Cold virus

[dragonswartz]

I and my boyfriend have been suffering from a nasty cold virus and we have tried to keep away from the ferrets as much as possible but they caught it anyways. They are eating and drinking well still but they are stuffed up and sneezy. All the local vets are closed and the emergency care costs are completely outrageous so I was hoping that someone may have some advice about any way to help them cope until I can take them in on Monday. If they get any worse I will take them in sooner but they are not losing weight they are eating and drinking well so I would rather try to wait til Monday rather than pay almost 800$ in emergency fees alone. Can anyone help?

[thomasboss]

I would monitor them to make sure they aren't getting worse..plus lots of duk soup..
I too feel the vet fees are outrageous, so each week I put a dollar or two into my ferret fund for emergencies.
Get well soon, nobody likes to be sick

[judy]

As long as they are eating, drinking and not acting too sick you can probably wait a day or two. But... if there is labored breathing at all, that's an emergency. Also if they stop eating and/or drinking altogether, its time to go to the vet's. I hope you all feel better soon!

[dragonswartz]

Thanks, so far they are still eating and drinking well. And I gotta give the little fella's credit they still try really hard to make it to the potty, but they are playing for shorter periods of time, and one of them pretty much sleeps, eats, drinks, and poos, then more sleep. I am realy hoping it's just a quick cold and they will be better soon, but still wanna have them checked on monday, so I will try to post and let everyone know how they are doing. Oh btw, they are regularly eating a warm wet food mix, they seem to like it more, probably easier to eat and nice to have a nice warm full belly, i guess.

[joclyn]

ferrets aren't susceptible to rhinovirus, so, whatever you have is either flu or sinus infection.

mostly all you can do is supportive care while the virus runs its course. make sure they're eating normally and taking in enough fluids. you can run a humidifier (cool mist) to help with the stuffy noses. also rescue remedy is used by some. do not use vicks vapor rub stuff!!! it's very bad for ferrets and babies!!

keep an eye out for lethargy, not eating/drinking, diarrhea & dehydration and high temp (which will also contribute to dehydration). if any of those start happening, get to the vet asap.

[Dingo]

Good luck with nursing your sickies back to full health. I'm sure they'll all be feeling better soon.

I always keep a box of dust masks in my ferret room and make it a rule to use one if I have a cold or the slightest hint of one. You can get them at Walmart or any hardware store and they are very cheap. I buy the 3M brand.

[dragonswartz]

Thanks for the tip, after nursing my babies they are safely back to a comfortably healthy spot.6 of my guys are back to full health, however the two that got hit the worst still have the moments where you can tell they aren't quite over it, but they are getting better each time they come out to play.

[Barbara]

Poor babies, I know about the taking time, I had the flu eariler.

[humidifier]

My ferrets have gotten sick like that before and one thing that helped was a humidifier. I put an extra large blanket over the cage and placed a cool mist humidifier underneath. It helped them breathe easier and made them more comfortable. This was during the summer though- so for this time of year you might want to go with warm mist. I also gave them extra blankets to snuggle in and vitamin supplement.

[dragonswartz]

Everyone seems to be back to normal now. So glad to see them so bouncy and playful like their old selves again. Thanks everyone for tips....