>From:    Amy Gordon-Fohl and Christopher Fohl <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Weight
 
>I'd like some feedback on Ferrets and their weight.  The last time we
>weighed her, Etienne was #1.4 's, btw she's 6.5 months old.  We haven't
>done so in about 2 months but I've noticed her gain weight, maybe #1/2,
>then lose it, then gain it back , then now, lost it again!?  What's going
>on here?
 
For starters, females are generally smaller than males.  "Average" for a fem
is between 1.5lbs and 3lbs, normal for males is mebbe 2lbs to 5lbs.
 
However, don't use that as gospel; there seem to be almost as many
exceptions to the "normal size range" rules in ferrets as there are in
humans.  (In Japan, a wedding was recently announced between a petite 88lbs
lady news reporter and a 450lbs Sumo wrestler.) I've seen very healthy
active female ferrets who weighed in the 3/4 pound range; I've heard of a
male back east well over six.  Back in the days when they hunted rabbit with
their ferts, they often bred for small size so they could double as rat
flushers.  Lately, MF and many other breeders have been trying for bigger
pets, so there's more of a mental image of a cat than a rat, as one wit
commented.  Which means the "size genes" are all weirdly garbled.
 
Ferrets also lose some weight in the summer, and gain a bit in winter.
Other things cause weight loss too though - when I broke both my arms a
couple of months ago, I got a bit lax on the flea battle just as it was
starting up for the year...I still fell bad that my guys got hit pretty hard
for a month or so, to the point where Felix got a tad anemic.  Dangit.
Gandalfi the SF Bay Area wondervet helped me sort it all out in time, Felix
is fine...once we get his weight and bloodwork back to perfect he gets his
adrenal gland surgery.  Last checkup showed solid improvement, next checkup
is for 6/21, I'm betting he'll be cleared for an op the week after that.
Poor dude...he's in good hands though, I've got enough cash to deal with all
this (so this isn't a plea!), and he's the absolute most lovable critter of
*any* species around.
[Posted in FML issue 1598]