Scarlett said:
>Don your hawaiian shirts!  Bob Church is in the house -
>SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15!
 
Yes I will, 'cause Scarlett is my favorite color.
 
I'll be bringing a couple of photos of MY ferrets to hand out to people
who can stump me with a fair ferret question.  Um, I don't directly
answer vet questions 'cause I'm not one, but just about every thing else
is fair game.
 
How about making sure it doesn't snow a foot next weekend?
 
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Jeff Asked:
>How much BC Soup to feed daily to an approx.  700 gram 4YO MF ferret?
>What is the room temperature 'shelf life' of BC's Soup?"
 
You have a pencil and a slide rule at hand?  Ok, the answer is, as much
as they want to eat.
 
Ferrets eat to meet energy requirements, so they naturally stop eating or
slow down eating once those needs are met.  Also, at 700 grams, it will
take a while before your ferret turns into a furry football.  Personally,
I'd let him eat as much as he wants and not worry about it.
 
One of my ferrets once got what we think was "ferret tonsilitis".  She
stopped eating, her breath went nasty, and she lost at least a third of
her body weight.  We put her on some antibiotics and I started hand
feeding her Bob's Chicken Gravy every 4 hours (with 8 hours off at night)
and she gained the weight back and more within a month.  Then her weight
stabilized regardless of what she ate.  Now she weighs in at 1200 grams.
 
As for the time chicken gravy can be left out, that's hard to say.
Certainly in winter it can stay out a couple of hours, but in summer,
only an hour tops.  At my house, it doesn't last more than a few minutes,
so it is never a problem.  But here is the trick.  If you feed your
ferret by hand every 4 to 5 hours, you don't need to leave any out; just
make sure they have plenty of water.  Just feed until he wants no more,
regardless of the amount, and store the left-overs in the 'fridge.  Weigh
him daily and you should notice an initial drop of a few grams, then a
slow crawl back to a normal weight.  If he still loses weight, call your
vet.  You may have something else going on.
 
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>[Moderator's note: 5 FLO.  BIG]
 
Yipes!  My decoder ring suggests I should respond 7 FLO, 34 emails...
 
  --------------
 
>>Get some sleep, Bill.  You'll need it.
 
>[I'll get plenty when your posts come in.  BIG]
 
You let the cat out of the bag, Bill.  Now everyone knows the long posts
are designed to insure you get enough rest.
 
I heard I'm better than a sleeping pill! ;-)
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4418]