From:
macdoodle99@yahoo.com
Date: 2001-03-31 17:23:00 UTC
Subject: Gerber chicken food vs "duck soup"
To anyone, but especially Dr. Bruce Williams,
My 7 year old ferret Mackenzie has not been eating for the last 2-3
weeks. Last week when I first took her to see the vet, he
recommended feeding her the Hills A/D canned food mixed with Ensure,
which I believe is believe is something like the "duck soup" that I
keep reading about. She hates that stuff. I got on the internet and
read one of Dr. Williams articles about how to feed the Gerber
chicken food and she has been eating it just fine from my fingers. I
can easily feed her a jar a day.
I went back to see my vet today because Mackenzie was not improving
and we did a blood sugar and it looks like she has insulinoma. He
told me insulinomic ferrets frequently do not eat and that I can't
sustain her on the Gerber chicken food and I should force feed her
the Hills A/D canned food mixed with ensure with a syringe. I
thought I read somewhere, but I can't find the article or email, that
Dr. Williams felt force feeding with a syringe was not a good idea
because it can lead to aspiration. I also thought he was not a fan
of the "duck soup" but I can't remember why and I can't remember how
long ferrets can be fed the Gerber chicken food.
So far, Mackenzie has not lost any weight on the Gerber baby food.
She has been on it a week. She may have even gained a bit. It just
seems more kind to give her want she will volunarily eat than to
force feed her. What I really want to know is: Can I just keep
feeding her the Gerber baby food? If so, for how long? Or do I
really need to force feed her the "duck soup"?
Thanks!
Kristy and Mackenzie