I have two ferrets here I am putting on a diet. Here is the situation:
 
Ferret #1 is Angel... a rescue who has been in a "foster home" for 7 days
and brought to me Sunday 10-10-99.
 
Angel had been left with some people who were real jerks by the owner who
skipped town.  The guy wouldn't buy ferret food, and never told us what
he *was* feeding her.  So we were concerned Angel might be malnurished...
she's not... that's the good news.  The bad news is it appears he must have
fed her like sweetened cereal or something... she is too fat... on her way
to an unhealthy point..  she picks at her food and eventually will eat it,
but if anyone has cereal, potato chips and such... she goes nuts to try to
get it.
 
She is an average built Marshall farm girl... but has a huge tummy on her
bottom half which actually drags the ground.  She was out playing... doing
a happy ferret dance and bouncing for all of 10 minutes... when I picked
her up, her heart was going so fast, I was afraid she was going to have a
heart attack.  Until she loses a bit, we will limit her playtimes to very
short intervals.  You can see her here:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=87904&a=642674&p=12710691&Sequence=1
 
Ferret #2 is Cosmos... he is one of mine (bred, born and raised here).
He has been a chub for a while... but mostly just "pleasantly plump" or
"chunky".  But in the past couple of weeks, he has started getting lazier
and plumper..  so I figured he seriously needed to lose a bit.  Problem was
trying to isolate him to monitor his diet... he was lonely and miserable.
So now with the arrival of Angel..... they get along great and really seem
to like each other so they are being housed together as diet buddies. :)
 
This is a pic of Cosmos taken a couple of months ago... when he was
determined "pleasantly plump"... he is now a little wider on the bottom
half.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=87904&a=642674&p=12114620&Sequence=1
 
So here is where I need advice.  What is the best way to put a ferret on a
diet??  Obviously I want to lower calorie and fat intake... but how do I do
that without lowering protein and nutrition?  How much fat is too little?
I know ferrets are *supposed* to have 18% or so.
 
Should I monitor/control the amount and feed my normal mix?
 
Is there maybe one type IN my normal mix ("receipe" below)..  that maybe I
should feed them only that one for a while?
 
Should I get a ferret food with lower calorie/fat amounts?
 
Should I use a high quality cat food?
 
But in both of those options, what about the protein, nutrition and
*needed* fat levels levels?
 
This is the foods currently in my mix and the amounts used so you get an
idea of the ratio:
8 in 1 ULTIMATE (16 pounds)
Marshalls Ferret Food (35 pounds)
Iams Kitten (10 pounds)
8 in 1 UltraBlend (20 pounds)
Diamond Kitten (20 pounds).
In answer to a question I know some of you are thinking... Every couple
of months, I buy it all in bulk, mix it up and store it in a air-tight,
plastic bin... and then have a smaller bin where 2-3 days worth is kept
handy.
 
I also supplement daily feedings with Nupro, Brewers Yeast and Mirra-Coat
(all powdered), so that might need to be factored in on the nutritional
side of it.
 
I also wondered about the Totally Ferret for Older Ferrets?  Would that be
a good option for this situation?  Even if it is... the truth is, we got a
little slammed here this month in several aspects... and I won't have the
extra money to buy that for at least 4 weeks..  so I still need an option
for the meantime.
 
Any Ideas?
 
Susan (Pegasus)
Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Of Tulsa
Fanciful Ferrets By Pegasus
AIM Screen Name - FanciFert
ICQ # - 5379122
[Posted in FML issue 2833]