From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-06-22 22:43:54 UTC
Subject: RE: Ferrets too skinny
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <1009104.1119480234483.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
It sounds like one of your ferrets is just a very gracile individual whereas the other might be truly below optimum weight.
Gracile is a term which encompasses individuals who are slender and limber, whereas robust is used for those who are optimally stocky and stronger but less limber. For example in anatomical studies: Gibbons are gracile, gorillas are robust. Whippets are gracile; bulldogs are robust. Ballerinas are gracile, Olympic weight lifters are robust.
In comparison to many other animals ferrets are gracile in general, but within the species some individuals are more so. This does not mean that either is less healthy as long as each is well muscled -- just as the ballerina is as much an athlete as the weight lifter. Our best athlete among our ferrets currently is a tiny and very thin (but not boney) female who can clear barriers many larger ferrets can't and can climb anything. She also uses her plyometric abilities to make incredible leaps horizontally.
What is optimal is not to add fat weight alone but to add a good bit of muscle weight. There IS a medical term for someone whose muscle amount and tone are bad enough that they impair quality of life: sarcopenia.
Ferrets at times need some spare tissue to call on when illness strikes; it's just best that a good percentage of that be muscle instead of only fat.
So, with your underweight one as long as the vet finds him healthy enough to undertake a training regime you need to increase the calories in AND increase the number of them which wind up converted to muscle. This means more physical play with your one who may be underweight and then supplementing with meat baby foods, a/d, or other good protein sources.
There are some good enrichment articles in Ferrets magazine which could help you. Bob Church has done a good job of putting together tips many people have given over the years and adding others of his own in that article series.