Add me to the growing list of people wanting to know if there's anything
to worry about.  I have two ferrets: 13-month old Brae, a sable from Path
Valley; and 2 1/2 year old Templeton, a deaf blaze from Marshall Farms.
Brae has the nicest coat--shiny and soft, with a thick coat coming in.
He also has good muscle tone and weight (he's about 3 lbs--he may be too
heavy?  How do you know when a ferret may be "on the heavy side"?)
Templeton, on the other hand, was thin with a thin, coarse coat when we
adopted him in June.  He weighs in at just over 2 lbs.  He had been on 8
in 1 and Purina Cat Chow.  He's been eating TF and Iams kitten formula for
five months, along with daily doses of hairball remedy and Ferretvite, but
there's not really been much (if any) improvement in his weight or coat.
Is this normal?  You can feel his bones (you definitely can't do that with
Brae!) and when his back end is on the counter and his front feet are in
the sink, he is really sunken in in front of his hips.  Is there anything
at all I can do to help him put on some weight and improve his coat?  He
shivers a lot.  Also, I worry that he might have a hairball or some other
reason for not gaining weight.  Templeton doesn't like any treats except
ripe bananas; Brae likes peanut butter, banana chips, Craisins, raisins,
grapes, dog food, ... you get the idea!
 
Neither one of my ferrets is a cuddler, either.  Is Brae still too young to
settle down for that sort of thing?  Since Templeton is deaf, I'm wondering
if his lack of interest is normal?  When we pick him up, all he does is
look everywhere but at us, as if he's trying to check everything out....
 
Please post to the list.  Seems a lot of folks are having the same
questions.
[Posted in FML issue 2487]