Hi, everyone.
 
I am hoping to get some input/advise from any of y'all out there.  I don't
post too often, but for those of you who don't know, my three ferrets had a
bout with E.  coli.  The treatment stopped on Nov.  13 and all three seem to
be fine now.
 
However, I have a couple questions about Buster, my youngest.  He turned 1
year old in December.  When the E.  coli treatment stopped in November,
Buster weighed 3 pounds, 2 oz.  He is now at 4 pounds, 1 oz!  He is
downright FAT!  I know that ferrets put on weight in the winter, but he has
gained 1 pound!  He definitely acts like a fat frit...he sleeps, eats
(sometimes while still on his stomach), poops, etc.  He will engage in play
if I "force" him, but gives up after a while because he gets too tired.
 
I have started caging him at night and when I'm at work, forcing him to eat
only the food I put in the cage, which right now is 1 oz.  I give him 1 oz.
of food (Totally Ferret) to eat during the day, then 1 oz.  at night.  I
have only been going this for a few days now.  I am having trouble tracking
down the exact amounts that ferrets are "supposed" to eat, so I'm sort of
guessing about how much to let Buster eat.
 
Do you (any of you) think that this is just "normal weight gain"?  Snookie
and Boomer have never gained THIS much during the winter.  Both of them
pretty much stay at 2.5 pounds all year.  Are there any medical problems
that can cause him to gain weight?
 
This leads me to another question.  As I said, the treatment for the E.
coli stopped on November 13.  Since then, Buster's poop (the now overweight
ferret) has remained "seedy".  Even today, at 4 pounds, his poop is still
seedy.  I thought that seedy poop meant that things were not being
adequately absorbed in the intestines.  In Buster's case, could this be a
problem?  If he DIDN'T have seedy poop now, he be 5 pounds?!  :-) Is it OK
for ferrets to have seedy poop for long periods of time but show no other
outward signs of illness?  I may be parnoid or something, but I think his
urine smells a bite stronger than the other two.
 
Any help would be appreciated.
 
 
-Mark Zmyewski
 p.s.  Besides cutting the amount of food Buster eats, I also try to
       get him to run around and play once to twice every day to try
       to burn some calories.
[Posted in FML issue 1825]