I DID IT.  I found the only food on the planet that he would eat.  I have
tried a gazillion things.  Stuff you all recommended, variants of duck soup,
pureed kibble, nutrical doused everything, baby food...so much baby food
that the stores must think I have sextuplets.  Y'all wanna know what he
wanted????
 
               strawberry flavored purina kitten chow.
 
that's it.
 
You got it.  I didn't even have to mush it up at all.  I took a dropper, put
exactly ONE drop of strawberry Ensure in the middle of the piece of chow
(kitten chow looks like cheerios, I dropped the ensure droplet into the
hole) and offered him one piece.  This was after I tried JUST chow, no go.
Offered him one strawberry flavored piece, man he couldn't eat it fast
enough!  So I gave him two more pieces, thinking once he realizes he's
eating beef flavored (or whatever chow is) ensure he'd hate it.  Gobbled the
next 2 up in a sec!  So I gave him a handful of them, put tiny little ensure
droplets in the "doughnut hole" and he ate every one!  I was sooooo
pleased!!!!
 
Oh, many of you sent info on the cardiomyopathy situation.  I called my vet
(she's so sweet, she lets me call her at home, actually encourages it!!!)
and she said the reason she didn't prescribe a diuretic (SPelling, I know)
was because (1) too many things going on in his body right now, no need to
stress him more (2) that these meds are better for ferrets that ONLY have
cardio going on in them, and (3) the most important reason is that these
meds pull fluids from kidneys and other areas, and since Patches is a bit
dehydrated (but getting better) she didn't want the medicine to pull fluids
from other areas, it would dehydrate him more.  Now, she said all of this
more technically, so forgive me if I'm not 100% accurate in how I just
explained it, but that's the jist.  She did say we could re-evaluate him for
these meds later on, after he's recovered a bit better, OR if the coughing
gets worse, but THANK GOD I haven't heard him cough in over 12 hours.  Maybe
it wasn't his heart, I'm hoping anyway.
 
SOOO, that's the news as of now.  I wouldn't be posting these updates to
these lists, by the way, except for the fact that so many of you have
written and thanked me for the updates, that Patches is in your prayers.  I
wish I could respond to each of you personally, please don't take it like I
don't appreciate it; I read each and every one of your messages and they all
mean more to me and Patches than I could possibly put into words.  I just
have so much going on, I can't write to everyone individually.  But I so
sincerely thank you all.  You are all very special people, I am thankful
that I have you to turn to for advice and support.  I NEVER would have come
up with the idea of ensure on kitten chow if it weren't for posts from you
guys.  I can't offhand remember who it was that recommended the kitten chow,
but there was only one of you who did, many suggested the ensure mixed with
kibble....I tried it on his regular foods with no luck.  Just Kitten Chow
didn't work either.  So the combination of the suggestions that I got was
just perfect.  I owe this success to all of you--THANK YOU AGAIN!!  I'll
keep you all posted!
 
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 2003]