I had a similar problem with my Yoshi when she was about four.  I was
trying to change her diet from Purina Cat Chow to Iam's.  Incidentally,
Yoshi is our alpha, so she is used to having it her way.  She and I argued
for a long time over changing her diet.  I got scared when she started to
lose weight.  That just goes to show how stubborn she is.
 
Anyway, I started feeding her with a syringe, just like you do with
Caitrin, and she loved it.  We did that for a couple of days and her energy
went back up.  Imagine that, huh?  She was getting used to the regular
syringe feedings, so I started slacking off a bit.  I would feed her just a
little from the syringe and then direct her attention to the "duck soup" in
a tray and she finished her meal by herself.  We did this for a couple of
days.  I slowly began adding the Iam's to the duck soup and pretty soon,
she was on Iam's for good.
 
Also, it may not be the new taste of the food that Caitrin is rejecting.
It may be an aversion to a new shape.  I have know some ferrets who get
used to a shape and will never eat anything other than that.  I know Cat
Chow and Meow Mix have star shapes where Eukanuba has small round shapes.
Maybe you could try crunching up Caitrin's food for awhile, just until she
gets used to it.
 
As a side note, my duck soup recipe contains A/D cat food and chicken baby
food.  I vary the percentages of the ingredients depending on the
individual ferret's tastes.  I sometimes crunch up their solid food
and let in sit in the duck soup for awhile so it can get good and soggy
if I am trying to familiarize them with a new taste.
 
I hope this post makes sense.  I am quite tired so I apologize if I'm a bit
scattered.  Good luck with Caitrin!
 
Britta
[Posted in FML issue 2532]