Note: I posted this to two places to hopefully get the most help I can,
so sorry if some of you already know who I am.
 
Hello, my name is Cheryl and I have four ferrets.  I am in a very
frustrating situation with my little ferret, Lucy.
 
Lucy is about 16 months old, and about the second week of June she had
one of her adrenal glands removed by Dr. Kim in North Jersey.  She was
a very healthy ferret, with VERY subtle signs of adrenal; just thinning
hair on tip of tail.  Since day one of the surgery, her first poop then
and for about a month after was black and tarry.  After the surgery I fed
her chicken or turkey baby food to ease her recovery.  I have kept kibble
available at all times but she would not eat any.  Anyway, back to the
vet we go, barium x-rays and the vet says the only thing it would be
based on my description of her poops was an ulcer (he didn't really see
anything on the x-rays though).  So she went on Biaxin and Clavamox and
Carafate, and I also continued with the baby food cause through my
research they suggest feeding bland foods to a ferret with an ulcer.
Which brings us up to this week, the fifth week sinc ethe surgery?  I
called the vet because the meds had run out or expired, and her poops
were slightly better but still darkish brown and runny.  We go back to
the vet with poop sample, and the vet says yes there is a little blood
but not much and he does more x-rays, but can't find anything wrong with
her, except a lot of gas in her digestive track which he attributed to
severe indigestion.  He spoke with a lady, I am not sure her name but I
think she was some kind of consultant to the vet.  He decided that the
baby food has done the damage and she needed to be off of it as soon as
possible.  I didn't realize I was doing her harm, I knew it was
inconvenient for me but she gained 8 ounces so I had no idea she could
be malnourished.  He gave me some more antibiotics and more carafate and
I spoke with the lady who gave me instructions on how to get her back on
to kibble.
 
To make a long story short, I am really having a lot of trouble with her.
I grind her kibble in a coffee grinder, and mix it with water.  Well the
first day of eating went okay, I should say the first time which was
right after we got back from the vet which was Tuesday.  Ever since then,
I have been maintaining the same consistency because Lucy still won't eat
the mixture out of the bowl herself willingly.  I AM using the same size
bowl she always ate the chicken baby food out of, so that isn't the
problem, I even add a teaspoon of the baby food in hopes it will help.
It is rather liquidy, kind of the consistency of a thin chocolate shake.
I get so aggravated sometimes and I try to be patient with her.  I feel
like she is leading me on this little damn dance, lol.  She will eat a
spoonful, then wipe her mouth, run around the room, go in the tubes, then
actually climb into her cage and settle herself into a hammock to take a
nap!  Then, I will bring her back out again, because she really WILL go
back to sleep.  Sometimes, and I am embarassed to say this, I will kind
of stick her head up close to the food and again, she'll take a few
licks, then we do the same ritual again.  She will eat off the spoon but
only for 20 seconds or so.
 
Tonite, I stayed home all night.  I changed her food about every 2 hours,
so the kibble didn't go rancid.  I checked to see if ANY was taken out of
the bowl, and sometimes I stayed for a while or put her in the vacinity
of the bowl, and this went on for about 10 hours and she did not eat.
Before you guys get mad at me for letting her go on this, the vet AND the
shelter vet tech said that if worst comes to worst just wait and she will
eat when she is hungry enough.  So finally a little while ago I made a
fresh batch with a teaspoon of the baby food and spoon fed her.  If I
force her to sit in my lap by holding her firmly and put the spoon in
front of her she will eat.  I had been feeding her in the syringe off
and on since Tuesday, but I am having a problem with the syringe where
it gets stuck a little and then I can't get it unstuck without squirting
too much in her mouth.  I guess the kibble mixture clogs up the opening
very quickly, I even cut it a little wider but it didn't really help.
 
Does anyone have any tips or maybe they have a similar story to mine and
it will just be a comfort to know she is not THE most spoiled ferret in
the entire world?
 
 
Cheryl
[Posted in FML issue 4220]