I suspect that the barley helped some of her shelter ferrets for the same reason that some ferrets with IBD are helped somewhat by unsweetened pumpkin puree: fiber just does help some ferrets' ill intestinal tracts be able to create normal or nearly normal stools. When my two legged kids were small and had diarrhea I gave them barley water. It was an old fashion remedy that my mom told me about. You dump a bag of barley into a pot, cover it with water and bring to a boil then simmer until the barley is mush. Then I gave them the boiled water that was cloudy from the barley in their bottled, sometimes mixed with Pedialyte. The diarrhea was gone within 24 hours. I don't know if it was the fiber that helped, or if the barley broth was just soothing to the intestinal tract. Leslie [Posted in FML issue 5277]