Went to ferret event about a month ago and spoke to the Totally Ferret person, and decided to switch five-year-old Emmett over. They said to do a complete switch, but Em just nibbled, so I thought about what Gary and Debbie had said so I mixed it in with his regular food. Em was born, bred and raised on Mini-friends except in December the store was out so I bought Mazuri(?) instead and mixed it with Mini-friends. Then I put the Totally Ferret in with the others. And Em got loose -poops. So I lessened the TF so that he was practically eating his usual food, but he still had the problem. So we did a sample and he seemed fine, but he still had the problem. We found out that two ferrets from out of town had the same problem and were put on antibiotics, so we put Em on antibiotics, and his neck fattened up beautifully (he'd gotten a bit pencil-necked but now his neck is nice and sturdy). . . but he still had the problem. So I took him in for a blood test and I talked to the food person and he was very nice but urged me to switch completely and reassured me that I would see this problem temporarily as a result of the switch to a healthier food, and not to worry. But I am a big worrywart (as lots of you may remember, alas. . .) I will tell my vet on Monday so he won't worry; apparently Emmett is still processing the earlier switching attempt and has nothing really wrong with him at all...and I couldn't talk long with the food person, but now I am wondering and worrying about: "To mix, or not to mix? That is the question." Emmett's problem looked exactly like the Slime pictures, but it didn't seem like it could be ECE because he had no other symptoms. My vet cautioned me agaoinst going to a ferret meeting tomorrow, just in case, but I talked to the meeting people and they believe it was the switching/mixing and said to come on by. I will also tell the food person one could receive a warning to watch out for loose-poops because it could be a little scary for someone. Emmett seems to be just fine now, but I wanted to mention this to y'all a) in case it happens to you and b) in case anybody has any heedback about food switching/food mixing/is TF okay for a five-year-old? etc. *But please don't flame me to call me stupid 'cause I sure feel stupid/ignorant/d-u-m-b dumb right about now. . .) Kate, owned by Emmett-who-is-perfectly-fine-ya-silly-mommy! [Posted in FML issue 1466]