Giving Meds to a Ferret

One challenge often faced by ferret owners is giving medications to ferrets. I will admit it can be challenging, especially with some medications that have a very bitter taste to them like Flagyl and Biaxin, even though they are compounded with a flavor.

The easiest way to do this is to scruff the ferret by their neck (the loose skin) and let them dangle. In short order, they will relax their body and begin to yawn. This is your opportunity to pop the pill towards the back of their mouth from either the front or the side. You should make sure their head is tilted backwards.

Like other animals, ferrets can fake you out by thinking they swallowed it, to only spit it out. So it's a good idea to continue scruffing a while and gentle rub their throat to encourage swallowing.

Liquids are a little more challenging, as they are very good at spitting the meds right out, and will often wiggle will trying to get it in their mouth. Chances are pretty good, that you'll end of wearing some of the meds by the time you're time.

Liquid medications presents a different challenge to pills, as you do not want to shot the medicine down their throat, as you risk the chance of aspiration which could be life threatening, As above the key will be to scruff the ferret with a tight grip and let their body dangle.

Have the syringe on the side of their mouth, and while they are yawning, gently push through the medication either going across or towards the front.

If you have a stubborn ferret that won't yawn, you might have to gently rub their gums with your finger which will cause them to loosen their bite. Quickly, place the tip of the syringe between their upper and lower teeth on the side and inject it. Often when giving meds that they don't like, this tends to become the standard way.

After the meds are in or during giving it to them, be prepared for them to shake their face, spit it out, foam at the mouth etc. This is normal, especially for medicines that have a bitter taste. One way to lessen it, is you can apply some ferretone to the tip of the syringe, so they'll taste that at first vs the meds, and as soon as you get the meds in follow-up with some additional tone to hopefully cover up the bad taste.

When having to force feed your ferret Duck Soup, many will willingly take it slowly applied from the front of their mouth. If not, you will need to feed through the side and make sure you release very slowly either going across or towards the front, never towards the back.

While this may seem like a good idea, this might not be the case due to how the drug works and drug-to-drug interactions. Some drugs lose effectiveness if:

• Given with Food

• Added to warmed up Duck Soup

• Could be contraindicated with other drugs you might be mixing together (often they need to be spaced out)

• Drug needs to be given on an empty stomach to work (especially in the case of ulcers)

Before mixing any drugs in Soup, you should check with your vet to make sure it's safe and will not lose it's effectiveness.