Jenna Normal Disclaimer: I am not a vet, and I am not trained in Veterinary medicine - only a shelter operator. In order to help you, we would need to know the cause for Vinyl to have stopped eating - the name of the medicine may have also given us insight into what the vet may have been treating him for. My personal opinion is that something upset Vinyl and now has an ulcer in his stomach/intestines that is causing him nausea and diarrhea. The black runny stools are pretty indicative of digested blood. He falls over and tires easily because he has no energy - from not eating enough. Its a pretty vicious cycle that our ferrets can fall into - they stop eating (for what ever reason) and when they stop eating, bacteria and enzymes build in their stomachs - which causes discomfort - still no eating, now no drinking since that is also now uncomfortable - no food in stomach, and acids start working on the stomach linings and ferret is in more discomfort and starting to get dehydrated - may see teeth grinding, pawing at the mouth, or a "hunched" posture. If it continues, eventually the acids create an ulcer and it begins to bleed. If untreated, yes this can kill your ferret. In order to stop this, you have to break the cycle: Hydrate the ferret (subcutaneous fluids), get and keep food in the stomach, and treat the symptoms of the ulcer with various medications. Surgery may be part of treating the symptoms, since hairballs/blockages/partial blockages may cause this to happen (then add vomiting to the list of signs). Giving Vinyl a softened diet helps - but you may have to force him to take it. Ask the vet or a nearby shelter/experienced ferret owner to show you how. Once he is healthy, you should really feed Vinyl a better diet then Friskies Kitten. Even though it may be less expensive than the ferret foods on the market, as we say in the computer industry: Garbage In, Garbage Out. A less expensive food may seem to be cheaper, until you figure in the health and well being of the ferret, as well as how much of the cheaper stuff you have to feed to get the same nutrition out of the more expensive diet. You love this little guy, I can tell. Can you try to buy a better food and mix it with the Friskies? I understand about the cost, but some things are worth paying more for. Let me know if I can help - there are many people on the FML who care and I think would help. Let me know, okay? Lisa, Head Ferret The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea" [Posted in FML issue 2322]