Bloody Stools

Question
Hi, I have recently took on the adventures of having a few ferrets and from the start everything was going great. The problem I am having is one of my ferrets, I have two, seems to be having bloody stools. They are red in color and seem to be mostly hard stools(not diarrhea). She was the fatter of the two when I got them and seems to have lost a lot of weight. They came from different households. I thought I'd let you know that in case it could be something with her new environment and having another ferret along side her now. I started off with a few different foods and kind mixed them together and found that they mostly at a food called fiesta max. It is kind red in color so it could be that but the other ferret seems to have normal stools. She also doesn't like any of the treats we get for them and he loves all of them. I find that very strange so I guess thats another question I had. What kind of treats can I get her? I planning on heading to the vet within the week as soon as I can get out of work but I was hoping you had a suggestion as to what I can give her to maybe help a little more. Also she is a year and 8 months old. Thank you for helping.

Answer
Hello Josh,

Assuming the reddish color is not diet related, there are two types of bloody stool; one from the upper GI tract, and one from the lower GI tract.  They can be distinguished by the color.  Upper GI bleeding is caused by things such as ulcers and contains dark, tarry, digested blood.  Lower GI bleeding is bright red since it does not have the time to be broken down by enzymes and bacteria before elimination.  

Many things can cause blood in the stool.  Stress, parasites, ulcers, etc. are all common reasons.  Since you are mentioning they are red in color, it is probably lower GI tract bleeding.  While this is less indicative of something more serious like ulcers, it is still a sign of a problem.  I would bring her in for a checkup with your vet to make sure there is not an underlying medical condition.  The stress of being in a new place with a new ferret is a possibility.  

One thing you should do is IMMEDIATELY change your ferrets off of Kaytee Fiesta Max.  That is a poor diet and can cause very serious health problems.  While I am not sure if your ferret's red stools may be related to diet at the moment, it would be in their best interest to switch to a healthy alternative.  Many of us have been trying to get Kaytee to remove their product, since it is a very poor diet for ferrets (they did not do their research) and it can be very harmful.  

Here is why.  

Ferrets need a high protein/fat diet with low carbohydrates.  They are obligate carnivores and cannot digest plant material or carbohydrates.  Kaytee brand has only 35% protein, 16% fat.  I like to use between 45-50% protein and at least 18% fat.  

Secondly, choose a brand with the first three ingredients as meat-based.  Kaytee has
Poultry Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, and Brewers Rice as the first three.  By-products contain little nutritional value and rice is a carbohydrate that ferrets cannot easily digest.

Third, Kaytee brand has both cane molasses and corn sugar as ingredients.  Ferrets should never be given anything sugary.  It can cause health problems like insulinoma.   

Be VERY careful to use only high quality ferret food.  Good nutrition is essential for these guys.  Remember, expensive ferret foods are not necessarily better for ferrets if you are not aware of the ingredients.  You would be surprised that most types of ferret food are NOT healthy and can cause health problems later.

For more information regarding proper diet and examples of good brands, please see the following link.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Ferrets-2277/2009/4/Summer-feeling-well.htm

I hope this answers your question!  If you can thing of anything else, do not hesitate to ask.

-Cindy P.