Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Catherine Raymond — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:49:18 GMT

Fantastic, I am glad it went well.

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Phrin Vernon RVN — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:42:52 GMT

GA went fine - I think they gassed it down without premed, and then tubed it. Lots and lots of warmth too! Not sure if they gave fluids (I was on reception - boooo - but did print this thread out and wave it front of the vet lol)

Found a massive grapefruit sized ovarian mass! Managed to remove it, and spay her at the same time!

When I came in to nosey at 5pm, she was looking for cuddles and eating dry cat food!

She went home that night, and is due for a recheck tomorrow!

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Catherine Raymond — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:20:26 GMT

How did the ferret GA go??

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Gillian Mostyn — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 08:33:49 GMT

Doses are well reorded the the usual texts, but should also depend on the state of health of the ferret.

I avoid medetomidine in poorly animals - it is not usually recommended unless the animal is healthy.

As has been said, nursing care (fluids, warmth, low stress) is vital - and don't forget adequate analgesia post op.

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Catherine Raymond — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:12:23 GMT

Have induced Dom/Torb/Ket on ferrets, then intubated, oxygenated and used iso if needed.

IM: Ket 5mg/kg Dom 0.08mg/kg and Torb 0.10mg/kg then reversed with Antisedan 1mg/kg
Doses are in formulary for vet to check (above doses are from Lance Jepson's Exotic Animal Medicine Book)

Have food up to hour before and then as soon as awake given food. Main thing is keeping them warm and hydrated. All small furries get given s/c fluids as standard. 25mls.

Just keep an eye on blood losses as normal blood volume of ferret is 5-7% body weight!

If you have small furries coming in for anaesthesia it is worth getting hold of a copy fo Anaesthesia of Exotic Pets by L.A .Longley which covers mammals, birds and reptiles. Good book to have in the library!

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Phrin Vernon RVN — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 22:43:34 GMT

Thanks everyone!

I'm not on ops next week but will print this thread out for those that are

What dose ACP do you use? Will it be in the formulary?

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 22:26:38 GMT

Mostly same as above - I tend to pre-med with ACP, gas down in a chamber and then intubate.

Feeding tends to depend on age. Ferrets are prone to insulinoma so can get hypoglycaemic - I fast young ones (<2 yo) but not animals older than that, or sick ones.

Pretend it it a kitten and you'll be fine. They are very similar really.

Would be interested in what you find though.....

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Kim Buckley — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 17:48:38 GMT

I would avoid just gassing them down without some sort of pre-med. Had one in for castration when I was a student and no pre-med was given and it was a nightmare to keep asleep.

Would also tube them and offer food ASAP.

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Rachel Jayne — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:47:49 GMT

Am pretty sure have always dom/ket'd them, not sure of the dose though sorry.

Is sometimes a challenge to get it all i/m though due to their wriggly nature!

You can tube them quite easily if you have teeny 2-2.5 tubes & maintain them on iso/02

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Carolyn Edwards — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:57:08 GMT

[quote user="NickyVN"]if slow waking up try driping glucose syrup into mouth - found some of the thin sickly ones needed that. [/quote]

Good point - they become hypoglycaemic very easily.

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Nicola Smith — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 08:16:16 GMT

Hi, we used to loads of ferrets for the local rescue. They can be premed which we found helped, then we always intubated ours - really asy with a cat et tube - very easy to visualis etc. I alwasy found the GAs pretty smooth. Do feed up to and staright after and if slow waking up try driping glucose syrup into mouth - found some of the thin sickly ones needed that.

Good luck!

Re: Ferret anaesthesia & surgery

Carolyn Edwards — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 22:02:43 GMT

Don't know a lot but here it is: we usually gas ours down with iso - either an induction box or mask; they should be fed up until a few hours before surgery and fed asap afterwards; our active scavenging is a bit too active for small creatures but if yours is OK with small bunnies it should be fine with ferrets. Normal values are: heart rate 180-250, resp rate 40-80, temp 37.8-40°C.

Our exotics vet usually closes with hidden sutures and often uses skin glue. Other than that it's the usual issues of keeping them warm (poss warm saline lavage before closing), trying to get a reasonably accurate heart rate and getting rid of the smell afterwards! Good luck.