Ferret Tummy,

Question
I have a ferret who is somewhere under a year old, he is a male, we feed him Kaytee Ferret Fortified Diet Chicken Flavor, he has had access to the dry pellets 24-7 up untill sometime yesterday he was out of his cage for the night as he tends to sleep curled up at my side in the bed while sometime during that time either the cat or chihuahua ate his food then today at dinner time I fed the animals and did his water check and noticed his food was gone, I am unsure how long that had been empty but he stayed asleep most of the day and night, upon waking around dinner it was clear he was very hungry, upon reading and doing some research and asking around I was told to make sure my ferret had access to his pellet food 24-7 but to try and give him a dinner mixture of scrambled egg, sliced deli turkey or chicken (low sodium), 1/4cup water and a handful of his pellet food all mashed into soft mixture via a food processor and to take like 1/2 teaspoon and mix it with 1/4 cup of dry food. I had done this for his dinner and naturally he dove in and ate most of it. About an hour later he was begging at my feet to be picked up and to get attention (via pouncing on them tackling them gnawing on them perfectly fine and hyper) however when I picked him up I noticed his tummy felt weird (it felt normal prior to eating) it was balloonish not hard but firm while still soft and squishy I'd say about 55% firm  45% squishy and fatter then normal. 2 to 3 hours after eatting he shit, it was a regular sized shit however the consistency was about 75% solid 25% liquidy the size of his tummy went down after his shit however it went back up 2 more hours after that. I have him back in his cage so I can monitor his shit and behavior (he is the biggest fussy baby right now climbing trying to get his cage open because usually when he is awake we play with him under monitored circumstances till his worn out enough to go back to sleep, we know he hasnt eaten or gotten ahold of anything foreign the only change in diet was the dinner mixture.) When I touch or squeeze his tummy he shows no sign of discomfort nor seems to even notice I am doing anything to his tummy just has his usual "can I go can I play lemme nibble on your hand" type of attitude, I was wondering if its possible that between not eating and being so hungry, and the change in diet if he could have eaten to much and got some mild bloating and needs to shit it out. I have read very mixed things about ferrets not being able to just bloat up like that temporarily and it usually being more severe, and other things saying ferrets sometimes can have bloating like symptoms that can fade off after they shit a couple of times. I also have read if its usually a case of being sick or blockage or bad bloating that their shit is less likely to be as normal as his and his behavior should be more lethargic and the signs of him not feeling good should be obvious. Aside the tummy balloon he doesnt seem to exhibit any other weird behaviors or symptoms. I'm used to owning rats however have owned close to 200 since I was 13 and am used to them being able to be severely sick and not showing any signs till its too late, and I dont typically know how ferrets show or exhibit pain. Or how obvious they make it when something is wrong.

Answer
Please understand I am not a vet and can't offer any medical advice.  I really think an exam by a qualified vet would be a good idea.  The good news is, your little fuzzie seems to be active and readily accepting food.  However, there are a number of tummy/bowel possibilities.

One suggestion I can make is - always make sure other pets do not have access to your fuzzie's food.  It's always important to know exactly what and how much your little guy is eating.  It is absolutely correct that your fuzzie must have access to his food 24/7.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd have him checked out by a vet.  It's better to be safe than sorry.

I sincerely hope your little guy is okay and all will be well

Warm Regards,
Janet