob that does it the most too. You are using wood shavings and not woodbines lol! Beginning to doubt using shavings. hardwoods from using myself i know some give off a nasty dust. However there is the phenol given off from pine shavings too (like dettol). I use hay or shredded paper in the bedding area but what to use in the run as an alternative thats still fairly priced to justify its use (i use a good bit every day mucking out.

 

Atb

 

chris

[ninsky 0]

Mine cough from time to time when eating dry, oddly enough its the hob that does it the most too. You are using wood shavings and not woodbines lol! Beginning to doubt using shavings. hardwoods from using myself i know some give off a nasty dust. However there is the phenol given off from pine shavings too (like dettol). I use hay or shredded paper in the bedding area but what to use in the run as an alternative thats still fairly priced to justify its use (i use a good bit every day mucking out.

 

Atb

 

chris

I sometimes hear mine coughing at night !! they are out most of the day and have fresh meat and never cough but at night in their house they have dry food and if it happens it's during the night !! I have put it down to kibble going the wrong way or getting a bit stuck !! (panicked me like hell the first time I heard it )

[allenyeates 3]

What you feeding them ?dry grub?i feed mine meat and i dont ever think ive heard mine cough they have sneezed a few times when playing in the fresh shaving after being cleaned out

 

Same as

[allenyeates 3]

Never use hardwood shavings because this will make them cough like mad.............Martin.

 

Never knew that..... Cheers mate.

[jultaylor1972 2]

Mine get fed as much rabbit as I can provide but when I have none they get dry food and mine used to cough at times, I bought a ferret malt paste that a vet advised me to try and Ive never heard them cough since I started using it.

[Guest lavyheed]

I bought a ferret malt paste that a vet advised me to try and Ive never heard them cough since I started using it.

 

 

Is that beaphar product you were using? i have it but have never used it yet, it claims it brings up furballs.

 

There is also a marshals product called ferretlax which is meant to do the same. I have also heard a dode of vaseline onto the ferrets tongue works just as good.

[Kay 3,709]

the only time i have has ferrets with persistent coughs is when i fed chicks , i was advised to stop feeding them for a few weeks & within days they had all stopped coughing , i then only fed them maybe once a week

[pmatty77 26]

for gods sake some people are so irresponsible .......stop giving them the woodbines

[waidmann 105]

good to hear its not just mine then

yes i just give them dry food,with a couple of times a week fresh( duck,pigeon,rabbit etc).

i have them on newspaper in the run and they have a hammock to sleep in( tried dust free cat litter and shavings in the run but was not happy with that, makes a mess,dusty etc) the only problem with newspaper is that the albino jill looks a bit grey ( terrarium people use newspaper for quarrentine tanks,supposed to have a good effect on ticks,fleas and bacteria from the ink????).

they mess it up a bit but they enjoy it. i clean them twice a day and its cheap.

put the cough down to dry food then. thanks