I wrote a couple weeks ago about the little foster "Boo" that I have,
that eats everything in site. For those that did not catch the original
post, she will eat everything from the bottom off my living room drapes
to holes in a plastic shower curtain. I am not talking about your every
day run of the mill eat the buttons on the remote ferret, this is very
serious stuff.

I took her in and our vet did blood tests and xrays just to rule out
anything physical wrong with Boo. She is in perfect physical health.
Sad to say, it is all in her little head.

A wonderful person on the FML suggested she might have PICA. I had
never heard of it, but with research found out it is a compulsion to
eat inedible objects. Yup that's Boo.

When I went to the vet I was armed with all my literature I had found
on the net. Nothing to do with ferrets, but a lot of cat and dog stuff.
My vet informed me that her dog has PICA when her IBD flairs up. So she
was not unfamiliar. She did some research on a vet board and found it
is not common at all in ferrets, but can be managed in other animals
with medication. So, Boo is now on Prozac!

For those of you that are not familiar with Prozac, it is an anti
anxiety drug and does not make her high or sedated. It has to build up
in her system for a month or so before we may see any results, so I am
keeping my fingers crossed.

Again please understand this behaviour is very extreme. She eats stuff
daily, yesterday it was the paper label off my water bottle.

I will keep you posted on her progress.

This is a short list of some of the things she has ingested.

the corners of the pillows on my bed
the ties on my duvet cover
countless toys
the bottom of the living room drapes
the newspaper in her litter box
many sleep sacks, hammocks and blankets
several fabric bath mats
the rug at the front door
the throw on the sofa for watching TV
fingers out of a guests gloves
anything paper or cardboard
the cover off the sears catalogue(refer to above)
a face cloth that fell off the towel bar
 ....and many, many more things I can't remember at the moment.

-- 
Pat BAby
Everything will be alright in the end!
If it's not alright, it's not the end.

http://groups.msn.com/ComfyCritters
http://albertaferretsociety.com

[Posted in FML 6264]