Message Number: SG15066 | New FHL Archives Search
From: "US7"
Date: 2005-08-18 04:51:12 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Obese ferrets?
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <1HYMCB.938054D@comcast.net>

I don't have any truly obese ferrets. Some fluffy ones, maybe, lol. I tend =
to worry more when my ferrets lose weight, rather than gain it. By chance, =
if your ferret is not eating like you think they should, have their teeth c=
hecked.

Cubby was not eating, and starting to lose alot of weight. He was never a v=
ery big or very active ferret. At first, I thought this was normal summerti=
me weight loss, but he became less and less active. I took him in and my ve=
t checked his teeth and found that he had a lot of plaque buildup. We then =
took Cubby in for a dental, and now he's eating much better and is alot mor=
e active. We are thinking that he had something painful in his mouth that w=
as taken care of when his teeth were cleaned. He had no bad or broken teeth=
, so we think that he might have had something stuck in his gums.

Ferrets are somewhat like dogs. They need their kibble to keep the plaque f=
rom building up on their teeth. Cubby was fed baby food for a long time whe=
n the other ferrets were sick, but we later found out that this diet was no=
t the best in the long term, especially for his teeth.

Roary
Albuquerque, NM
blog - http://ferretphilosophy.blogspot.com/

---------- Original Message ----------
To: (ferrethealth@smartgroups.com)
From: (lives4ferrets.com@yahoo.com)

:Not unlike humans, I always see very lean, muscular ferrets on TV and in =

:magazines. I have two fuzzies and they aren't so skinny. I wouldn't say:=
obese, no, but definitly heavy in the rear and one has some chubbiness:arou=
nd his neck area. One kind of waddles rather than walks, while my =

:younger one simply bounds around regardless of her fat butt. They aren't:=
heavy in the stomach area, but seem much heavier than ferrets I see in mags=
:or on TV. Should I be concerned? They don't have any real health issues,=
:but I've simply never seen a ferret so chunky. They're very playful...lot=
s:of mischeif. I don't think its right to moderate their food due to obvio=
us:high-metabolism issues. Any one out there with a chubby fuzzbutt?
: