Hi, I had asked for some help previously about my ferret who wasn't eating and losing weight. Many people wrote to me and I brought him to a vet as well. She said that there was nothing to be concerned over after she thouroughly palpated him. She said that his liver was a little enlarged but that that could be due to him not eating and drinking for a bit. Since he seemd to be turning around, she didn't suggest much else and he was doing fine but today when I was playing with him, it seems that he is losing the weight again. He won't eat anything (out of my hand that is, I don't know if he's eating while in his cage) but the kitten food (voraciously at that...) and I know he should be eating ferret food but at this point, I will give him whatever he wants to eat! The thing is, what I noticed was that his teeth are grinding when he eats and this was not a previous symptom so I didn't mention it to the vet. I checked online about teeth grinding and the two things that come up are gastric ulcers and blockage. Both him and his playmate have a ferret room that has been throughly ferret proofed but I am still worried that maybe it is a blockage since gastric ulcers seem to occur in older ferrets... Is it possible that he ingested a piece of blanket or sherpa from his bed? He's had problems with hairballs in the past and I have always given him hairball remedy but it didn't work once (he vomited a hairball about 4in long and 1/2 inch wide!! I was thankful he was able to vomit it up ) and so I question it's effectiveness. He has not vomited once though and this seems to be a classic symptom of a blockage... Can anyone shed some light on this new symptom? I will take him to the vet again if needed but I am hesitant because of the cost... Although it won't stop me if needed. What is the cost of Xrays? And if a blockage or ulcer is found how much it would cost to fix that? Carafate seems to constantly come up in the treatment of gastric ulcers and I won't administer it obviously until I know, but is this a treatment something you can buy at a pharmacy? It seems to be one of those "home remedies" that vets suggest work. My other concern is that I am going away for about 5 days and he will be taken care of by my roomates but I am concerned that if he takes a turn for the worse they won't know what to do... I'll provide them with a vet # but is there anything else I can do? Unfortunately, he can't come with me... Thank you for everyones help before and i hope someone can help me again. Lisa [Posted in FML issue 4412]