I have a ferret who the vet suspects has irritable bowel disease.  She
is on pediapred and I feed her a diet of cooked rabbit and turkey, but
without the bones and I mix in some A/D.  The A/D has calcium and
taurine,which is why I use it, but I am always wondering if this is
the best I can do for my girl.

I was just wondering what other owners feed their ferrets with this
problem.  Does anyone feed a soup with the bones?  What other ways are
there to add calcuim to the diet?  Does anyone add taurine?

She is doing well but is very fat which sometimes makes me wonder if
she really has IBD.  I read about problems people have keeping weight
on ferrets who have this disease.  Before she developed symptoms, she
was a girl with a perfect weight.

I know weight gain happens with the pred, but I sometimes wonder if I am
feeding her too much.  She is the sort of girl that will clean out the
bowl and since she does that, how do I know how much to feed her?  I am
afraid of feeding her too little.

She has been on the pediapred since February.  Would anyone recommend
slowly taking her off it to see what happens?

If anyone has a ferret with IBD, my girl and I could really benefit from
the experience and advice of others.

Thanks
Inge
[Posted in FML issue 5280]