From:
Kym Barone
Date: 2002-05-05 18:41:00 UTC
Subject: RE: Re: Adopted Ferret
One thing I would add here - if you're concerned that this little guy
isn't eating enough, as bad as the dog food is for him, you may still
want to give some to him, gradually decreasing the amount of dog food
you let him have of course. With any ferret coming to a new home, no
matter what he or she is eating, it is important to gradually wean the
ferret to a newer, better food - do *not* simply take the old food away.
Not only can this cause tummy troubles, switching foods quickly, but you
also run the risk he will not like new food and eat less of it than the
bad food he was used to eating. In this critical stage (getting used to
a new home, routine, etc) it's almost better to let him have lots of bad
food than too little good food. You most positively want to get to a
point where he eats no bad food at all, of course. For right now,
though, I would let him have dog food (the same kind he used to eat) and
in between give him duck soup, baby food, high-quality ferret food
(ground up so you can make a liquidy duck-soup if he won't eat the
kibble), etc.
As for him having trouble chewing - I agree, I'd check the teeth first.
One question though - was he eating moist dog food or dry? If it was
moist, then he probably isn't used to the kibble consistency and doesn't
quite like or understand it. As mentioned above, you could take high
quality ferret food and crush or grind it and mix with water, to make it
a moist food - then over a period of time decrease the water to make it
less and less moist.
Good luck, and kudos for taking this kid in and giving him a second
chance at a great life.
Kym
-----Original Message-----
> My question, Is there any way to get some wieght on this little
guy? >