need advise with a sick ferret

Twoelles

I have 2 neutered males who are pets. One has been losing weight recently. I took him to the vet who advised me of the risk of diabetes and insularsinoma *sp. He did a test and it came up negative. He felt for tumors and couldn't feel any. He treated them both for parasites.

but he is still losing weight and looks terrible - I dont know what to do and neither does the vet .....

can anyone help

Rommie

How old is he?

Twoelles

2 -3, not sure as i inherited them of someone who emigrated

Rommie

If he was older, I would have said it was probably just down to old age. What are you feeding them?

Twoelles

Rommie wrote: »

If he was older, I would have said it was probably just down to old age. What are you feeding them?

they were eating gain Cat.( previous owner had them on this) but I have them on ferret Food but it's not made a difference. the other one is fine.....one thing I did notice is his smell is slightly different, more like diesel.l, the Vet couldn't explain it but agreed the smell was different

Never heard of that. Are they neutered ?

Toulouse

Is your vet experienced with ferrets?

You might be as well on getting a second opinion if your current vet is out of ideas. There's some ferret owners on here that might be able to give you recommendations depending on where you're based but if you're anywhere near Bray I'd say Bairbre O' Malley.

Twoelles

yes neutered

Im in waterford near the tipp border if anyone knows a ferrett vet can you let me know

Rommie

One of mine loses weight everytime I changed their food so I have them now on Hills Kitten food and nothing else, and they're doing fine on it. Is he all right otherwise? Running around, playing, pooping and all that all right?

Twoelles

yes all else is fine, happy, lively just looks like crap.....do you think i should swap him to hills kitten and stick with that?

Rommie

Maybe give it a try. It's high in protein so might help if he's lacking. Do you know what the protein content is of the food you're giving him?

Twoelles

its 30% protein, The vet did say to beware of carbohydrates but i can seem to get the carb content on any food

Rommie

Very surprised a ferret food is that low on protein. They should be on 34% minimum. Hills kitten is 38% and i was told its the best kitten food to give ferrets by someone who rescues them

transit260

twoelles,i would suggest you try this,it will make a difference ibelieve.feed the ferrets both meat,sheep hearts,mince and chicken.this is their natural diet.

dodderangler

A ferret shouldn't be on same diet. They need raw meat. Rabbit, chicken etc
I recently lost 10 ferrets in a week. Mother and 8 kits and a hob and the older ones all had similar effects to yours.
But I will suggest a change in diet is a must
Also try seperating them. Maybe one is getting more food than the other. Usually the role of a dominant ferret is that they get or fight to have more food than the other.
My remaining ferret was skinny but now that he's on his own he's huge. Solid muscle and healthy diet of dry ferret food, fresh rabbit and chicken and eggs.

Twoelles

I was told as these are total pets and mix with my other animals (including chickens) not to feed them fresh meat as it can change their personalities and give them a taste for the real thing....any truth in that?

Lexie_Karas

Feeding them raw meat, or even cooked once it's not processed (and no bones if they are cooked!) will give them a more varied diet. Unless you're going to look into all the details involved in a full raw diet, I'd keep them on their kibble and add in some meat each day or each other day. If your ferrets have only been eating kibble since they were kits then they may be imprinted on their food, ie. they wont be so keen on eating meat.

If you're still worrying about his weight gain Royal Canin have a convalescence support food that might help him too bulk back up a bit. Ask your vet about it, its used for cats and dogs but no harm to ferrets for a short while. It wouldn't be the most balanced diet for a ferret long term but great for getting a bit of weight back on them (or for syringe feeding if they're off their food).

Is your ferret getting anything else to eat other than his kibble? Even small quantities of inappropriate treats might be enough to have him losing weight. What brand of ferret kibble are they eating? You could try introducing a second high protein ferret food, mix some into their regular kibble and slowly increase the amount till you can swap over to the new one and see if that helps at all. I wouldn't recommend doing a straight swap from one brand to the next, that can be very harsh on their stomachs.

Could the weight lose be seasonal change? Most ferrets do loose weight as the weather gets warmer (some can loose a considerable amount) around the same time that their coat changes, which can leave them looking very bedraggled until their new coat grows in fully. How much weight has he lost and is he still losing it? It's a good idea to weigh an unwell ferret regularly at home to get a real idea of whether he's improving or not. (If you find it hard to keep him still to way him, pop a basin on the scales with a very small drop of olive oil in the bottom or some other treat he likes and take his weight while he's busy licking it up). I'd weigh at least every two days to see if he's stable.

If your vet is really out of ideas I'd suggest giving Bairbre O'Malley in Bray a call, like one of the other posters said. She really does know ferrets quite well and was very good about advising my local vet on what he should be looking for over the phone.

Let us know how the little guy is doing

dodderangler

That's bullsh1t.
My ferret I have out in the hutch and is a very good hunter and is such a pet aswell. He is very docile ad does not bite and never has. He'd happily go asleep on you.
He's fed raw meat and eggs and dry ferret food.

Lexie_Karas

And I agree with dodderangler, mine are all absolute pets who love nothing better than to curl up for a cuddle and most of them eat meat, fish and eggs. It does not change their temperament at all.

And when it comes to mine and the likes of chickens etc, the one that I'd imagine would be the first to try give chase would be the very one that doesn't actually think meat is food. He looks at the others like they're crazy when they eat it and wont even taste it. He was quite nippy when he came to us at first and he's the only one of ours that wont eat meat! So, really there's no connection. It's all down to personality and good handling, same as most pets.

Twoelles

Thank you all for your fab advice, I was at my wits end but now i know what direction to go in - I will keep you updated - Thank you

Rommie

Definitely dont worry about the raw thing OP. My guys live with my cats and foster kittens we take in with no problem and we give them all a bit of raw now and again. Never a problem

transit260

they are carnivores,if your not willing to give them a proper diet then consider a different animal.all that stuff is not good,no nutrients or vitamins in it,just dry fodder.it keeps them alive but doesnt let they blossom.

Lexie_Karas

While I agree with transit260 that they are carnivores and a well balanced raw diet is great for them, kibble (I'm assuming that's what you mean by 'all that stuff') can actually be quite good quality and quite balanced. A decent quality ferret kibble's, or even a high quality kitten kibble's main ingredient should be meat so not really fodder.

OP, here's a link to the ingredients and break down of some of the more popular ferret brands to see what nutrients and vitamins are in them and which ones are a better quality - http://starescue.org.uk/#/feeding-ferrets/4541939155 Along with those listed there I would also include Applaws kitten kibble and Origjin kitten kibble as both of those have a very high meat content (there's probably more high quality kitten kibbles that could be added to that list, but they're just the ones I know of). The link also has info regarding raw diets and how to go about them and if I remember right there's a link somewhere towards the end of the page about supplements and 'duc soup' (not actually made with duck!) aimed at sick or underweight ferrets.

Twoelles

Lexie_Karas wrote: »

While I agree with transit260 that they are carnivores and a well balanced raw diet is great for them, kibble (I'm assuming that's what you mean by 'all that stuff') can actually be quite good quality and quite balanced. A decent quality ferret kibble's, or even a high quality kitten kibble's main ingredient should be meat so not really fodder.

OP, here's a link to the ingredients and break down of some of the more popular ferret brands to see what nutrients and vitamins are in them and which ones are a better quality - http://starescue.org.uk/#/feeding-ferrets/4541939155 Along with those listed there I would also include Applaws kitten kibble and Origjin kitten kibble as both of those have a very high meat content (there's probably more high quality kitten kibbles that could be added to that list, but they're just the ones I know of). The link also has info regarding raw diets and how to go about them and if I remember right there's a link somewhere towards the end of the page about supplements and 'duc soup' (not actually made with duck!) aimed at sick or underweight ferrets.

Excellent info - thanks for that

We have a male who was fed Ferret complete and he is an absolute monster. I recently rescued a little boy whos mother died at 4 weeks, as soon as he was eating solid i got him on ferret complete and he is now huge ! !

We also did it with a ferret suffering with rickets (calcium ) He improved immensely. I wouldnt under estimate it .