10/01/2026
Ferret First Aid
Disclaimer: WE ARE NOT PRACTICING VETERINARIANS! PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH AND TALK TO YOUR VET!
Yesterday someone asked, "What else should I have in my ferret first aid kit?"
That question has a long answer. The short answer is everything! However, we are gonna talk about basic triage. "What do I need to do right now so i can make it to the vet?"
This photo is what we consider to be the absolute minimum to have. Many items are easily obtained and affordable. Some are not. (I already see something i left out...) Many of these items are going to determine whether or not your baby is going to make it in an emergency.
To keep it simple I am just going to go over the picture starting from the back and working my way to the front.
Carivore care: Ideal for sick babies, good source of calories, can be used to put on weight. Use alone or mix with your own soup.
Poopin Pumkin: Used to promote a healthy GI tract. Can help with small blockages, hairball, constipation
Silver Honey. This is an antibacterial ointment that promotes rapid wound healing.
Sucralfate (Carafate): This saves lives. Think of it like pepto for ferrets. It coats the stomach and protects ulcers and other sores so they can heal. It also prevents side effects from prednisolone.
Pedialyte: Used for dehydration. Get the flavored no sugar option.
Karo syrup (or honey): used when a ferret has extremely low blood sugar. Apply to your finger and rub it on your ferrets gums. This is a temporary fix and can cause blood sugar to spike. This is not a vet replacement!
Corn starch: a great home remedy to stop bleeding such as cutting a toe nail to close.
The larger container back right: This is our homemade soupies. We do not recommend Marshalls Uncle Jim's.
Soup typically will get the pickiest ferret to eat.
Pill crusher/pill cutter: Used to crush pills and to cut pills in half or quarters.
Oral Dextrose: a much faster way to raise blood sugar.
Only use this if you have spoken to your vet regarding dosage.
AlphaTrak/Blood glucose monitor: there are different options out there and the price varies. Do your research and make sure you can use it on ferrets!
Baby food: Chicken flavor is good. Another option to help give a ferret calories when needed.
A syringe with a needle: We use this to suck up urine samples. It works really well because of the tiny tip.
Self adhesive bandage: This one is fairly self explanatory.
Miscellaneous feeder syringe/droppers: These are used to give meds and of course if you need to force feed your baby. (This does happen)
Optixcare: or equivalent: Used for mild eye injuries. Like a scratched eyeball.
Gauze pads: This one should also be fairly obvious.
Q-tips/swabs: Great for cleaning or applying ointment to small wounds.
The cone of shame: When they need to leave something alone like stitches or ears. (If there is enough interest, I will make a short video how a made such a small one out of a larger one.
Not pictured: Vaseline petroleum jelly. This is also used to help with blockages.
We also have about 50 other items in our kit. However, for someone with 1 or 2 ferrets, this is a good start.
