You may remember that Idgie came from Arkansas to be Lisa's roomate.  Idgie
had been eating Science Diet but decided when she got here that Lisa's Iams
Kitten food is much tastier.  I had Science diet in the cage so there would
be a slow switch (I had actually hoped that Lisa would switch to Science
Diet for lower protein since they are both about 3.5 yrs old).  Well Idgie
switched immediately and now with Science Diet in the bowl (23 days later)
neither will touch it.  I find little balls of Science Diet out of the bowl
like they had picked them up and then figured out *yuck* and spit it out.
The question is why has Idgie's poops not gotten more formed yet.  They are
kind of formed but very 'grainy' looking compared to Lisa's 'smooth tubes'
and they tend to always have a little bit of mucous looking material with
them (this is hard to separate from the pee sometime).  I had been giving
them Linatone every other day but could that be contributing to Idgie's
semi-loose stools?  (Idgie had been getting Linatone also in Arkansas) I
was giving it time thinking she might still be stressed a bit, but she sure
doesn't act stressed.  Those two will play for almost an hour straight--
gotta wrestle in those plastic bags, play follow the leader, and turn over
the cup of water in the bathroom you know!  Do I need to be worried about
something else?
 
Also, it sounds like there is some disagreement on reducing the protein
for older ferrets.  I've seen on the FML that some people continue to
feed Iams kitten food or others their entire life.  So once again, what
exactly can happen to them if I don't switch their food?  I'm concerned
because I don't think I can get them to switch.  I tried with Lisa after
her first year and we battled for a week and I finally gave in since she
was losing so much weight *she is very stubborn and now it looks as if
Idgie is too.
Thanks for the forthcoming input,
Lindy Garner
Missoula, MT
[log in to unmask]
Lisa and Idgie (in chorus--"Vee don't vant no stinkin Science Diet
                 and VER IS OUR LINATONE!?")
[Posted in FML issue 1244]