OxyFresh (a good company that sells good products) has come out with a chewable CoQ10 supplement (for people) that is sweetened with Xylitol. I want people to be careful what they give their ferrets (or any animal) since Xylitol is deadly to animals. Even a small amount seems to cause liver failure.
What concerns me about this particular supplement is that many people give CoQ10 to their pets, and they might give one of these to their dog without thinking anything about it. How often do you thoroughly check the label on everything you eat? It would be reasonable to assume that if it’s sweet, it has sugar in it.
There is nothing wrong with giving ferrets scaled down doses of herbal remedies and supplements (if you don’t know what you’re doing, you should consult with your vet and/or the shelter). Just be careful to check what those things are sweetened with. Even some regular pill medications have a sweet coating. What is that made with?
Recently, I got some Carafate liquid (generic: sulcrafate, very useful for ferrets with ulcers or gastrointestinal problems). I tasted it, and found it was sweet. I called the pharmacy so they could carefully check to see how it was sweetened. A little sugar won’t hurt a ferret, but a little Xylitol will kill them.
