Hi All!
Dr. Tom Willard and I have been working on a recipe for sick ferrets.
I've several at home who are ill or very old and don't eat solid food -
one of which must be syringe fed or she won't eat at all.  This new
recipe is higher in protein (54%) and easier than my old one.
 
2 cans Science Diet A/D (or 1 can Science Diet prescription or kitten)
1 1/2 cups Pedialyte (fruit flavor)
1/2 cup Totally Ferret (finely crushed)
2 scoops Feline Pro-Balance (1 tablespoon)
 
Crush Totally ferret with crusher or place food in plastic bag and hammer
it to a fine powder (great for relieving tension!).  Mix canned, Totally
Ferret & Pro-Balance well.  Add Pedialyte.  Mix well.  Feed in 1/8-1/4
servings at least twice a day.  Refrigerate leftovers in sealed container
and reheat to room temperature for next feeding.  You may have to entice
your ferret to eat at first and the addition of 1-3 cc's of sweetened
condensed canned milk will help.  Once they start eating it, decrease
sweetened milk.
 
We were able to omit the vitamins because Totally Ferret already contains
them.  Prissy eats less of this mixture than the other because she is
taking in more solids.  I tried it on the others that weren't sick and
they enjoyed it.  This way if anyone does need our special recipe, they
may think its a treat!
 
I'd like to thank Dr. Willard for all his help!
 
 
Kansas - No one cares!
We ran into another snag in Kansas.  There's a breeder in Horton that sells
his ferrets at Exotic Animal Auctions.  These ferrets are housed outside all
year round (and in winter its common to have -20 and sometimes lower wind
chills).  I haven't been to his place yet, but never fear, I will be going
sometime this month!  The ferrets are very nippy and I have rehabilitated
3 adults and 8 kits so far.  Our problem is that the Animal Health Dept
won't do anything because ferrets are classified as Exotic Wildlife and
Wildlife and Parks won't do anything because ferrets are actually domestic
even though they are classified differently.  W&P's only regulation
regarding ferrets is that "they can't be released in the wild".  So now
we run into another reason I worked so hard on the domestic issue (I'm
still working on it, but in the meantime there is no agency to regulate
ferret "mills" or abuse).  Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?  I did
contact APHIS and they said it is a state issue, although I'm still
working on them to obtain assistance in this matter.
 
Hugs to all!  tle
 
[Posted in FML issue 0910]