All right, I'm not a vet, I'm not the most experienced person out there,
and I don't want anyone to think I know everything. :-)  Disclaimer aside,
we recently had an incredibly obese ferret come in, and I've had to think
about all this.  Now, personally I worry a whole lot more about skinny
ferrets than fat ones--once I see a ferret lose weight (and it isn't
April), I start thinking stress adrenal disease insulinoma lymphosarcoma
uh-oh.  Nice plump ferrets make me feel better.  Until a couple weeks ago,
I'd only ever seen one obese ferret--and I don't think he was ever at any
health risk.  He was encouraged to exercise more, and slimmed down.
 
Now we have a monstrosity named Bear (we call him Beagle, because he begs
like one) who is absolutely HUGE.  He's not a long ferret, just a round
one.  When I laid eyes on him I almost fell over--and the previous owner
didn't think there was anything wrong with him.  Took him home and tried to
get him to walk a bit.  His back legs splayed out when he tries to walk on
slippery surfaces, he couldn't run, and he couldn't climb any but the most
gradual gradients.  AND--if he tried to run, or walk too far, or dig, he'd
almost immediately start panting.
 
Took him in.  No overt heart problems.  I was scared.
 
It's been a week and a half, and he's already lost some weight--not too
much, since I didn't want it coming off fast while he's transitioning.
He dove into our food mix right away and didn't want his anymore (which
I'm grateful for--it was Kaytee Rainbow, my least favorite food on earth.
Fatal to ferrets with insulinoma).  All we really did was start chasing
him around the house, which he got a kick out of, and gave him a lot of
free-roam time.  Now he wardances and runs, and doesn't stop and pant.
 
So--my definitions: an obese ferret is one whose quality of life is
adversely affected by his weight.  Nice plump fuzzbutts who can still run,
jump, and climb with the best of them, have normal activity and energy
levels, and eat a decent diet are just fat.  :-)
 
Jen and the Crazy Business
http://home.maine.rr.com/tesseract
[Posted in FML issue 3123]