Inge wrote:
>First I will start with my 10 month old boys.  They have been eating
>raw since I got them.  I have always had kibble out for them, but they
>rarely touched it.  All of a sudden they have decided they do not like
>raw anymore except for liver and chicken wing tips.[ I swear they got
>on this computer and read Sukie's thoughts on raw feeding .  lol ]
 
Well, I can't be responsible for ferrets' computer actions.  We all know
how FLO is.  Heck, one of ours got on the keyboard and typed out frrrrt
once.  You just know FLO was listening...
 
Seriously, though, ferrets do at times like to have a bit of variety so
what is eaten for a while might later be rejected.  Then out of the blue
they will want it again.  Ours recently did that with cooked liver and
with cooked chicken cartilage.  They can just get tired of a taste.
 
As I recall they had a nasty GI sickness the last time you wrote.
Perhaps they currently associate some of that food with having had sore
bellies and diarrhea, so that has caused a change in habits.  Pain is
enough to put anyone off certain foods for a while.  They might even be
able to tell pretty well from the smell which foods they ate when the
diarrhea and inflammation occurred, so they are eating the other options.
 
I recently posted some links to the FML on feeding sick ferrets; they
have ***very useful techniques***, so look in the FMLs from recent days.
It might have been on the 13th or 14th.  If you look in the header of the
FML you can see how to have given digests sent to you.  Oh, hey, you got
lucky.  I hadn't trashed that yet, and the full post was short so if it
is okay with Bill to run again:
 
> http://www.afip.org/ferrets/babyfood.html
> http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/duck_soup.htm
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG11898
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG7480
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG13270
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG14847
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG13112
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG11891
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG5231
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=YG2634
> http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=YG5072
>
> Try a/d or Carnivore Care, too.
 
Here is another trick that may be your night time solution; it uses
normal ferret behavior to get the result you need.  First and most
important: the ferrets must NOT catch on that you know about this.
Listen in secret, fill it in secret, check it in secret.  Why?  Because
the ferrets need to feel that this is a real stash and that they are
pulling the wool over your eyes.
 
What is the trick?  Put some kibble into a paper bag (preferably the
size that we used to pack lunches in) and leave it when the ferrets are
not observing you.
 
Don't be surprised if they try to crunch very, very quietly.  This is
supposed to be a secret stash, after all, and you absolutely need to
support that fiction by pretending to be completely unaware.
 
Lupron:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG13877
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=SG13881
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/browse.php?msg=YG12265
reads:
>I give the Lupron injections into the muscle of the back leg (IM).
>Some vets do give it SQ.  I do not know if giving it SQ works as well
>as giving it IM.
>
>Hope that helps,
>Jerry Murray, DVM
 
I think there is more in the archives for you.
 
One thing to know about screaming seizures is that in those grande mal
seizures the individuals are having such large electrical brain storms
that they are NOT aware of what is going on.  So, as awful as they are
for us the ferrets are not feeling things during the seizures themselves
(though they may inbetween even though that time will be a bit foggy),
instead the diaphram is going through spasms which is causing large
amounts of air to suddenly be pushed out and that mechanically causes
the screaming.  They usually are seen with insulinoma, but can occur
with diabetes, and with other causes of major seizures.  Know that he
was **not** in pain during those.  I am glad that he was able to pass
peacefully.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5183]