Bob, you left out two other middle ground approaches.  Of course, first a
non-drinking/non-eating ferret gets taken to the vet.  That's a no-brainer.
I think that it being a no-brainer means that many who are used to ferrets
assume that the medical problem underlying has already been diagnosed and
is being treated.  (Those who aren't using vets as often as they should
need to rethink their priorities.)  Heck, there are many other possible
causes besides an infection, some which need rapid (as in SAME DAY)
veterinary action to not be fatal-- problems such as a full blockage.
There are MANY possible things to try besides just regular feeding/drinking
or the extreme of force feeding.  As you pointed out, force feeding can
cause aspiration pneumonia and kill a ferret.  Also, as you pointed out
there is finger feeding of a treat food like baby food or A/D.  We also use
A/D a lot, and we've found that lamb is a preferred baby food for some of
guys, though some of our's like chicken as your little ones do, and some
like turkey; beef doesn't go over well here for some reason.  It's also
possible to dilute a soft food with water or with an electrolyte solution
and give it again with finger, or with a spoon.  We have found that many of
our's who are ill will eat happily with a spoon if a person sits down with
them, having a towel over the lap, and just takes a lot of time and gives a
lot of attention.  Singing often helps -- just pick a tune and work in the
ferrets name, "treat" and other known food/drinking noises/words.  When
singing doesn't work it often helps to have someone bring in a known
competitive piggy ferret who isn't a strong dominant figure.  There is a
dropper a lot of our ferrets really LIKE which we have found at drugstores.
It does NOT squirt.  Well, I guess it could, but we don't use it that way.
It has a large opening for release and filling so it doesn't clog and
suddenly shoot out a lot, and has an accordian top rather than a squeeze
one so tiny amounts can be released from it at a time -- sort of lets a
person OOZE stuff or very slowly drip it in front of the ferret's mouth.
We have several who LOVE to do this for the fun of it: sort of their
version of straw candies, I guess.  It's also possible (if not
counterindicated) to mix a treat in with water to encourage drinking.
Furries here who can have sugar tend to appreciate Water with Nutrical
mixed in (which takes two forks to mix, and needs to be consumed before
the film forms on top).  I expect that a lot of people will wind up coming
in with nursing tips...
 
Favorite restraint device: Steve.  (He's got big hands and that leaves
mine free.)
[Posted in FML issue 3027]