I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on how to get one of our
ferrets to stop overeating.  Our female Charmaine who is almost 2 years old
has recently (in the last month) starting gorging herself on food.  In the
last 2 days it seems she has gained a lot of extra weight.  She went to the
vet the beginning of the month and the vet said she was starting to get fat
deposits on her neck near her lymph glands.  We have 3 ferrets in the same
cage and the last 2 days I've had to fill their bowls both days (they have
2 bowls).  Today our male went to his bowl and it was empty again so I gave
him a small amount so he could eat, as soon as Charmaine heard me fill the
bowl she ran to the bowl and bit our male and started eating the food, she
wouldn't let the other ferrets eat until she was done.  They are eating
Iams kitten food if that helps.  Do we need to seperate her so we can
restrict her diet?  Is there a diet for ferrets?  Charmaine has been raised
with another female so I'm not sure how she would do seperated from her.
The other female (Ferrial) is starting to finally gain weight.  She looked
very thin when we got them in June.  She finally weighs 1.5 lbs which I
believe is a good weight for her.  If we put them on a diet I'm scared
Ferrial will lose to much weight.  When we got the girls they were eating
kitten chow, and we gradually switched them to Iams.  Could it be she just
likes the taste of the Iams so much more she keeps eating it?  I need to do
something because she is starting to get a huge tummy from the weight.
 
The ferrets do get free time.  When we are home they get to come out and
play for a few hours at least a night.  Charmaine (the fat one) doesn't seem
interested in playing, she will run under the playpen or other furniture
object and sleep.  She will run and chase the other 2 for a little bit, but
her energy level is starting to decrease.  She's never been one for a lot
of excercise however.
 
If people have suggestions they would be appreciated.  I will call and check
with our vet tomorrow, but our vet is fairly new to ferrets so I thought
somebody here could offer other suggestions.
 
Thanks,
 
Alicia, Skot, and Tasia
and of course
Ferrial, Fidgit, and Charmaine
[Posted in FML issue 2417]