Help! Is ingesting vinegar fatal?

[colleens2ferts]

While I was at work I asked hubby to refill the water bowl and he did, but for some reason he accidentally used the bottle of vinegar water solution I use to clean instead of tap water. The bottle was unlabled and he thought it was water. How harmful is this if they ferrets drank it? Misty is acting ok,. but Swiper is lethargic and has loose stools. Is this something that will pass or should I take him in? None of the vets around here seem to know anything about ferrets and I am at a loss.

[unclejoe]

Loose stools could be caused by vinegar, but it isn't harmful in small amounts.

[colleens2ferts]

Update: Swiper is still acting pretty lethargic, but his loose stools have turned to diarrhea. He just kind of mopes around when I take him out, not playing much. He still investigates, but there is no playing or anything, just walking and sniffing. Normally he is too busy to let me hold him, but now he just lays in my arms and wants to be held. I am watching him and we are going to feed him duck soup to keep him going through today, and then when the vets open tomorrow I will take him in. I called 5 emergency vets last night and none take ferrets... wth?? So I am going to keep watching him and unless he makes a drastic turn for the better he will be going to the vet tomorrow morning when they open. My other ferret seems fine, so I am thinking she must not have drank the water. My husband feels so bad about this. He said he didn't realize it was vinegar water in the bottle, he was in a rush and just poured it thinking it was water. I am worried about him becoming dehydrated. When I picked him up, I pinched his skin on his neck area like I was scruffing him, and it didn't go back down right away. Should I give him pedialyte? Add extra water to the duck soup? Anyone??

[judy]

If he's having diareah then I would either water down the soup or mix it with a little pedialyte. I wouldn't worry too much if its only for a day and if its not severe.

[colleens2ferts]

Thanks. I did make some soup and give it to him, and I watered it down a bit with pedialyte. I also used the water that I boiled the chicken in, and used that to soften the kibble. He won't drink it out of the bowl but he does lick it off my finger. My other little girl won't have anything to do with it, though. lol. He seems to be improving and was exploring a bit more and is moving around a lot more. I think his stomach must be starting to feel better.

[judy]

Good news! Hope he continues to improve

[joclyn]

never, ever, mix anything with pedialyte!!! that defeats the whole purpose of the balance of the nutrients that are in it and then it doesn't do what it's supposed to (rebalance the elecrolytes)!!

always give the pedialyte by itself and wait 30 minutes before or after giving food.

as for the current situation, i doubt it's related to the vinegar water at all unless he drank a lot of it and the acid of the vinegar got rid of all the good gut flora - if your cleaning mix is anything stronger than 15% vinegar/75% water, then that is possible.

you should get him in for a look-see, as there could be something else going on (like ibd, maybe) that just happened to start showing after the mix up with the water. if it is just the vinegar issue, then, some plain yogurt mixed into his soup for 4-5 days should get his gut flora back in order.

i always use the greek yogurt as that has 3 or 4 or 5 cultures in it (depending on what brand you get). the more active/live cultures the better i just use a regular teaspoon (not measure spoon) and add 1 tsp to the soup serving twice a day. 4-5 days should be enough time or you could do another couple days if it seems needed.

i'd also add in some pumpkin to the soup, too. plain canned pumpkin (not pie mix) and just 1/2 teaspoon to soup serving - you can freeze the extra by dropping it by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet (likely spritzed with olive oil spray) and then freeze it. once frozen, remove from the sheet and store in plastic zip bags in the freezer - since they're so small, they only take a short time to defrost and you can add some to the soup once a week (and then once daily during shed times). i wouldn't give the pumpkin for more than a week.

if the stools aren't back to normal in a week/10 days, then something else is going on.

[colleens2ferts]

Nov 26, 2012 3:44:09 GMT -5 @joclyn said:

never, ever, mix anything with pedialyte!!! that defeats the whole purpose of the balance of the nutrients that are in it and then it doesn't do what it's supposed to (rebalance the elecrolytes)!!

always give the pedialyte by itself and wait 30 minutes before or after giving food.

as for the current situation, i doubt it's related to the vinegar water at all unless he drank a lot of it and the acid of the vinegar got rid of all the good gut flora - if your cleaning mix is anything stronger than 15% vinegar/75% water, then that is possible.

you should get him in for a look-see, as there could be something else going on (like ibd, maybe) that just happened to start showing after the mix up with the water. if it is just the vinegar issue, then, some plain yogurt mixed into his soup for 4-5 days should get his gut flora back in order.

i always use the greek yogurt as that has 3 or 4 or 5 cultures in it (depending on what brand you get). the more active/live cultures the better i just use a regular teaspoon (not measure spoon) and add 1 tsp to the soup serving twice a day. 4-5 days should be enough time or you could do another couple days if it seems needed.

i'd also add in some pumpkin to the soup, too. plain canned pumpkin (not pie mix) and just 1/2 teaspoon to soup serving - you can freeze the extra by dropping it by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet (likely spritzed with olive oil spray) and then freeze it. once frozen, remove from the sheet and store in plastic zip bags in the freezer - since they're so small, they only take a short time to defrost and you can add some to the soup once a week (and then once daily during shed times). i wouldn't give the pumpkin for more than a week.

if the stools aren't back to normal in a week/10 days, then something else is going on.

I had never heard that about the pedialyte... so I just made 4 ice cube trays full of duck soup, and there's pedialyte in it. Is it ok to give him still? I have some acidophilus probiotics here that I take, could I possibly sprinkle some of that in with his food? Or does the yogurt have different ones that he needs as well?
I am pretty sure it was the vinegar solution. I think it was a mixture of half water, half vinegar, although I have no idea how much he drank. He seems much better now but I am still keeping an eye on him.

[joclyn]

i called the company to ask about things on the ingredient list that worried me and in conversations with various people - in 3 different depts - they all said to not mix it with food or even water.

see the item 'storage, mixing & feeding'

pedialyte.com/ask-us


due to the response about flavorings & colorings - which was evasive about whether they are natural or artificial until i really pushed the issue (some are artificial) i never did purchase the stuff.

it probably says it somewhere on the packaging that you should use as-is and not mix it with anything, though.

how much soup was there and how much of the pedialyte did you mix in??

[colleens2ferts]

there was about 4 ice cube trays worth (I made a big batch) and I used maybe 1/4-1/3 of a bottle of pedialyte (the grocery store brand though, not name brand pedialyte)
Is it going to be harmful, or will it just make the pedialyte ineffective? He id drinking and eating normally now, so I am not too concerned if it will just make the pedialyte less effective, but if it is harmful I will throw the cubes away. I just hate to waste that much soup :/

[judy]

Here is what I found on the actual Peidalyte web site. I never knew. It looks like it indicates that it would just not be effective when mixed since you're not mixing it with anything sweetened.

*************************************************


Q: Can I mix Pedialyte with water? Apple juice? Ginger ale?

Pedialyte's specific blend of minerals and nutrients contains appropriate and balanced amounts of sugars and electrolytes in a particular quantity of fluid. This formulation is important for maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in children who have abnormal losses, such as can happen with diarrhea. If other fluids are added, the quantities and ratios of electrolytes and sugars may be altered, making the product less effective. Additionally, adding other sweetened fluids could draw water back into the intestine and make diarrhea even worse. Therefore, no other fluids should be mixed with Pedialyte unless recommended by a health care professional. And it's important to note that when mixing Pedialyte Powder Packs, only 8 fl oz of water should be used per pack.

[joclyn]

colleen, if he's getting better, i wouldn't worry about the pedialyte being in the soup...as far as i know, mixing it with the food would just negate its benefits and wouldn't cause any harm.

you may want to contact the company though to ask if mixing it with food has any unusual or harmful side effects, just to be sure about it. you can call the maker of pedialyte, it doesn't matter if you bought another brand.

the link i posted is to the pedialyte site and there's a contact us link at the bottom of the page that has an 800 number you can call to ask questions.