CHICKEN BABY FOOD AND BOB'S CHICKEN GRAVY:
 
The best solution for feeding a sick ferret is to simply use chicken baby
food.  I cannot overemphasize the fact that ferrets can live on a diet of
plain baby chicken for months, even years if you give them treats of
Ferretone or Nutrical, and add ground-up kibble to the chicken (I would
also add taurine if it was a long-term diet).  They simply do not need
anything else UNLESS your vet prescribes it!  Baby food is a bit thick,
so you can cut it somewhat with water.  If your ferret has chronic
diarrhea, you might think of cutting the baby food with Gatorade or
Pedialyte mixed 50% with water, but FIRST ASK your vet if the electrolyte
solution is safe to give to your ferret.  If your ferret hesitates to
slurp down the mixture, place about 1/4 in.  of Nutrical (or other pasty
treat) on the front of the spoon, fill the spoon's bowl with baby food,
and as they lick the Nutrical, tip the spoon so baby food is licked up at
the same time.  You could also try rubbing some on the teeth with your
finger, and in a few days they should come around.
 
Baby food is expensive (Gerber chicken is about 80 cents per small jar),
but you can make your own by boiling a chicken in as little water as
possible, boning it, then blending the meat, fat, and skin in a blender
with the soup made while boiling.  You don't have to use a whole chicken;
breasts and whole legs work fine, and you have more meat per purchase
weight and less bone waste.  The goal is a product about the same
consistency of a smoothie or milk shake, so you may have to add a bit
more water, or not add all the soup, depending on the specific
circumstances.  For each chicken processed, I usually add a tablespoon of
olive oil, a tablespoon of gelatin, some liquid taurine (see the bottle
for amounts, but you can't overdose -- just waste) and about a third of a
tube of Nutrical to the mixture while blending (not before cooking).
 
If you saved your baby food bottles, just fill them up and store in the
freezer until needed.  Or, you can do what I do: I pour a serving into a
small, flat bowl, seal the bowl in a sandwich-sized ziplock bag, and
store it in the freezer.  When I need a serving, I take the dish out of
the ziplock bag, warm the food in the microwave, and it's ready to go!
I recently bought a supply of plastic petri dishes, and am switching to
those rather than using bowls because I have noticed many of my ferrets
hate their whiskers dipping into food, and no bowl is as flat as a petri
dish (check out eBay for a cheap supply).  They are also much easier to
stack in the freezer AND I don't have to use a ziplock bag.
 
So much has been said about Bob's Chicken Gravy that I don't need to go
into it here.  Basically, everything said about chicken baby food applies
to Bob's Chicken Gravy.  Any reformulations of Bob's Chicken Gravy that
contain supplements or additives not in the original recipe are NOT my
chicken gravy, I do not recommend them, and I ask that my name be
associated with them.
 
Bob C
 
[Moderator's note: Can't speak for Bob, but I think he asks his "name
NOT be associated with them".  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4405]