Hi all....
  I have been silently reading the past several issues and I decided to open
my mouth finally.  I am the proud owner of two ferrets, Shadow and Whiskey, and
I am smitten by another ferret who I would love to adopt, if the owner would
part with her...her name is Steely.  Anyway, I have seen all three demonstrate
stubbornness concerning what they choose to eat, and I thought I would share my
stories with you.
  First, about Steely.  She eats some bizarre store bought cat food, I can't
remember the name, but I never heard of it.  She is thriving.  Her coat is much
softer than either of mine, and she has nice muscle tone and is very alert.
The surprising thing is that she is a caged ferret, and still is beautiful and
healthy.  (I realize there are many ferret owners out there with caged ferrets
who are healthy, but EVERY single person I know who has caged a ferret has made
me want to cry because the ferret is neglected in attention and health. )
Her only detriment is she has a bit of a pot belly...not a lot, but it's there.
I don't have the right to intervene with her care, since she is not mine
(although her owner didn't complain when I bought a $65 cage for Steely when I
was at ferret expo! :)  I just wanted to admit that she is one success case.
(She never even had linatone before I met her!)
    Next, about Shadow.  This is the story I really want you all to hear.  I
*very* strongly want to warn ferret owners, especially new ferret owners who
are introducing new foods to ferrets, against store bought foods.  I know it
seems like a contradiction after the Steely story, but listen.  I got Shadow
last Valentine's day (almost one year anniversary!) and they suggested we feed
Iams to him.  I don't remember why we stopped feeding the Iams, but for some
reason we decided to just feed him Friskies and give linatone and other treats.
It worked out well because we bought a kitten that week to raise with Shadow,
and they both ate and liked friskies.
   When Shamus (the kitten) was old enough to be spayed we made an appointment
to a vet for her.  I remember this for a reason...the night before Shamus' vet
appointment Shadow started vomiting.  (the spaying thing gives you an idea of
the passage of time).  I was so scared, since I knew that ferrets aren't
supposed to vomit.  We decided to take the ferret to the vet with the cat...I
have to admit that I would have waited a few days if it weren't for the fact
we already had an appointment...talk about lucky coincidences.  The vet didn't
know what was wrong with Shadow at the time, she suspected a blockage, but she
told us he was severely dehydrated and he would have died within 24 hours if
we hadn't brought him to the vet. Anyway, she told us we needed to do surgery
to determine if there was a blockage. (I cried.)  So, she did the surgery, and
discovered *NO* blockage, just a very large node around the intestine that
shouldn't have been there (it should have been the size of a pinhead, it was
the size of a grape).  But she couldn't remove it, so we had to sew him up
still sick. :(
   She put him on prescription diet (Science diet) which he hated.  She said it
would be better for his intestines, and to feed it to him for no less than 2
weeks.  They were the longest 2 weeks, he hated the food and tried to get to
the friskies at every chance.  Finally after 2 weeks we were allowed to mix
the 2 foods to gradually introduce the friskies to his intestines.  Three days
later he found the cat's bowl of friskies and chowed the whole thing down...
he goe sick all over again.  Back to the vet for rehydration, more vet bills,
she even sent bloodwork to California for testing (I cried again, he HATED
having blood taken...)  So we made him eat only Science Diet again (at this
point we thought it was just that his intestines weren't healed from whatever
disease/virus he had, and the friskies were irritating him.)  Bloodwork came
back, nothing to tell us.  We decided that for a long time we would avoid the
friskies, so his intestines could heal.
   About a month later Shadow got into the friskies again, we figured it was OK
since by then his intestines should have healed.  Suprise, suprise, he got sick
AGAIN.  This time we knew what was wrong, and we force-fed him a lot of water,
several times a day, and he got over it.  That was the end of the friskies.
With  a little logical deduction with our vet we  determined he was simply
allergic to Friskies, in a very serious way!
   Now we feed all of our furry ones (1 ferret 2 cats--the other ferret is
living with mom and dad) Purina One.  They all seem to like it and I guess it's
about  as good as you can get store bought.  I am going to try ProPlan next
time though, I believe it must be better and I only want the best (that he will
 enjoy eating, of course.)
  Well this got kinda long, I will hold off on Whiskey's story for another time
(One of those who REFUSES to eat anything good for him).  Good luck to all.
  -=Kymberlie, Shadow, Whiskey, and Steely at heart=--
 
[Posted in FML issue 0418]