my ferret wont eat

Question
QUESTION: I just got my ferret yesterday, the ferret is a rescue ferret and the lady had him for a month before getting rid of him to a good home. He apparently ate fine with her, but he hasn't eaten for 24 hours, drinks fine and goes to bathroom too. I have vitamins in his water and ferre coat conditioning in food. HELP! what should I do. I know it is crucial that he eats.

ANSWER: Hi Amy:

Congratulations on your new ferret!  You will need to be learning a LOT in the next few weeks/months - ferrets are very very different than any other pet. Here are a few great websites to start:

* www.thechipster.com/fert-man.html   <----------BEST!!
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret#See_also
* http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutfe  
* http://www.ferretcentral.org  (scroll down to topic necessary)
* http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferret_school/ferretschool_aboutfe
* http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ask_angela/index.html

In response to your specific question about eating - you will need to find out what the lady was feeding him and start him off on that. Too many changes at once can make a ferret stop eating, but a ferret will never just switch foods, it must be a slow change over a week or two at least, depending on how quickly he takes to the new food. If she wasn't already, please try to feed a ferret-specific premium food like Totally Ferret, not a cat food. Ferrets need at least 36% (MINIMUM!) protein, 15% fat content and low ash and fiber content. Taurine is a must also. Totally Ferret makes a food for baby ferrets (up to one year of age), an adult formula, and an elderly ferret formula, which has a lower protein (easier on the kidneys) formulation. Just be sure any food changes are made slowly.

In regards to putting vitamins in his water - did you taste the vitamins first?  It's VITAL that your ferret drink a lot of water to stay healthy.  I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to drink that crappy vitamin water - I'd rather just eat a healthy diet and have lots of fresh clean water to drink. I hope you'll agree and toss the vitamins that go in the water.

Also, you mentioned vitamins you are putting on his food - I assume this is Ferretone of Furotone (same stuff).  These are NOT meant to be put ON the food.  They will cause the food to degrade quickly and become unpalatable, so if you want to give him vitamins - the Ferretone or Furotone is great for ferrets, but not more than about 1/2 tsp/day....dribble it in the palm of your hand and let your new friend get his treat while he gets to know you!  You can stretch it and make it even healthier for him (lessen the danger of a Vitamin A overdose) if you mix it half Ferretone and half pure virgin olive oil, shake well and keep the large bottle refrigerated because it will darken, then get cloudy and if dark or cloudy, it's not good to give to the ferret. Refrigerating the majority will allow you to keep a little dropper bottle of it handy and unrefrigerated - just be sure to keep it out of his reach cuz they will go to a lot of trouble to get to the goods!! Most ferrets LOVE ferretone (linatone). It's good to make their coat soft and shiny too. Just do be careful not to overdose.

Hope that helps - be sure to call the lady who had him and ask what she was feeding him. That will solve your problem immediately, then you can start changing him slowly over to a healthy food - here is a great list of foods rated from 10 to 1 with 10 being the best. Try not to feed anything lower than a 9 on the list:

* http://www.mdferretpaws.org/care/food_treats.html

Always remember to READ THE LABELS and never ever give your ferret anything with sugar in it - that's a no-no. They love sugary treats, and there are plenty on the market (READ THE LABELS!) but it has recently been found that sugar in a ferret's diet causes insulinomas in later life. Insulinomas are cancers of the pancreas (part of the stomach).  Hope you'll do LOTS of reading and maybe consider joining an online ferret group for even more fun and information.  Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your response. He was eating zupreem and was eating fine with the previous owner. Yesterday I gave him regular chicken and ate it quite well. He stopped(9hrs)gave him some turkeyw\rice and ate it quickly. He drinks his water out of style with vitamins. Bottle says 8 oz. water with 8 drops. I give him 8oz with 16 oz water. I don't want to shock his system, I don't believe he got vitamins in the first place. Last night he ate some of the zupreem food that I had mixed with the baby turkey and rice food.He also ate a bit today 9-2-09. After getting your message I threw out the food I gave him and filled bowl with reg. zupreem, what he's used to. When i get him out he is playfull and wll fall asleep in my arms. I have heard of the duck soup for those who won't eat. Should I get marshall's or Total ferret and mix half and half. I don't want him to get sick or die. I want to give him the best nutrition and supplements available. I want to treat him like he is a show ferret, but not take him to show. I know they loooovvveee to sleep, but he seems to just want to be in his bed and only come out when to go to bathroom or drink. What am I dong wrong. He's approx. 2yr. I love ferrets and now that I have one I don't want it to die. I believe in the good health he has shown, it is just a simple fix. I know that the are pretenders, act like they are ok until it is too late. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Amy:

Zupreem is an okay food - yours is the first ferret I've ever heard of who actually likes it! LOL  Turkey and chicken are excellent for him; don't discontinue them as long as he enjoys them. Offer pieces as treats instead of the junk treats they sell in the pet stores. Ferrets are obligate carnivores, which means their stomachs are made to digest ONLY meat. They don't need a 'balanced diet'; just meat is all they exist on, that and lots of fresh water. Most ferrets drop little pieces of food into their water (unless you use a water bottle) and it fouls the water really fast, so it needs to be changed at least two or three times a day. If you keep a water bottle, they are good to be changed maybe twice a week.  

My best recommendation is to get a book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling. It's a really easy read and once you get thru that  book you'll be a ferret expert yourself.  Most ferrets end up with shortened lives because their owners just didn't learn how to ferretproof sufficiently, don't supervise their ferrets closely enough, and/or just leave them in a cage instead of letting them out to play (at least three hours a day). Ferrets are really social creatures and your little guy may be a little depressed in his new home.  Encourage him to get up and out - get him a little harness and leash and try it out indoors first to be sure it's tight enough he can't get loose, but loose enough he can breathe (one finger should slip between the harness and his chest for a proper fit), then as long as the weather isn't over 80 degrees F take him out and with you - they love to get outside and roll in the grass, dig in the dirt and be ferrets!  The more time you spend with him, playing ball, etc, the more personality he will have.  It just sounds like he might be a little depressed right now and that's not at all unusual. Let him know he's well loved with lots of cuddles and head and belly rubs and kisses.

Most people do mix at least two premium foods together - for the purpose of preventing a problem if one of the companies happens to change their formula, suddenly you have a ferret who won't eat because the food seems different to him. If you have at least two foods mixed, he will always eat at least one of them; plus you have a better choice in case one is out of stock (happened to me recently and I had to order directly from Totally Ferret online). It's ust good to have a backup food or two.  When I had three ferrets I had a 3-food mixture, but now with only two ferrets I use two and sometimes three different foods....all 9's and 10's on the food chart I gave you earlier. It's vital to read the labels, especially on treats. Rawhide is a No-no, as are pig ears and similar - good blockage material...so be careful of stuff like that. Stick to meat and maybe some N-Bones (gelatin) for ferrets;; my kids love those. If you have vitamin water, please, please also have a bowl of fresh water available too. They really don't need vitamins in their water if they are getting good food and you can actually overdose on vitamins and make them sick. I've never given my kids anything except Ferretone cut with olive oil or a Totally Ferret product called Vivify, also a liquid they love that is a supplement. Just don't overdo on the vitamins. The food you're feeding is already really high in vitamins, so I'd really recommend just pure water, reverse osmosis or bottled (NOT distilled) if possible. They need the minerals that are in pure water, but no extra ones.

Best of luck with your new little one. I think you'll be a good ferret mommy! Hope you'll read a lot and make yourself an expert - that's how you can do the very best for him.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers