FMLer's,
First--Do not let your ferret get overweight.  It can be harmful and shorten
their lifespan.  Find out what they are supposed to weigh and try to keep
them close to it.  Don't be fanatic about it as to take the fun out of their
life and yours, but keep them close to it.
 
I can't think of a better way of thanking the people who responded to my
request for help with overweight ferrets than to pass on what they sent to
me.  My overweight male is in CHF (congestive heart failure) and the weight
may shorten his life.  First I want to pass along a suggestion that I plan
to follow up on and that is to get some fish scales to weigh my ferrets.
Put them in a cloth pouch and suspend them from the scale (like weighing a
fish).  Now, to help them lose weight: It was suggested that I add some
vegetables to their diet,such as cucumbers and sweet red pepper but only for
short periods since they are not digestable for ferrets.  It was also
suggested that I increase their activity with walks or other means.  Also I
got a suggestion that I not leave the food available all the time to the
overweight ferrets.  I agree that this would help tremendously but that
would be very difficult for us here since all our ferrets are free-roaming
and some are underweight or boarderline and depend on their night feeding.
I have increased activity by playing and getting them "mixed up" and
interested in playing with each other more often.  I do believe the ferret I
was most concerned about has dropped a bit of weight.  We are anxious to try
some of the other ideas also.
 
I am sure there are other over-weight ferrets out there.
Enjoy life and each other every day-----Janice and family
[Posted in FML issue 2071]