From:
Mike
Date: 2010-09-10 01:48:36 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] A question of Weight and Age
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, F M L <ferret-L@listserv.ferretmailinglist.org>
We have a ferret (Mufassa) who is having trouble with his weight.
=A0
Here is some of his history.=A0 From birth until he was three years old he =
lived in horrible conditions.=A0 He is deaf and was a horible bitter, when =
he bit he burried his teeth..=A0 I swear back then when he was out playing =
no one wanted to be back in the ferret room.=A0 You could hear the jaws the=
am when he was out.=A0 I usually had at least two bandaids on my fingers an=
d he liked to chew on fingers that had bandaids.=A0 It took seven months of=
love and treats but now he is the sweetest ferret on earth.=A0 He was fixe=
d after=A0the age of three and was not descented.=A0 He got adreanal diseas=
e and had surgery but the adreanal came back within a few months, now he ha=
s a Deslorin Implant.=A0=A0 He has been part of our family for 3 years 2 mo=
nths which makes him at least 6 years old probably 6 and a half.
=A0
Right after we lost Sprout we noticed that Mufassa looked very thin even th=
ough he as always the first ferret for treats (hard or soft) (one of our tr=
eats is 8 in 1 ferret food).=A0 We weighed him and he weighed 1 lbs 14 ounc=
es (about what Sprout had been running).=A0 Mufassa's normal weight was fro=
m 2 lbs 8 ounces to 2 lbs 14 onces (closer to the upper weight of 2 lbs 14 =
ounces).=A0 We started to feed him the same pureed chicken we gave to Sprou=
t and he was all over it.=A0 At that same time it looked like he was eating=
funny, turning his head way to the side while eating.=A0 Mufassa isn't the=
most cooperative when it comes to looking in his mouth.=A0 We scruff him a=
nd he clamps his mouth shut and isn't about to let anyone or anything in.=
=A0 This makes examining his mouth very very hard.=A0 We saw what we though=
t could be an infected tooth.=A0 Our vet was not in on that day but we did =
get some antibiotics for him.=A0 On Monday we had him in to see our vet his
weight in April was 2 lbs 7 ounces but on that Monday it was 1 lbs 14 ounc=
es.=A0 He did have a problem with his teeth.=A0 We continued the antibiotic=
s and scheduled him for a dental the following week.=A0 We gave Mufassa fre=
quent soft food meals and when when it came time for his dental he weighed =
2 lbs 9 ounces.=A0 He had his dental and had to have two incisors and one m=
oler removed.=A0 We fed him the soft food for several more days and then ta=
pered down.=A0 Mufassa was=A0started to=A0behaving like a ferret again danc=
e and tackel other ferrets.=A0 That was short loved because a couple weeks =
later he look less active, more weepy in the eyes (for him that is a sign h=
e doesn't feel good), and he started to kiss may arms a lot (I think this i=
s his way of telling me there is something wrong).=A0 I also noticed that h=
e seemed to be eating funny again.=A0 Back to the vet, Mufassa did his best=
to hide his teeth from us.=A0 We couldn't see anything and decided to do s=
ome
more antibiotics and if it didn't clear up we would have to sedate him to =
get a good look at his mouth.=A0 He improved and we cut back on the food ag=
ain.=A0 Now he is still having trouble with his weight 2 lbs 4 ounces which=
I think is too low for a ferret who normaly weighs 5 - 9 ounces more than =
that.=A0 He still loves the pureed chicken and he still eats from the food =
dish and treats.
=A0
I'm not sure if he is still having trouble eating, even though I see him ea=
ting, or if=A0it's normal for=A0a ferrets weight to drop some as they get p=
ast 6 years old?=A0=A0=A0
=A0
Does this make sense to anyone?
=A0
Thanks
=A0
Mike
=A0
=20=20=20=20=20
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