I need some advice- my boyfriend and I took in 2 shelter ferrets on a
temporary basis last week (shelter owner has broken her leg so we're
helping out).  We were really happy to help out but one of the ferrets is 7
years old and scrawny- we have no experience with older ferrets as ours are
all 3 and under.  Anne (shelter owner) told us that the ferret (we'll call
her pipsqueak) doesn't eat much but has no signs of any disease that she
can tell.
 
We want to put some weight on this baby- I've read through some of the
Faq's various places and I know about duck soup.  One problem is that Pip
will lap up the soupy part but ignore the softened kibble- she won't touch
it.  I tried adding a little soft kitten food and she doesn't like that
either.  I've also tried chicken baby food- doesn't like it at all (neither
do any of our 4... I'm wondering why it's in the duck soup recipe- do ALL
other ferrets except ours like it??) She's eating a lot of this liquid but
it can't have much nutrition in it without the kibble- it's mostly water
and ensure stuff (I know Nutrical is better, but I can't find it anywhere).
Also, she did have diarrhea yesterday and I'm sure it's probably the ensure
stuff causing it.
 
Oh, a few more things- she has all her hair, has a LOT of energy (judging
by her enthusiasm in digging on our carpet :).  She seems to be nearly
blind, but gets around okay.  Besides the diarrhea and a few other stools,
she doesn't poop much- probably b/c she doesn't eat much.
 
How can I get some more nutrition into her?  I bought about 5 different
soft kitten foods and she won't touch any of them, even if they're
disguised with Ferretone.  I'm wondering if maybe she has sore teeth- does
this happen in older ferrets?  I could understand why she'd ignore the
kibble in that case... Also, if we start feeding her softened stuff or duck
soup regularly, if the shelter owner can't/doesn't do that when we return
her, will she be less likely to eat kibble than she was before because
she's used to being hand-fed something soft?  We don't want to cause a
worse problem.
 
All advice appreciated-- I can't stand to see her like this- her bones are
sticking out everywhere.
 
Thanks,
 
Jaime
[Posted in FML issue 3304]