To Dave who wants to put more weight on his 5-year-old ferret:
 
        Remember Dave, there are ferrets which are naturally thin, like there
are poeple who are naturally thin.  If your ferret has always been thin, then
chances are that is his normal body type.
 
        What we do to put weight on ferrets is use Gerber Chicken baby foods
(the one in the blue jar).  The first time you have to take some on your findger
and rub it on the ferrets kips and gums, and it may take two or three meals for
them to decide that they like it, but they invariably do.
 
        We have occcasionally had out animals lose weight and have fattened them
up in this manner.  I also gave this idea to one of our friends, who has a very
thin adult male, and he is now eating like a pig and starting to fill out some.
 
        You have to be careful however, that your ferret still gets his normal
ration, and that any baby food is abouve and beyond what he normally eats.
Babyt food is not a balanced diet for ferrets.
 
Good luck...
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1073]