| ferret glands needed expressing - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| Paula and James McNicol |
This seems like a good thread to tell this story as my DC (ferret) has just
had his anal glands expressed by the vet.
I usually feed my boys a mix of kitten and ferret foods. Last time I went
to get some they had no ferret food, so the boys got only kitten food.
Now, I didn't associate it at the time, but DC has had loose poops (not
liquid, but not that solid either) since then.
Yesterday, I noticed a sore patch had suddenly developed at the base of his
tail, and immeadiately booked a vets appointment. Today, the vet tells me
that the result of loose poops can be impacted anal glands (which itch,
hence the sore patch), due to them not being squeezed during pooping.
So, my vet has a stinky office, DC has antibiotics and his usual food, and I
won't ever make that mistake again :o)
--
Paula
and the Boyz
Biffa, Rumpus, Banzai and DC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~
"wildchld97" <wildchld97@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f5b5210d29564dc614796a29b4858a77@news.teranews.com...
>
> <jumpingmouse02@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:4H7Cc.10961$w07.2527@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> > Good question, Pam. I'm glad you asked it, because apparently I didn't
> make
> > my post clear and sure wouldn't want someone going away with the wrong
> idea
> > ......... :-)
> >
> > Sara is my dog. I have ferrets and Sara loves them to death, but I've
> never
> > heard of it being necessary to express a ferret's anal
glands.....probably
> > because their scent glands are usually removed at the breeder (unless
you
> go
> > to a private breeder) when they are neutered as kits.
> >
> > Sara has allergies really bad and it causes her body to produce an
excess
> of
> > histamines, which ends up somehow, round about, causing her anal glands
to
> > be overly productive. The anal glands are just inside the anus and they
> > allow a dog to 'mark its territory' by dragging it's bottom on the
ground
> > and leave their unique scent behind; When the glands stay inflamed (due
to
> > allergies often) and don't empty by themselves naturally, with bowel
> > movements, it has to be done by hand by some poor, unlucky sucker like
> me -
> > and with just a little show and tell from the vet, you too can do this
fun
> > procedure! LOL Seriously, tho, if you're asking as far as ferrets
are
> > concerned, I don't think you'll have to worry about this one :-))
>
> Ugh. Ferret anal glands are nasty smelling when they let loose, but it's
> temporary and tolerable. LOL.
>
> Our Jake wasn't neutered, nor was he descented when we got him. The
> neutering had to be done because he was too aggressive to the other
ferrets
> and he stunk to high heaven. The vet wanted to descent him at the same
time
> as the neutering but we opted against it on the advice of a very
> knowledgable ferret breeder. She said that it's not really necessary,
> because they don't express their scent unless it's necessary (just like a
> skunk), that its very expensive, and the proceedure has a potential to
cause
> health problems later in life. I'm glad I listened to her..we saved a ton
> of money and we really don't notice that he still has the scent glands and
> thank goodness we don't have to express the glands. Ugh...I couldn't
> imagine. LOL
>
> Every once in a while if Jake is startled, excited, or if he gets mad at
the
> other ferrets he'll let one of his "killer farts" go and BOY does it clear
> the room! Everyone runs for cover. Luckily, the stink doesn't last long
> and we end up getting a good laugh out of it because Jake just looks at us
> like "Whaddid I do?" . Even the other ferrets run for cover. LOL
>
>
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