Our first in over 5 years of being owned by ferrets.  New adoption
apparently came with viral baggage <grimace>.
 
Our 3+ y/o boy, Mister Pigmo/Biggun, is the most affected (which seems to
be typical judging from my "research," we also have a 5+ y/o girl & the
"evil" ~ 10 week old).
 
We, my husband and I, are having a tough time with force feeding Mister, he
whimpers and it tugs at out hearts.  We just can't seem to get a sufficient
amount of food in him (9cc's last night, 6 cc's this AM).  We're forcing
the 2nd stage Chicken baby food, diluted with water to form a thick
soup-like consistency due to his reaction when we forced the straight stuff
on him.  He doesn't care for the pedialyte-wannbe, nor the Kaopectate or
Pepto-wannabe, at all.
 
He has been taking water on his own, again not enough.  He's completely off
his food, although it appears he does want it (I'm assuming the ulcers I've
read of are contributing).
 
I purchased some slippery elm bark capsules to make a concoction of in
hopes of soothing his irritable throat and tummy.  In desperation to get
him to injest SOMETHING I tried some of his hairball remedy (which he's not
had before), and he seemed really interested in the malt flavor.  While I
was getting the slippery elm, I picked up some rye malt syrup in hopes of
flavoring an unflavored eletrolyte solution (using caution withe sugar
concerns).
 
He's become bony around the rear end but is alert.  I have no
ferret-knowledgable support and I'm not of a mind to choose this particular
time for trial-and-error.
 
Should I be concerned with his whimpering when fed?  Should I just be the
"mean momma" and ignore the whimpering?  Should I be most concerned with
fluid intake and less so with food?
 
I believe I've read nearly everything online on the ECE subject, and even
plan to try the Pepcid A/C route as described in
 
    http://ferret-fact.org/Green2.htm
 
(which seems logical to me as I have been concerned with the "coating"
effect Pepto has and the potential of preventing any nutrients from be
absorbed, not to mention wearing the pick stuff from head to toe
is...interesting).
 
I'm nearly to the point where I think he needs to be sub-Q hydrated, but
the "pinch test" is inconclusive.  His pee, more than anything else, is
giving me the indication he's starting to become dehydrated to a serious
extent (there's little of it and it's darker than usual, but not quite
as dark as my 5+ y/o's normal output).
 
Please, can anyone give me and my vets additional more insight and input?
 
Thank you.  Thank you very much.
 
Tammy & the ookie-feeling Mister
[Posted in FML issue 2529]