To Jeff Johnston:
 
    Sounds like your ferret has had some type of severe gastrointestinal
indiscretion.  Has he been around any other ferrets?
 
>He is now eating less than 10 grams a day.  I don't think he has touched
>his pelleted food at all since Thursday, although yester- day I was able
>to get him to eat some freshly-cooked chicken and a little yogurt and
>peanut butter.
 
    This combination is a poor choice for an ailing ferret.  I am surprised
that your vet would prescribe something like this.  Do this: go to the store
and get a dozen jars of Gerber's Second Foods.  Warm a small amount on a
plate, and then use your finger to put some in his mouth.  (Make sure it's
just a little over room temperature.) While he may not like it at first, he
will eventually start licking it off your finger.  The next step is to have
him lick it off the plate, but not until you have had several successful
feedings from your finger.  I would suggest feeding him every 2 hours.  You
also have to make sure that he is adequately hydrated.  You can use a
dripper bottle, or your fingers, or a syringe in the corner of the mouth,
but you have to make sure he takes water in.
 
    Concerning the antibiotics - junk the metronidazole.  Most ferrets hate
it, and if it is causing him to vomit - then it's doing harm.  Did you vet
take an abdominal radiograph or examine him for a foreign body?  Too often
vets just want to give antibiotics rather than do a good physical
examination.  In a fifteen-month-old ferret, you always have to be concerned
about foreign bodies.
 
   In summary - sick ferrets need to be hand-fed.  Forget the pelleted
food - he won't eat it.  You have to hand feed frequently.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1311]