Hello All,
 
This is my first time posting, but my partner has posted many times in
the past.  She's busy trying to finish up her Vet. Tech. schooling so the
posting duty falls to me.
 
Back in the end of January she posted about a new DEW ferret (Arthur) we
had acquired from a horrendous pet store here in St. Petersburg (Animal
House).  At that time he was extremely small, 10ozs.(well under 8 weeks!)
and severely malnourished.  Every bone in his tiny body jutted out, he had
old food stuck up under his lip and dried food and poop caked in his fur.
He could barely hold his head up when we got him out of the glass tank.
They were feeding him Marshall's food but it was not moistened at all.  It
seemed he was literally starving to death.  We took him home, cleaned him
up and gave him lots of love.  He is now approximately 6 months old and
possibly a little too healthy.  We are concerned because he seems to be
gaining weight continuously.  He is now at 4 lbs.  We're trying to find
out if this is normal.  I have noticed that DEW's and Albinos seem to be
larger ferrets in general, but Artie seems obese.  The other 5 in our
brood are either normal weight, or what seems to be slightly underweight.
We have found that Purina One kitten food mixed with 8 in 1 Ultimate is
the most well liked by all 6.  I know that ferrets "graze" at their
convenience and aren't normally prone to overeating but Artie's got me
concerned.  He doesn't seem to eat more than the others at one sitting but
he does go back to the food dish often.  In fact he can often be found IN
the food dish (a loaf size bread pan secured to cage).  He will get into
the end of the pan, sit on his roly poly butt and eat between his paws.
It's hysterical to watch.  He will promptly slither out when finished and
fall asleep next to the dish.  It's at the point where he waddles around
and can't hoist himself out of the rice box without great effort.  He
seems fairly active for his size and seems normal in every other way.  My
question is, is it likely he will grow into his girth being that he is
only 6 months or should we be concerned at this point?  His weight gain
has occurred over a several month period (not a rapid weight gain) and we
often believe he is making up for lost time from the terrible conditions
he suffered as a kit.  We love our roly poly boy to death and don't want
him to be unhealthy or end up with heart problems.  Any advice or
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks!
Heather and Becky
With Abby, Andre, Annie, Arthur, Avery (aka Sleepy) and....Bob!
[Posted in FML issue 3785]