From:
Angela Booth
Date: 2002-04-19 00:38:00 UTC
Subject: Ferret not gaining weight
My two year old desexed male Spook had been off his food for
a couple of days, and was sleeping more than normal. Being a
fairly thin ferret anyway, he couldn't really afford to lose
much weight, and he's usually very active so I took him to the
vet straight away. I noticed that he was straining a bit
going to the toilet, and the vet concluded an impacted anal
gland. He was put on antibiotics, then when he didn't
improve, the gland was drained during surgery. I have had a
ferret before with this problem, and she bounced back
immediately, but Spook was still listless and his appetite was
poor, though he was still drinking. He was put on another
course of antibiotics and seemed to improve for a while. His
blood work is normal, and no obstructions were apparent on
external exam - he is not a bed chewer or heavy groomer
anyway. He would seem interested in food by sniffing it etc,
so the vet just recommended I feed him with a syringe, and
after trial and error, I have found a baby food he likes, and
he will eat tinned tuna. His stool has been pretty firm and a
good colour for a week running now, as it has tended to be a
bit mucous like in the past. To cut a long story short, he
seems to be going back and forth from eating kibble, baby
food, meat, to nothing at all and it seems to get worse when I
bring the other two ferrets I have in to play. They were all
brought up together, so it is strange that he acts so
adversely to their presence all of a sudden. They don't
bother him when inside, but play by themselves, but he knows
they are there, and the few times he has vomited seem to
coincide with their visits. He seems to panic when he vomits,
and strange as it sounds, I think it might be some
psychological response. He has gone from 1.04 kilos to
850grams ( before easter), and I weighed him today thinking
that he must have gained some weight, as we have a pretty
consistent feeding ritual going now, but has only gained 3
grams. I contacted my my local ferret association where I
found out that diseases like ECE haven't spread to Australia
(yet), so I can't think of what else to do for him. Of
course, today he has been quite active, which I am pleased
about, but I fear that he will just slip back into this
pattern. Obviously I won't bring the other ferrets in with
him any more, but these sleek, bounding little babies need to
play so I'll have to work out some way around it, so they
aren't left out. We are at the two month mark of his illness
now, so if anyone has any ideas, especially those owners form
Australia, I would appreciate it greatly.
Angela