From:
"Cynthia Obrist"
Date: 2003-09-07 05:04:50 UTC
Subject: underweight adoptee: seeking advice
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <002301c374fd$918ed230$1202a8c0@kboshehome>
I've adopted two new ferrets from a woman who said she was allergic to them=
. They were kept in a basement room and allowed to run in that room, but I=
don't think they had much human company. She fed them cat food; I guess b=
ecause she had three cats. The two fuzzies are a little over a year old an=
d are definitely underweight for their size. The littlest one has visible =
ribs and his body is concave inward right above his back legs. The other o=
ne is big in size but light as a feather. From the sight of him, I expecte=
d at least four pounds, but as soon as I picked him up, I knew he wasn't ev=
en three pounds. Plus, of course, they have NEVER been to a vet. =
The owner had given the two ferrets a bath this morning, so I don't know wh=
at their coats naturally look like. I know the water bottle she brought wa=
s so discolored I just tossed it.
I had a feeling that I better be prepared, so I have an appointment for Mon=
day morning with our ferret vet (it usually takes a couple of days to get i=
n with him, so I made the appointment as soon as I knew the new boys were a=
rriving on Saturday). I asked for Vet records three times before the owner=
admitted there weren't any.
Anyway, back to my main point: I'm looking for tips for putting weight on t=
hese boys. I regularly make "Church's chicken gravy" so have plenty of tha=
t on hand. So far, the new boys have just sniffed at the gravy. But, then=
, they just got here. I also use Totally Ferret. I'm just praying there's=
been no permanent damage to either of them from an inadequate diet. =
Thanks for your help!
Cindy and the fuzzy crew: Cocoa, Butter, and Sugar, and their new brothers =
Willow and Bailey.`