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When it comes to anesthesia for ferrets, Isoflurane is the safest anesthetic to use and the post-operational recovery time is short. I’ve been told that you shouldn’t use a vet who suggests using ketamine, an injectable anesthetic, for any operations as the procedure is extremely unpredictable.[wp_ad_camp_2]
Most ferrets bounce back after operations without any after-effects. However I’ve heard of at least 3 ferrets, here in Western Australia, which died after having anesthesia for cleaning their teeth! It could be that they had undiagnosed problems, which the anesthesia aggravated – we don’t know.
It’s best for you to speak to your vet and make sure you’re happy with the whole procedure if your ferret needs anesthesia.
If you happen to find yourself with a not-so-ferret-knowledgeable vet, please click here to get a pdf called “Anesthesia and Surgery in Ferrets” which you could give to the vet to help them to get the correct type of anesthetic and how to use it.
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Although technical, there are a couple of interesting sites which talk about anesthetics for ferrets, and would be good to print out for your vet, if he’s not particularly knowledgeable …
Small Mammal Anesthesia by Margaret A Wissman, DVM, DABVP
Ferret anesthesia and analgesia (Proceedings) by Jennifer Dupre, CVT, VTS
Practical Analgesia and Anesthesia of Exotic Pets by James K Morrisey, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)
Anesthesia for Ferrets (Centre for Veterinary Education, University of Sydney)
Ferret Formulary (Boston University)
Guidelines on Anesthesia and Analgesia in Ferrets (Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine – University of Michigan)
(Last updated November 2019)
DISCLAIMER: The information contained on this page is not meant to replace seeing a veterinarian if you think your ferret is ill. It’s only meant to supply general information on a particular illness which was obtained either from personal experience with my sick ferrets, or from books and/or the Internet.
