From:
sukiec@optonline.com
Date: 2003-02-09 20:53:25 UTC
Subject: RE: Feeding a sick ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <23653679.1044824005019.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Pedialyte is fine and often useful.
Ferret have short digestive tracts and are not well geared to get nutrition from things like Ensure, but they can manage on it when there isn't a choice. When one of our's had her cardiomyopathy cause her enlarged heart to press on her esophagus there came a time when we could get some thin meat sluries (The short cutr for this is to use all-meat baby foods or a/d.) down her but most of what went in was Ensure or Sustical (mostly the latter) and those gave her a lot more time with comfort than anyone had expected.
I'd avoid Ensure with early insulinoma just in case there may be a blood glucose yo-yoing effect, but for late insulinoma when the normal tissue has been largely suppressed so that any possible risk (real or hypothetical) of yo-yoing is past, I can't see any reason to not give it.
It makes a good treat, but I would not give it normally to healthy ferrets except as a treat, but I would get them used to the flavor so that it goes in more easily when one is ill. (It is good for cutting the flavor of bitter meds when given afterward to get a better taste in the mouth, BTW.)
As usual: I am not a vet, just someone with 20 years of ferret experience.
--Sukie
End of ferrethealth Digest
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