Went to ferret event about a month ago and spoke to the Totally Ferret
person, and decided to switch five-year-old Emmett over.
 
They said to do a complete switch, but Em just nibbled, so I thought about
what Gary and Debbie had said so I mixed it in with his regular food.
 
Em was born, bred and raised on Mini-friends except in December the store
was out so I bought Mazuri(?) instead and mixed it with Mini-friends.  Then
I put the Totally Ferret in with the others.
 
And Em got loose -poops.  So I lessened the TF so that he was practically
eating his usual food, but he still had the problem.  So we did a sample and
he seemed fine, but he still had the problem.  We found out that two ferrets
from out of town had the same problem and were put on antibiotics, so we put
Em on antibiotics, and his neck fattened up beautifully (he'd gotten a bit
pencil-necked but now his neck is nice and sturdy). . . but he still had
the problem.
 
So I took him in for a blood test and I talked to the food person and he was
very nice but urged me to switch completely and reassured me that I would
see this problem temporarily as a result of the switch to a healthier food,
and not to worry.  But I am a big worrywart (as lots of you may remember,
alas. . .)
 
I will tell my vet on Monday so he won't worry; apparently Emmett is still
processing the earlier switching attempt and has nothing really wrong with
him at all...and I couldn't talk long with the food person, but now I am
wondering and worrying about:
 
  "To mix, or not to mix? That is the question."
 
Emmett's problem looked exactly like the Slime pictures, but it didn't seem
like it could be ECE because he had no other symptoms.  My vet cautioned me
agaoinst going to a ferret meeting tomorrow, just in case, but I talked to
the meeting people and they believe it was the switching/mixing and said to
come on by.
 
I will also tell the food person one could receive a warning to watch out
for loose-poops because it could be a little scary for someone.
 
Emmett seems to be just fine now, but I wanted to mention this to y'all
a) in case it happens to you and b) in case anybody has any heedback about
food switching/food mixing/is TF okay for a five-year-old? etc. *But
please don't flame me to call me stupid 'cause I sure feel
stupid/ignorant/d-u-m-b dumb right about now. . .)
 
     Kate, owned by Emmett-who-is-perfectly-fine-ya-silly-mommy!
[Posted in FML issue 1466]