Hi, Mike, Glad to hear Sprout is eating some on his own. Yes, ECE is hard on older ferrets but it sounds like you're on the way to getting him healthy. If you can get him to eat a reasonable quantity on his own without force feeding that is always best. I fully agree with the moderator comments you received inline with your post. If you must force feed do make certain your vet shows you the right way to do it. If your ferret aspirates the food (goes down the wrong pipe) you could end up with more and serious problems. While there's nothing wrong with chicken baby food I wanted to recommend Bob Church's Chicken Gravy. It is nutritionally complete for ferrets and most of the little monsters seem to think it's a wonderful treat. It also puts weight back on recovering ferrets very quickly. I use Pam Sessoms' pressure cooker method for making it. See: http://www.trifl.org/pressuregravy.shtm That way it doesn't take long to make and doesn't make a big mess. There is also background information at: http://www.trifl.org/gravy.shtml The vets we've used both here in North Carolina and when I was up in Wisconsin are big believers in Bob's Gravy. The vet we now use actually keeps a stock of it on hand for use in their practice. It may well be worth the extra effort if Sprout will willingly take it and even if not. Good luck to you and to Sprout. All the best, Caity and the terrific trio (Chin Soon, Ella and Zephyr) [Posted in FML 6631]