Eating

Question
My young ferret is gaining girth fast, she has doubled in size over the past few weeks. i have noticed that she will go through about a cup of food a day, sometimes more. Is that normal? or could something be wrong? She also seems to sleep a lot more then she did a month ago. I am not sure if any of this is unusual, I know they sleep a lot, but she really does sleep more then she used to. when i am home, she only seems to be up for about and hour.  What could be going on with her?  Thanks!

Answer
This sounds like recent and sudden changes, which in my book requires a trip to the vet.  Her sleep pattern is changing and her eating seems to be changing which could indicate something is wrong.  If she gets the OK from the vet, then she could be eating and sleeping to catch up for the growing.  But, if she is older than 5 or 6 months, she is basically done growing and shouldn't be gaining much weight.  And younger than a year or so, that is a long time to sleep.  Have her checked out.