Message Number: YG13752 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Sydney
Date: 2002-06-11 13:46:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Lizzie's eating problems - please help!

Female ferrets tend to be smaller build than males.
Also some ferrets tend to gain weight in the winter
and lose weight in the summer. She may also tend
toward a thin build.

I don't know anything about Amway cat food either but
it's probably a good idea to change to either a high
quality kitten food (such as Iams or Eukanuba) or
ferret food or a combination of both. When I have a
picky eater I try to make changes slowly. I'll start
with a very small proportion of the new food mixed
with their current food. I put that in a closed
plastic container and mix it up good. When they seem
to have accepted that mixture, I gradually add more
until it's mostly the new food. I also only make one
change at a time. If she's like most ferrets and goes
bonkers over Ferretone, you might try putting some on
a few pieces of the new food just to see if she will
eat it and get used to the taste.

All of my ferrets have thought baby food chicken was a
strange thing to eat a first. To get them used to it,
I will warm it up slightly in the microwave so it's
about body temperature (10 sec works out right for
me). The smell is a little more enticing to them that
way. Then I will put a little bit on their mouth.
Once they've tasted it a few times, they start diving
right in. You might try some of the other flavors too
such as turkey or lamb.

Sydney
Not a vet.


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