hurt mink!!!!

[into_my_web]

Hello, i have found a hurt mink on the road yesterday. i now have it home in a cage, but it is only lying down and breathing heavy. i have been feeding it wet ferret food with a syringe and water. i belive it may have some broken ribs or something happened with its head but it can't really open it's eyes. i also have talking to the wildlife foundation but they are telling me to bring it to the nature park, and said they can't take it for me but i don't think they will try to hard to help.

 

[BayouPoules]

Can't help except to say how good of you to help. There will be someone along to help soon,..

 

[Muggsmagee]

As an animal lover, it is hard to follow the "rules" given to us by rangers, wildlife orgs, and the like. First off...your safety is important. Please don't get bit. I understand wanting to help, so I am going to try and help you.

Be ready that internal injuries are probably going to take the life of this creature...under the assumption it was hit by a car.

It very likely won't want to eat, but make sure water is available. I would suggest getting dry cat food and wetting it down with warm chicken broth (or just the broth itself). Something easy for it to digest will save it's energy for healing. A spoonful of strawberry jam will give it a quick pick me up.

Broken bones can sometimes heal themselves, but if you have any vet at all to at least "verbally" assist you, so you can better assess the situation, that would be great. Do you have a zoo in your area? I would make a few more phone calls...if someone can't physically help, maybe they can talk you through some of this. It is hard to know what is going on with this creature without seeing it first hand.

I'm going to reiterate...keep yourself safe first. Do not treat this critter as a pet. I applaud you for wanting to help and attempting to do something (I would want to also). It isn't your fault if your efforts fail.

Wishing you luck!

 

[into_my_web]

Quote:
When we fed it the wed ferret food it seemed to want to eat, it's just having a bit of difficulty keeping it's head up.
We called a vet but they only told us we could youthinize it.

 

[Muggsmagee]

It's frustrating sometimes when the only answers are "do nothing" or "euthanize". Ugh.

I am glad you are doing something. Don't force feed it. Animals that are injured in the wild will go on a "fast". They literally won't eat so all their energy goes towards healing. Leave water or a broth in the cage with it. Give it a towel to lay with...and maybe even a warm water bladder (bottle) to lay next to. Set him/her in a quiet place with the cage covered with a sheet.

I never asked if it was bleeding, but I assume you would have made mention.

If you have ferret vitamin oil, or supplements...sneak a little into the water.

Edited for redundancy!

 

[cmjust0]

The fact that it can't really open its eyes and can't hold its head up would seem to indicate some type of closed head injury, or perhaps a spinal cord injury.. Something related to trauma to the central nervous system.. The labored breathing with mention of broken ribs would point me toward a collapsed or punctured lung.. Frankly, I'd say the little feller's chances aren't great..

I personally would have left it in the road and let nature take its course, or perhaps gone ahead and euthanized it myself to end it's suffering...but...that's not the choice you made. I can't fault you for that...I get it

Before I make any recommendations, let me just say that I'm NOT A VET and I've NEVER RAISED A MINK OR FERRET IN MY LIFE. Basically, I'm just spitballing here because you can't get any other help. So if you take any of my advice and he keels over dead instantaneously, well...sorry. I never said I knew what I was doing.

Ok..

If someone came to me and said "Here. Fix this." and presented me with such an animal, the only thing I can think to do would be to administer some banamine for pain and swelling, and probably also some kind of corticosteroid like dexamethasone, then just provide supportive treatment....

The ferret dosage for banamine, according to a *VERY* quick and non-thorough google search, is apparently .5-2mg/kg of bodyweight, which isn't very much AT ALL considering a mink probably doesn't weigh much more than 1kg (2.2lbs) and most injectable banamine preparations are 50mg/ml.. Sooooo, you'd be looking at .04ml to hit the maximum dosage. That's 4/100ths of one milliliter. I have teeny 1ml syringes that are broken down into 10ths, so I guess I'd be shooting for a little less than halfway to the first notch..

That would be tricky, to say the least.

As for the dexamethasone, I found one reference to an "all species" dosage for central nervous system trauma using dex that called for was 2-3mg/kg IV, tapered to 1mg/kg SQ 3-4/day.. Since I don't see myself giving a mink an IV, I'd probably just inject 1ml SQ, right up front, then drop off to maybe 1/2ml SQ, 2 or 3 times/day for...I dunno...until it either died or was well enough not to let me give it shots anymore, I reckon.

I'd probably also give it a little shot of fortified b-complex to see if that perked it up and maybe improved its appetite (though the dex will likely improve appetite, also)..

Otherwise...antibiotics, since the dex will hamper its immune system. Google says a good injectable PenG dosage for a ferret would be 1ml/5kg, so if the mink's 1kg, it would get around 2/10ths of one ML. I'd probably just shoot for somewhere less than 1/2ml and call it good, but that's just how I roll these days.

I also have bags of lactated ringer's solution on hand, and I'm guessing a ferret -- manoeverable little creatures they are -- probably have plenty of extra skin... That is to say, I'd probably just go ahead and 'saddlebag' it with SQ fluids to ensure that it's got plenty of fluids to use in processing all the meds I was putting in it.. Giving lots of meds to a dehyrated animal can be a wee bit rough on the innards..


So, that's what I'd do. I have all that stuff on hand, though.. You could probably talk your vet out of some of it in small quantities for a small fee, if you want to give it a whirl.. Banamine's not cheap, but you don't need much...so there's a few bucks. Dex is way cheap, and you wouldn't need much of that either...should be practically free. I think I paid about $15/bag for lactated ringer's from the vet, which I thought was highway robbery...when you need, though, it it's handy to have and well worth the money. You wouldn't need more than 1 bag of that, since it's a gigantic 1L bag that's probably bigger than the mink.. A disposable IV set to do the SQ ringers should be cheap, even from the vet...like, $3-5 tops.. B-complex and PenG you can probably get in a feed store for a few dollars, or if not...heck, skip the b-complex and just talk your vet out of some el-cheapo amoxicillin oral suspension and give it some of that by mouth..

Dunno what else to tell ya except...good luck! And keep us posted!

 

[menageriemama]

What a wonderful thing you are doing!! I have never rehabilitated a mink, and so sadly have no specific advice. Good luck

 

[into_my_web]

If the little fella does get better, but ends up a bit messed up do you think it's okay to keep him.
Only if he is tame enough to keep of course.
But, like if he ends up not being able to walk right or something along those lines.
Because he's trying to walk around and not really succeeding.

Here is a photo of him sleeping. He's so precious.
You can see here though, he does have some issue with either his neck or head.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Is it possible that he's still in shock? Is it possible he has rabies?

PLEASE be careful when dealing with these animals as they can carry distemper. Well, ferrets can carry it, I don't see why minks wouldn't be able to as well.

 

[into_my_web]

Every time we give him water with the syringe he begins moving around the cage.
Do you suppose this is helping him or hurting him?
It's so difficult to tell.