I called our ferret vet specialist about Ayla's hard stools. This has
been an ongoing problem that he has seen her for in the past. The
straining often bring out hemorrhoids. We have ruled out grains in the
diet as the cause. Her teeth are warn down quite a bit, so she may not
be chewing her food well enough.

She is nearing six-years-old and not a candidate for exploratory
surgery to rule out any other cause of the symptoms, even if our
ferret shelter had those kinds of funds.

We have tried two methods to treat the hard stools -- soupy food and
oil supplements. The soupy food, presented to Ayla as ground kibble
mixed in warm water, worked, but she gained too much weight. She was
switched to oil supplements, but she gained weight even faster. Always
a pear-shaped gal, Ayla now waddles. Ayla does have a very large
spleen, but it is not painful and is not overly contributing to her
weight problem.

Ferrets at heart would appreciate some advice on what some of you have
done to combat a similar situation. How do you put a ferret that needs
lots of moist food or twice-daily oil supplements on a diet? Ayla has
never been a very active ferret, so getting the weight off her is going
to be difficult. My vet and I anxiously await any suggestions.

With respect,

Lori of Ferrets at Heart
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http://ferretsatheart.com/

 ...and Rhys, Ayla, Codo, Mandie, Winter,
Holly, Charlie, and Templeton -- All on the Ferret Giving Tree at
www.ferretgivingtree.com/. Thank you to all the santas this year!

You can find our hand-crafted ferret hammocks, beds, tunnels, sleep
sacks, and toys in our webstore at ferretsatheart.com/ and on eBay at
http://shop.ebay.com/ferrets-at-heart/m.html

[Posted in FML 6912]