my ferret is skinnny!

Question
Hi there. I have had my fremale ferret for about 6 years already. Her
name is Monica. I got her for christmas at a pet shop. Her health has
been a rollercoaster these past two years. It started with her getting
diarreah. We couldn't afford to take her to the vet so we gave her human
medicine for diarreah. I don't remember the name. But I smashed a
tablet and gave her less than 1/4 of it. It helped her a lot. She was fine
until a few weeks later. I ended up changing her food because they
stopped making it. I don't remember the name of that either. But now
she eats "Ultra-Blended Select '8 in 1' Complete Nutrition Ferret Diet" I
noticed she started losing weight (still talking about two years ago.) and
her fur so I started giving her dietary supplements in a paste. I gave her
"FerretVite '8 in 1', and Furo-Vite" I stoped using her regular shampoo
and started using tearless baby shampoo. She got better. But she has lost
a lot of weight through these past years. She randomly gets diarreah but
not as bad as the time I had to give her the medicine. Well I have noticed
she had diarreah these past few days, she hasn't drank much of her
water or eaten her food. I took her out of her cage and she is tinier than
ever. She has no fat on her body! Its horrible. I tried feeding her food but
she couldn't chew it so I smashed it with some water and made it a paste
she ate some of it. I bought and fed her two dime sized portions of
"Tomlyn Nutri-Cal For Ferrets 'High Calorie Dietary Supplement." And
gave her some water. She seems better now. I let her walk around the
house and she fell asleep in a box. Am I doing the right thing? I don't
think she likes her food. What can I give her other than her regular food?
I read online that I can feed her cat food or baby chicken food. Is that
ok? Is there any food I can cook myself? Or should I take her to the vet.
Might it be because she's getting old? I'm sorry for all the questions but
I'm worried for her. Thank you very much for your time.

Answer
HI Anais:

Sorry to hear your little girl is not doing so well.  I don't think this sounds like old age. Ferrets can easily live to be 6 or 8 years old with proper vet care. It doesn't sound like this ferret is receiving proper vet care though. The important thing you need to keep in mind is that ferrets can go from well to urgently ill overnight. You need to get this little girl to the vet for a complete exam and see if she has an intestinal blockage (which I suspect). If she does ONLY a surgery to remove the blockage will work.  The test to see if she has a blockage is not expensive is called a barium xray and it not expensive, but it could save her life.

The NutriCal you are feeding is basically sugar. Please read the labels and don't give anything that has sugar, molasses, or anything that has a word that ends in "ose" (that's a sugar in disguise).  Ferrets shouldn't have sugars - period.  Sugar can cause insulinoma in ferrets - another possibility that your little girl may have.  This too can be deadly without proper care.

Please continue to give your little girl lots of fluids - Pedialyte is okay and baby food chicken is okay (warm it a little in the microwave, but stir with your finger to be sure it's not too hot before feeding). You can let her lick it from your finger to eat it.  Other than that, you need to get her to a ferret vet - not all vets are ferret vets - as soon as possible.

Here are some lists of ferret vets. Hopefully you find one in your area or within driving distance.  It's worthwhile to go to a vet who knows about ferrets; not just any old vet. A normal vet has had about an hour of 'exotics' training in vet school!  A ferret vet has specialized in exotics and done hours and hours of specialized studies about ferrets. Here is a list of ferret vets recommended by other ferret owners around the country:'

VETS CANADA:   
* http://www.ferretrescue.ca/start.php
* http://tinylink.com/?TlVyYKa6e0
* http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm   (British Columbia)
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/sask_ferrets/

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

VETS  UK & IRELAND:  
* http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/vetlist.htm

VET INFO/ LIST OF FERRET GROUPS/ CONTACTS IN UK, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA, NETHERLANDS, GERMANY & DENMARK:       
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-overseas.html (scroll down page to find the one you are looking for)

Please understand that time is of the workinng with ferrets. We usually have hours instead of days.They can go from sick to dead in just a short time. Hope this information helps you. Please hurry ......

My thoughts and prayers go with you and your litle one.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers