Carmen, keep track of the ferret's weight with a decent kitchen scale or
equivalent.  If weight isn't being lost he might just be eating less due
not needing to compensate for fillers.  Ferrets eat more when on food
which has a lot of plant content because they need to do so just to get
sufficient nutrition.  They need a range of nutrients just as we do
(though the mix is somewhat different and some of the proportions are very
different), and if they are fed a food which is not high enough in what
they need then they eat more (and poop more) in the effort to survive.
When switched to a better quality food they do eat less and poop less.
 
If you mean that the ferret isn't eating enough to stay healthy and
maintain weight (or in Autumn often to even add a bit of weight) then give
the old food with some of the new first ground up and sprinkled on top,
then mixed in with the proportions gradually changing so that eventually
the old food is completely out of the mix.
 
Aileen, which network did the segment on EARS and the rescued ferret?  They
should receive thank you letters from people!
 
Others, it wasn't one of our ferrets who had a stroke recently, it was my
aunt.  (There seems to be some confusion on this from when I posted about
it to vent and to warn about my lack of time and lost mail.)
 
I'm glad that people are posting useful webpages in their messages.  Folks,
if you don't read these pages when they address the questions you are
asking then you wind up missing a very large amount of useful information
which could cover exactly what you need.
 
Oh, my, guess who found Steve's old duck call?  (No, he didn't hunt.)
Interesting thing: the sound interests them but they seem to have trouble
figuring out the direction of the sound, something which doesn't happen
with things like squeakies or bells.  Have to wonder if it actually is
harder in some situations (like among reeds rather than walls and hallways)
to place that sound.  They sure do go bonkers looking for the source; great
way to give them a bit more exercise.
 
I'd wondered what happened with Sandra Crandall; sounds like she well and
donating time to help ferrets in Missouri.  Way to go, Crandall!
 
Fur patterns can change with the Autumn and sometimes in the Spring, too.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2822]